Our staff are Nationally Accredited and Registered Allied Health professionals.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture works on many levels, from a Modern  Western Medical biomechanical perspective Acupuncture is a foreign object in the body and causes a reaction from the immune system, the areas is flooded with red and white blood cells and eventually endorphins, this combination allows muscle tension to relax. Neurological studies have showed that acupuncture lights up different areas of the brain which is hypothesised why it has a relaxing affect on the nervous system and is possibly giving the body the opportunity to "rewire" old pain and addiction pathways. ​

Acupuncture is a mostly pain free treatment as the needles very fine approximately 10-15 smaller than a doctors hypodermic needle. Acupuncture is famous for achieving fast results in most musculo-skeletal related conditions such as lower back, neck and knee pain. However Acupuncture can also be effective in assisting other conditions such as: Hayfever, Headaches and  Nausea, 

Acupuncture & Chinese Medical Philosophy:

​Acupuncture ( inserting very fine needles into the skin) is an ancient effective practice of medicine that has withstood the test of time. We currently have access to acupuncture texts books dating back 2100 years. (Yellow Emperors Classic.). 

​Acupuncture is a holistic practice that encompassed the body as a whole. We try to establish the root cause of the problem and address this to increase  the chances of not only relieving symptoms but  to prevent them from returning. Acupuncture is based on the ancient Chinese metaphor of the Yin and Yang. The body must be kept in balance to obtain optimal health (run smoothly) If imbalances are found ( tight muscles, blood clots, excess and deficiency,  hot, cold, dampness  ect. )  we try to correct these imbalances. For example: relax tight muscles (excess) or strengthen a weakness (deficiency) in the body such as weak digestion. You will notice some people report aggravation of their conditions with rainy or cold weather, in TCM  (Traditional Chinese Medicine)  This is called damp or Cold. 

From a Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) perspectives applying these needles helps correct imbalances of qi and in the meridians and help to build blood and move stagnation “ stuck energy” which causes pain.. Also in the case of yang deficiency ( lack of warm qi/ energy) this can cause digestive issues as the digestion doesn' t have enough power to digest food properly resulting in Diahorrea, constipation, period pain, bloating, tiredness and lethargy.. Some vegans may experience this from eating too many cold raw vegetables, as the excess cold ( in some people) drains the vital yang energy needed to digest food. Note: Anecdotally from clinical observation this appears to affect woman more than men as men by nature have more Yang energy. Men are more Yang (aggressive/ warm) and Woman are more YIn, ( nurturing/ cool). So in this case along with warming Acupuncture we would also recommend eating more cooked and warm foods potentially along with some Chinese  Herbs  such as Ginseng to kick start the digestive system.  

An old Chinese proverb,  “ a moving gate hinge never rusts” so stagnation and stuck energy is a major cause of disease from a TCM perspective.

Acupuncture in Western Medicine:

​There is strong clinical evidence acupuncture has a positive effect on the following medical conditions:

• Chronic Lower Back pain
• Headache and Migraine
• Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
• Knee Osteoarthritis
• Postoperative Nausea and Pain
• Post Chemo Nausea

Conditions with moderate evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture
Reviews reporting all individual RCTs or pooled effects across RCTs as positive, but the reviewers
deeming the evidence insufficient to draw firm conclusions. The quality of evidence is rated as moderate
or high quality.

• Post Chemo Nausea
  
• Acute low back pain
  
• Modulating sensory perception thresholds 
  
• Acute stroke
• Neck pain
  
• Ambulatory anaesthesia
  
• Obesity
  
• Anxiety
  
• Perimenopausal & postmenopausal insomnia
  
• Aromatase-inhibitor-induced arthralgia
  
• Plantar heel pain
  
• Asthma in adults  
  
• Post-stroke insomnia
  
• Back or pelvic pain during pregnancy
  
• Post-stroke shoulder pain
  
• Cancer pain
  
• Post-stroke spasticity
  
• Cancer-related fatigue
  
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
  
• Constipation
  
• Prostatitis pain/chronic pelvic pain syndrome
  
• Craniotomy anaesthesia
  
• Recovery after colorectal cancer resection
  
• Depression (with antidepressants)
  
• Restless leg syndrome
  
• Dry eye
  
• Schizophrenia (with antipsychotics)
  
• Hypertension (with medication)
  
• Sciatica
  
• Insomnia
  
• Shoulder impingement syndrome (early stage) (with exercise)
  
• Irritable bowel syndrome
  
• Shoulder pain
  
• Labour pain
  
• Smoking cessation (up to 3 months)
  
• Lateral elbow pain
  
• Stroke rehabilitation
  
• Menopausal hot flushes
  
• Temporomandibular pain

From a western medical perspective the body repairs an injury only to a certain point before it goes back to doing more important energy demanding tasks like digesting, thinking and healing.

As an Acupuncture needle is a foreign object in your body your immune system will attack the area where the needle is with immune responding cells such as red and white blood cells helping improve local blood flow and assist healing resulting in a general anti inflammatory effect increasing healing and decreasing pain.

Biologically acupuncture works on many levels. Neurologically  Acupunctures effects are observable on an brain MRI, lighting up different areas of the brain which may contribute to pain reduction via re routing of neuropathways..