Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture in Ealing for children and adults
Acupuncture can be an effective therapy to help restore balance and promote physical and emotional harmony. It involves insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body to regulate the flow. This results in the body producing natural substances, such as pain-relieving endorphins. It's likely that these naturally released substances are responsible for the beneficial effects experienced with acupuncture.
Acupuncture Treatment start with indepth history intake during which I would create a TCM diagnosis. We go over the main complaint, sleep, digestion, menstrual cycle, etc. During that session I would try to explain how possibly the "imbalances" occured and what you can do to help yourself. I am a big advocate of lifestyle amendment like gentle exercise or changes in diet to get the body functioning better. I am often told the first session is very reflective as we link things togeter and create a like a timeline of developments.
Treatment is likely to involve some needling, possibly some manual therapy like guasha, cupping, using laser if someone cannot have needles, ear seeds on the ears or body points, some pyonex needles left on acupuncture points. All of these modalities are explained below.
Does acupuncture hurt?
I use coated, thinnest needles which are 0.12-0.2mm they vary in lenght depending on body parts I needle, I usually needle with a guide tube which acts as "distraction"for the body as I press with it first and then insert the needle. You may feel some of the needles going in, like a tiny prick, but noone ever described it as pain. My aim for the treatment is to help patients relax as that itself is therapeutic.
Moxa
Moxibustion is one of many modalities of acupuncture at Holistic Therapy Ealing. It involves burning dried up herb of mugwort on (direct) or near the acupuncture point (indirect). Below are picture of direct and indirect moxa.
When used directly, the moxa cone rests on the site of treatment on your body. I would ignite one end of the cone and leave it to burn slowly, cone is removed once it reaches the level of the skin. In musculosceletal cases, I place the moxa on the acupuncture needle and ignite it. The moxa will burn on the needle until it's extinguished. The heat is transferred to the acupuncture point through the needle.
Indirect moxibustion is common if big area needs to be covered and sometimes advised to be done at home. In this approach, the burning moxa doesn’t come into direct contact with your skin. Instead, I would hold it about an inch away from your body. Once the skin becomes warm and red, I will remove the moxa from near your skin.
In traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion is used on people who have a cold, blood deficiency or stagnant condition. The burning of moxa is believed to expel cold and warm the meridians, which leads to smoother flow of blood and qi. In Western medicine, moxibustion has successfully been used to turn breech babies into a normal head-down position prior to childbirth, NHS suggest using indirect moxa on acupuncture point ST36 to support body during chemotherapy for breast cancer, it can help with fatique and digestion. Link to the video is here
BAcC: Getting to the point
Picture from https://www.lierre.ca/blogs/acupuncture-supplies/the-ultimate-anatomy-of-acupuncture-needles-guide-presented-by-lierre-ca Source of needle picture
Guasha
Gua Sha is an important modality of acupuncture, I would normally describe it as a form of massage using a metal round eged tool. It is sometimes called ‘coining, spooning or scraping’. Gua – means ‘to rub’ or ‘press stroke’ Sha – is a term that describes the blood congestion in surface tissue areas where the patient may experience stiffness and pain; sha is also the term used for the little red dots that are raised from applying Gua Sha (Nielsen 2012).
Guasha is applied on oiled skin in repeated even strokes, it should not cause pain, though it may be slightly uncomfortable in spots. Sha appears as small red dots called ‘petechiae’ and the pain immediately shifts. In minutes the small red dots fade into blended reddishness.
The redness disappears totally in 2 or 3 days after treatment.
Modern research shows Gua sha produces an anti-inflammatory and immune protective effect that persists for days following a single Gua sha treatment. This accounts for its effect on pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea and vomiting etc. Here is a research suggesting guasha improves microcirculation of surface tissue.
Below are pictures of different stages/responses to guasha on the hand
Examples of treatment modalities
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Acupuncture in Ealing
Cupping
Cupping therapy is usually part of acupuncture treatment at Holistic Therapy Ealing and involves placing cups at certain points on a patient’s skin and sucking the air out to lift the tissues up into the cup resulting in small red spots and bruising under the skin. All marks are a normal part of the therapeutic effect of treatment and will usually fade within five to ten days.
The most common side effects include:
• soreness and sensitivity at the cupping site
• round marks of red spots and bruising under the skin that fade within five to ten days
• darkening or reddening of the skin that should resolve within ten days but may last a little longer in some cases
• fatigue
I mostly use cupping in respiratory or musculosceletal issues, with tension where there is not sufficient circulation, it can also be beneficial for abdominal concerns including Crohns, IBS, Infertility and Menstrual pain. For children I use silicone cup which can be purchased in my store.
One systematic literature review of 18 studies on efficacy of cupping find that “Cupping was found to reduce neck pain in patients compared with no intervention or active control groups, or as an add-on treatment. Depending on thetype of control group, cupping was also associated with significant improvement in terms of function and quality of life”.
Below are pictures of suction cupping done on a patient of Holistic Thearpy Ealing
Ear seeds
Ear Seeding is a form of acupressure on specific points. They can be applied to the ear or other parts of the body, especially acupuncture points.
The Ear is considered to be a microsystem of the body, so anything you can treat on the body with acupuncture you can treat in the ear with Ear Seeds. Ear Seeds are needle-free and non-invasive and sit on pressure points on the ear, promoting balance and an overall feeling of wellbeing
I often use ear seeds on Shen Men (calming point) on the ear, and very often patients noticing the positive changes ask for them to be put on.
Pyonex needles
One of my favourite "take me home" tools are pyonex needles. Theyhe breathable plaster is stuck to the skin and can be fixed on precisely, safely and for long periods (up to 48 hours) and kept on even when washing and showering. The 0.20 mm thin needle is concealed within the adhesive surface of the plaster and can scarcely be left by the patient. The needles are stimulated by pressing a finger down on the easily-to feel pressure point incorporated into the plaster. This involves patients actively in their own therapy and thus enhances the therapeutic effect. A further advantage of this plaster is that parents can continue to treat their children gently at home.
Below are pictures of ear seeds and pyonex needle.
Source of pyonex picture
What can acupuncture treat?
There are so many different Western Medicine diagnosis that that has been studied for effective treatment with acupuncture. Some of them are listed below.
Additionally, colleagues at the Evidence Based Acupuncture have done an amazing job combining scientific data and explaining things in a very simple medical way. The Acupuncture Evidence Project reviewed the effectiveness of acupuncture for 122 treatments over 14 clinical areas. They found some evidence of effect for 117 conditions. “Our study found evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for 117 conditions, with stronger evidence for acupuncture’s effectiveness for some conditions than others. Acupuncture is considered safe in the hands of a well-trained practitioner and has been found to be cost-effective for some conditions.
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