Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a part of an ancient and sophisticated form of medical treatment which originated in China but has increasingly spread throughout the world.
It involves the insertion of extremely fine, pre-sterilised, disposable, stainless steel needles on the body surface to restore internal health.
Acupuncture can be used alone or combined with other treatment methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine – your practitioner will frequently combine acupuncture treatment with moxibustion, dietary therapy and medical advice.
Safe And Effective
In the hands of a fully qualified TCM practitioner the use of acupuncture is entirely safe and free from harmful side-effects.
It has stood the test of time over two thousand years and has not been found wanting.
Who Can Be Treated?
There is no limitations in terms of age, sex, or condition regarding acupuncture treatment. The very young or extremely old can be treated. Pregnant women can be greatly assisted by acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture can be used alongside other systems of medicine such as Western medicine, and can often help with the unwanted side-effects of life-saving Western medical treatment such as many cancer treatments.
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture is part of a medical system commonly known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is important to understand the acupuncture is not TCM, but that it is a tool within TCM.
To imagine that Acupuncture is TCM is as mistaken as to imagine that, say, surgery is western medicine. Surgery is only part – a small part – of conventional medicine just as acupuncture is only a part of Chinese medicine.
Acupuncture alone is not sufficient to attempt to treat every medical problem that might present. TCM as an entire medical system involves much more than just acupuncture, and the different treatment methods are often used side by side. There are many conditions with which TCM alone is not sufficiently effective, this is when it needs to be combined with Western medical treatment.
The World Health Organisation has compiled a huge list of medical conditions that are amenable to treatment with acupuncture, including chronic respiratory problems, such as sinusitis and asthma, neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, such as headaches and low back pain, digestive disorders, such as colitis and gastritis, and chronic menstrual problems.
A wide-variety of clinical areas have been studied, including pain, cancer, pregnancy, stroke, mood disorders, sleep disorders and inflammation, to name a few.
We’ve collected here some of the most Frequently Asked Questions we hear regarding acupuncture. Sometimes there is no simple answer and sometimes there is no short answer to a given question.
Acupuncture has been practised for thousands of years; research into its effectiveness and cost effectiveness is in its relative infancy but has experienced a substantial surge in the past two decades.