Why acupuncture?

The point of acupuncture

Good health is not just the absence of pain or disease.

Traditional acupuncture works to maintain the body's equilibrium by focusing on all aspects of wellbeing; physical, mental, emotional.

According to traditional Chinese philosophy, our health is dependent on qi (the body's motivating energy) moving in a smooth and balanced way through a series of channels. The superficial parts of these channels travel just beneath the skin and these are the parts of the channels on which acupuncture points are found. These channels also permeate the entire body and connect the internal organs, muscles, blood vessels etc to create a functioning whole.

The flow of qi can be disturbed by any number of factors. These include trauma, infections, hereditary factors, poor diet, overwork and emotional states such as anxiety, anger, or grief. When the qi is unbalanced, illness may result.

The acupuncturist inserts ultra fine needles at chosen points along the acupuncture channels. The aim is to stimulate the body's own healing response and restore its natural balance.

Treatment is aimed at the root of your condition, as well as your symptoms. This approach can lead to a more permanent resolution of your problems.

Acupuncture works!

Acupuncture is a tried and tested system of medicine. The Chinese and other eastern cultures have been using acupuncture to restore, promote and maintain good health for thousands of years. Nowadays more and more people are finding this long established therapy can offer an effective solution to all manner of today's ills.

Acupuncture is now widely used and accepted all over the world forming an integral part of the health care systems of many eastern and western countries. The British Acupuncture Council is the regulatory body for qualified acupuncturists in the UK.

Recent research into the biomedical basis for acupuncture

This suggests that the location of the acupuncture channel system is consistent with that of the pathways of fascia (connective tissue) that run throughout the body. Advances in biomedical imaging techniques have sparked a new interest in this area. One of the most exciting aspects of this is the proposal that this network of fascia may form another method of communication in the body similar to and more extensive than the nervous system. This is thought to be the system responsible for the action of acupuncture.