On hearing ‘Acupuncture’ many of us have an image of lots of fine needles along various parts of the body. The truth is, its much more than that.
Acupuncture is a Traditional Eastern, Asian Medicine practised in Korea, Japan and China. It is an ancient healing therapy that has been refined over 2000 years.
Acupuncture can also be used to complement treatment in other therapies such as Osteopathy, through the use of ‘dry needling’. This is used to treat musculoskeletal pain and address movement issues.
Who can have Acupuncture?
- A wide range of people from children to the elderly
- Women during pregnancy
- Elite athletes
- People under Palliative Care
What can Acupuncture be used for?
- Gynaecological issues, including the Menopause and painful periods
- Support during, before and after Fertility treatment (our Acupuncturists are part of the Acupuncture for Childbirth team)
- Emotional issues such as stress
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Long covid
Our Acupuncturists will take detailed medical history from you and develop a treatment plan based on your health and lifestyle.
Each plan is completely individualised, a belief that you are treating the person, not just the condition.
As the title of this blog suggests, Acupuncture does not just use very fine, sterile needles.
Other techniques include tapping, massage, cupping, Gua Sha and moxibustion.
Some of these techniques may be familiar, others less so. Let’s explore a couple of these -
Gua Sha involves scraping over the skin in an upward motion which can help increase blood flow to different areas and help reduce inflammation. It involves a jade tool. Sound familiar? There was lots of 'hype' around the use of Gua Sha on social media, with individuals using it on their face to get a ‘snatched’ jawline.
Moxibustion (depicted in the image above) involves burning of the herb ‘moxa’ on or above the skin to warm and stimulate different parts of the body to help with the flow of energy and blood in the body which in turn can help alleviate pain. Moxa has a distinctive smell, with both smoke and smokeless moxa being used.
So there you have it, Acupuncture is "not just needles".