Facial enhancement acupuncture is more than just cosmetic

People come to acupuncture for many different reasons  – including for treatments that combine feel-good with look-good.

Facial enhancement acupuncture offers you the best of both worlds.

True beauty comes from within of course: diagnosing and understanding your health challenges remains my priority.

Whether you’re coming for facial acupuncture or traditional Five Element acupuncture, in your first appointment my focus is on understanding the health and wellbeing challenges you’re facing. I take a full medical history, including understanding any existing health concerns and noting any prescribed or over-the-counter medications you’re taking.

This first consultation is the key not only to treating you safely, but also to an in-depth diagnosis that allows me to make a treatment plan that’s unique to you.

The stomach, gallbladder, large intestine and bladder channels all start or end their pathways on the face. That means using carefully selected acupuncture points on the face and neck can be helpful where stress and worry, lack of sleep and digestive upset show in your complexion and as worry and frown lines.

With its focus on how you look, Facial Enhancement acupuncture simply offers a welcome extra boost of enhancement techniques. Additional tiny needles – called intradermals – are precisely placed for smoothing jowls, frown and laughter lines, easing puffiness and toning tired muscles. Gentle facial gua sha and cooling jade roller massage also work to relax and tone.

Prices

Initial facial enhancement acupuncture consultation – including consultation and treatment, this session lasts around one and a half hours and costs £99.

Follow up sessions – last around 50 minutes and cost £85.

Pre-book a series of six sessions, including initial consultation with first treatment and five follow up treatments for £499.

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Any questions?

Contact me for more information on 07593 058748 or email [email protected]

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Recovering from Covid? Take it slow

Between four and six people in my professional, social and family network have gone down with Covid every week since the beginning of June. That includes me. 

Here we are in the summer of 2022, two years on from the end of the first lockdown, with 12,944 active cases in South Cambridgeshire this week (as reported by ZOE on 12.7.22) and an estimated number of people with Covid symptoms at the moment close to four and a half million across the UK (ZOE). 

That’s a lot of people suffering coughs, sore throats, aching heads and bodies, bone-deep exhaustion, loss of smell and appetite, upset digestion, stomach pains, disturbed sleep, and the rest. But whatever our individual experience of symptoms, we all have two things in common. 

We want to feel better. 

And we want to test negative again. 

Sorry, but I’m going to be a bit negative about negative tests. Lateral flow tests are designed as cheap, quick, simple tests to detect relatively high viral loads of Covid-19 antigens. Before restrictions were lifted in England earlier this year, a positive test was seen as a ‘red light’, identifying those most infectious and encouraging them to isolate quickly: Stop. Do Not Pass Go. Go Straight Home and Stay There. 

On the other hand, a negative test is taken as a green light – telling us we’re good to go, to jump right back to into our jobs, businesses, families and social lives, because – hooray! – we don’t have Covid anymore, do we?

Negative is not the opposite of positive

I’m self-employed, and of course, was desperate for that first negative test. But, as I’ve come to realise myself, and as many more of my patients are learning the hard way when it comes to Covid-19, negative is NOT the opposite of positive. 

Now restrictions in England are gone, and the landscape on infection and illness has shifted – a negative test is taken as a green light, when at best it’s an amber in my view, and the impact of the Covid virus itself on our health is being minimised. For example, in the first 24-hours after I tested positive, I was surprised by the number of people who assumed there’s a good chance Covid now comes with no, or minimal, symptoms. Sorry to disappoint – where has this idea come from?– I was not at all well, along with just about everyone else I come across. Plus, I know friends and relatives and patients able to work from home are under pressure to put in a full day while still plainly fighting an active infection. 

We’re all fighting a virus which at, 4 June 2022 has left two million people in the UK – that’s 3% of the population – identifying as having Long Covid and suffering symptoms that have lasted for more than four weeks following their initial infection. (Source: Office for National Statistics. 12.7.22) That can’t be good for our collective health long term, and rushing people back to work who’ll need time off later isn’t good for national productivity either. 

Yes, when I came out negative, I felt quite a bit better that I had when I tested positive, but a negative lateral flow doesn’t mean that Covid has left the building. It simply means levels of Covid proteins in that snotty sample are no longer high enough to trigger the chemical reaction in the test kit.

When I was back down to just one purple line again, I wish I’d been able to jump out of bed to celebrate all that negativity.  Instead, I could still feel the virus in my body, like the flakes in a snow globe, shaken, stirred and definitely still blizzarding. In fact, it wasn’t until several days later – maybe four days after my negative test – that the snowflakes finally settled in my case. Others are not so fortunate. 

Our immune systems are still hard at work

Immediately after we’ve had Covid, (and assuming we’ve not been ill enough to need care in hospital), even once we feel largely better and major symptoms ease off, all the evidence shows that our immune systems are still hard at work fighting the remains of the virus.

That’s why my advice to family, friends and colleagues hanging on for that negative test or dragging themselves through the day, is ‘Take it slow’. 

Please take it slow

Now I’m back at work, I’m seeing people with Long Covid dating back to 2020; people who are recovering from recent infections; people who’re trying to get their health back on track after two, or even three, bouts of Covid. All have busy lives, and pretty much all of them wish they’d taken or created more opportunities simply to rest more in the first week or two after they finally tested negative again.

So if you’ve got Covid as you read this, think about how best to support your immune system and your health in the long-term by finding positive ways to take it slow, giving your body a chance to rest and recover – especially in the first 14 days after that negative result.  

If you’d like to learn more about how acupuncture can be part of your toolkit supporting recovery and well-being after Covid, or other viral infections, please get in touch for a free 20-minute consultation.

Email me at [email protected]

Acupuncture is a retreat from the everyday

Showing new five element acupuncture treatment room in Willingham, Cambridgeshire

When I ask my clients what they most appreciate about Five Element acupuncture, they all make essentially the same point, that their acupuncture sessions are calming and nourishing experiences for mind and spirit as well as for the body.

With this very much in mind, I’ve designed my new treatment room to help everyone relax the moment they walk in. It’s a light, sunny and airy space, with views of mature trees and a neighbouring orchard to enjoy during your acupuncture session – they’re gorgeous with blossom in the spring, and right now are full of birdsong and gentle breezes in this glorious summer weather.

Coming for acupuncture really is a retreat from the everyday – and my relocated treatment room is an oasis of calm, where the focus is entirely on you and your physical and mental well being.

I work in the Cambridgeshire village of Willingham, just a few minutes’ from the A14 and convenient for Cambridge, Ely, St Ives, and the Fen edge villages. There’s parking right outside the front door.

If you’d like to find out more about how acupuncture can support your health and well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation. Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

email [email protected]
 phone me on 07593 058748

    Can acupuncture be effective for menopausal symptoms?

    A recent review of research into how acupuncture can support women with menopausal symptoms concludes that acupuncture can offer effective support for menopausal symptoms.

    The summary, written by acupuncturists and menopause specialists, Katherine Berry and Natalie Chandra Saunders, and published by Evidence Based Acupuncture (USA) found acupuncture effective for hot flushes, depression, anxiety, and insomnia, all of which commonly affect menopausal women. The study, published on 29th March 2021, also found evidence that acupuncture can potentially be of benefit in chronic, post-menopausal health conditions, including osteoporosis.

    Menopause is associated with a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms. Currently, the most common treatment is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). However, many women are reluctant to use this medication since the Women’s Health Initiative study revealed potential dangers, including an increased risk of breast cancer, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. Many women seek alternatives and acupuncture is an excellent option.  It can also act as an effective add-on therapy for those already taking HRT or other medicines.

    Despite its far-reaching benefits, many women are unaware that acupuncture can help ease the most common menopausal symptoms. As someone who’s been through the menopause myself, I can sympathise with symptoms and offer support through appropriate acupuncture treatments. Phone or email me for a free short consultation to find out how acupuncture could help you cope.

    To read the full summary of the research review visit https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/acupuncture-menopause 

    If you’d like to find out more how acupuncture can support your health and well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation. Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
     phone me on 07593 058748

    Anxious? Worried? Not sleeping? Five ways acupuncture can help you cope

    illustrates blog on how acupuncture can support physical and mental health during pandemic

    You’re definitely not alone if you feel crushed, demoralised and emotionally emptied out by the multiple whammies of pandemic, recession, war and climate emergency – plus of course your concerns for your own life and loved ones. We’re all doing our best to hang on in there and get through it.

    But how to ‘hang in there’ and ‘get though it’ when our physical and mental resources are already stretched to their limits by the last couple of years of uncertainty, fear and worry? Five element acupuncture in the 21st century draws on the deep experience of centuries of understanding of the body and mind. Here are five ways the five element traditions of healing can help you find the strength and resilience you need in the here and now.

    1: Five element acupuncture is all about you. 

    Some of my patients don’t want to talk beyond the bare minimum. Others need to talk everything out to reach an understanding in their own minds of what’s going on. Patient after patient tells me that they see me and my treatment room a safe place to describe what they’re going through, to ‘vent’ and express their frustration.

    “It’s a huge strain keeping up a brave face,” one patient said recently, “with you, I can tell it like it is.” Tears are not unusual.

    The good news is that acupuncture is about you and where you are right now. As an acupuncturist, I have the time to listen as well as the skills and knowledge that will support you to be and do your best through tough times.

    2: Acupuncture is a natural pain killer for physical aches and pains, from headaches to osteoarthritis.

    The mechanisms underlying acupuncture as effective pain relief have been researched in detail for more than 60 years. Researchers know that acupuncture activates the body’s own pain-killing compounds and increases the brain’s sensitivity to these naturally produced analgesics. 

    3. Acupuncture encourages the release of endorphins – the body’s own feel good chemicals.

    Endorphins play a key part in regulating our body’s physical response to stress – heart rate, blood pressure and our digestive system.

    4. Acupuncture activates neurotransmitters encouraging rest and healing

    When we’re stressed and anxious, the area of the brain called the hypothalamus releases neurochemicals that encourage our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. Research shows that acupuncture can quiet down this alarm system. But acupuncture delivers more. As well as switching off fight, flight and freeze, it switches on the parasympathetic nervous system – telling our bodies it’s ok to rest and to relax, which is where we need to be for the body’s healing and restorative processes to get underway.

    5: Sleep. Let’s not forget sleep! Most trials have found that acupuncture is significantly more effective at helping patients with difficulty sleeping than existing conventional drugs – without their level of side effects. 

    However, if you’re already taking sleeping tablets, research shows that acupuncture can safely be combined with conventional treatments for insomnia. Researchers have also found that acupuncture reduces side effects and enhances the beneficial effects of conventional sleep medications your GP may prescribe. 

    For more detail on the research mentioned in this article and to find out more about how researchers assess the impact and mechanisms of acupuncture, visit the Evidence A-Z pages on the website of my professional body, the British Acupuncture

    The British Acupuncture Council https://www.acupuncture.org.uk

    Evidence Based Acupuncture https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org

    Take the first steps to building your resilience in these tough times.

    To find out more about how acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
     Text or phone me on 07593 058748

    NICE guideline for chronic pain: painkillers out, acupuncture in

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is set to endorse acupuncture as one of only four treatment options GPs can consider prescribing for people with chronic pain conditions. From January 2021, painkillers and all other drugs, apart from anti-depressants, will be off the prescription pad menu.

    This new guideline is for chronic primary pain, characterised by emotional distress and functional disability. Common conditions that would qualify are fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, chronic neck pain and chronic pelvic pain, though there are many more possibilities.

    This is NICE’s first guideline for chronic pain in general, rather than a specific painful condition, though the equivalent Scottish guideline agency (SIGN) has had one for several years (and it, too, endorses acupuncture).

    Which treatments are recommended by NICE in this guideline?

    acupuncture

    exercise: a supervised group programme, preferably followed up long-term by patients themselves

    psychological therapies: specifically cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

    antidepressant drugs

    Ten other classes of medication were considered and rejected by NICE. These included opioids, anti-inflammatories, paracetamol, benzodiazepines and gabapentinoids: none of these were found to have evidence of benefit for chronic pain and there are possible harms associated with their use.

    Research shows that acupuncture can be an effective option for chronic pain, and it’s great that NICE recognise what so many patients know from their own experience of treatment.

    One of the drivers behind the NICE decision is the urgent need to cut down prescriptions of opioids and other painkillers. In the United States – where opioid addiction is having a devastating impact – acupuncture is an increasingly popular option, supported by insurance companies, and for example, a mainstream treatment on offer in healthcare services for US forces veterans .

    Acupuncture is also one of the safest forms of treatment there is, when given by highly trained practitioners. I’m trained to the exacting and stringent standards of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC). (That’s the membership body I belong to).

    It is important to realise that this guideline for GPs excludes any condition whose pain management is addressed by existing NICE guidance – currently, for example, headaches, low back pain, sciatica, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, endometriosis, and IBS.

    To find out more about how acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
     text or phone me on 07593 058748

    Live well, live long: the Nourishment of Life tradition

    The Nourishment of Life tradition is one of the foundations of my healing practice, protecting your physical and mental well being. 

    Yes, using needles isn’t currently possible, but I’ve found there ARE meaningful ways to be there for my patients online, protecting their physical and mental well being in scary, stressful times. 

    Needles are important tools, but they’re not the only ones I’m trained to use. Acupuncturists are practitioners in the Chinese Nourishment of Life tradition – known as yangsheng. Yangshen dates back over 2,500 thousand years and is a philosophy of wellness focusing on preventing illness and disease and promoting well being through a range of healing and therapeutic tools that includes tai chi and qigong, medicinal herbs and of course, acupuncture   

    To support living well and fully into old age,  yangshen takes account of every aspect of our lives and behaviour – physical, mental, spiritual and emotional. In addition to needles, this tradition provides me with a whole range of tools and approaches I use to encourage people of all ages towards health and fitness, improved immunity, and physical and mental balance. This means I can continue to offer support to my patients online – from recommending food as their best medicine to helping them cope with chronic pain. 

    In lockdown I see patients for one-to-one sessions using a secure and data-compliant tele-health portal. Some find my continued emotional support is critical:  this pandemic hasn’t paused their personal traumas. Physical symptoms still cause pain too, and I coach my patients in appropriate techniques, including acupressure and moxibustion, that – with a little practice – they’re able to use at home. And there’s nothing more life affirming in Covid-19 times than coaching mums-to-be and their birth partners in acupressure techniques! 

    In the best of times, it can be a struggle to find space to quiet strident thoughts and emotions. Usually, my treatment room is that place of calm for my patients. During this crisis, while that’s not an option, I’m doing my best to share yangshen Nourishment ofLife traditions as widely as possible in my community with skills and advice to help us all to live well and live long. I’ve recently started hosting free online, guided relaxation classes, open to all. Join me via Zoom meetings at 8pm on Monday evenings for 30-minutes of gentle physical and mental relaxation, offering calm and quiet in these troubling times. 

    Everyone is welcome. To register, email me at [email protected]

    If you’d like to find out more about yangshen, I recommend Peter Deadman’s book Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Nourishment of Life Tradition, published by The Journal of Chinese Medicine.

    Image Credit: Ming herbal (painting): Siberian white crane. Credit: Wellcome CollectionAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    To find out more about how acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

     Book your appointment online 
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    email [email protected]
     phone me on 07593 058748

    World Acupuncture Day 2018 makes an impact

    More than 1,000 delegates gathered at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for a conference on Thursday 15 November 2018, while in London the British Acupuncture Council held a high-profile press briefing.

    The Paris event, organised by the European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (ETCMA) in conjunction with the World Acupuncture Day Organization (WADO), brought together practitioners, researchers, politicians, academics and administrators of all disciplines related to acupuncture and moxibustion.

    In London, acupuncturists, researchers and doctors presented the latest evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of acupuncture to an audience of MPs and journalists, who gathered at the Shard.

    Elsewhere in the UK acupuncturists marked the day with a variety of events, ranging from holding taster sessions for charity to writing to their local GPs and MPs.

    Chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council, Rob Strange, said: ‘The day was a huge success all round.

    ‘Many people know about acupuncture because of its ability to help with lower back pain – a huge problem in the UK and indeed the world. But World Acupuncture Day aimed to raise awareness that it is also an effective treatment for many other conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, fertility problems, IBS, migraine, depression and the side effects of cancer treatment.

    ‘When carried out by a fully trained acupuncture practitioner, acupuncture is extremely safe and cost effective and has the potential to transform lives for the better.’

    He went on to highlight the importance of promoting acupuncture in the UK.

    ‘In China, acupuncture is fully integrated into the healthcare system. In Australia it is officially recognised and state registered. The US has a number of integrated programmes where acupuncture is used alongside orthodox medicine.

    ‘We would like to see acupuncture play a greater role in routine primary care in the UK as it does in other countries. At our press briefing speakers presented some very compelling evidence to show how effective acupuncture is. We are calling on health professionals to examine the science and take steps to integrate acupuncture into their practice.’

    Among the speakers at the UK event was consultant cardiologist Sanjay Gupta, from York Hospital, who is collaborating with the Northern College of Acupuncture on a clinical trial to examine the benefits of acupuncture in patients with atrial fibrillation.

    Acupuncturist Rebecca Geanty from Norfolk spoke about her multibed clinic, Treat, which helps patients with a range of conditions including musculoskeletal disorders, fertility issues, psychological problems, pregnancy and other chronic conditions.

    Adrian Lyster presented on his 25-year career treating patients for pain in hospital and primary care clinics, and extolled the benefits of integrated care.

    And Naava Carman presented evidence on the benefits of acupuncture for fertility.

    Vice-president of WADO and president of the ETCMA, Gerd Ohmstede, said the Paris event also went extremely well.

    He said: ‘One in four EU citizens uses complementary or alternative medicine (CAM), either as a complement or an alternative to conventional care. Yet this increasingly high level of popular use is not reflected in EU or national health policy or provision. 

    ‘The aim of World Acupuncture Day was to highlight new research that further demonstrates how acupuncture can contribute to national health systems around the world in a safe and cost-effective way.’

    To find out more about how acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
     text or phone me on 07593 058748

    Winter enriches body and soul

    After the tinsel and glitter of the festive season, January often hits people hard. 

    Stark landscapes of bare, skeletal trees and frozen earth can seem grim and forbidding. But look deeper and of course, water – the element Chinese medicine associates most closely with winter – engenders life itself.

    Over three millennia Chinese doctors and philosophers have described the cycle of the seasons as a creative cycle of five interdependent elements, beginning with water. Spring’s yang burst of growth, colour and rebirth would be impossible without water’s deep and dark wintertime yin.

    We can benefit from mirroring nature. I advise my patients not to make the usual bleak January resolutions of denial and deprivation but instead to think of this time of year as a positive opportunity to nourish and nurture. 

    How can your enrich your life? 

    Which foods best fuel and warm your body? 

    Are you seeking out and enjoying the music, books, films that sow the seeds of personal growth over the coming year? 

    Who and what do you look to comfort and safeguard your spirit? 

    This is the work of winter, and should make for a glorious spring. 

    To find out more about how acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
    text me on 07593 058748

    What is Five Element acupuncture?

    For close to three thousand years, Chinese doctors and philosophers have used the idea of the creative cycle of the five elements and their associated seasons as a way to understand the complex relationship between our minds and emotions and our physical bodies.

    Wood is associated with Spring. It embodies Yang and is the element of growth and outward expansion, hope and renewal.

    • The Fire of Summer warms our hearts and relationships.
    • As Summer the Yang of Summer wanes, Earth holds the centre with a rich harvest promising plenty.
    • Come Autumn, Yang gives way to Yin. Autumn’s element – Metal – recycles and purifies, securing valuable nutrients to nourish future growth.
    • And while Winter may seem forbidding, dark and cold, its element – Water –engenders life itself.

    Balance and interdependence

    In Chinese medicine in general, and Five Element acupuncture in particular, this creative cycle of generation, sustenance and support is extended to the relationships between the body’s organs.

    The Heart is regarded as the Emperor of the body, mind and spirit of each individual.

    Our bodily functions – the procurement and processing of nourishment; dispersal and take up of essential nutrients; the maintenance of balance and harmony; the elimination of impurities and waste – are all governed by the relevant organs. They are the ‘officials’ serving the Emperor.

    The cycle emphasises the interdependence of the ‘officials’, showing how imbalance or dysfunction in one organ and its associated functions will have an impact on the others around and across the cycle.

    The guiding principles of Five Element acupuncture

    All five elements are of course present in each of us. When making a diagnosis and working on a treatment plan, Five Element practitioners carefully assess each patient to determine which of the five elements is dominant. You can think of this dominant element as your ‘guardian’ element.

    Each ‘official’ governs aspects of our emotional and mental well-being as well as our physical health. For example, the Liver is associated with anger and our ability to plan ahead; Earth represents worry but also understanding and empathy.

    Understanding the role of the ‘guardian’ element and its associated ‘officials’ is the guiding principle behind Five Element treatment as your practitioner works to restore balance in body, mind and spirit.

    To find out more about how Five Element acupuncture can support your physical health and mental well being, all you have to do is get in touch to arrange your free short consultation.

    Online or by phone, and with no obligation at all, you can ask questions about any aspect of treatment, from what to wear to your sessions to the evidence-base of cutting edge research showing how acupuncture may help you cope better with specific complaints and conditions.

    email [email protected]
     text me on 07593 058748