There is never a dull day in the Acupuncture clinic and every day is varied.
Just this week I have helped people with many things, from knee pain to IVF support.
- back pain (from sprains to a prolapsed disc)
- Hot Flushes (menopausal but also Chemo-induced)
- Headaches and migraines
- IVF support (supporting egg transfer and preparing for IVF in general)
- Digestive problems
- Water Retention
- Male fertility issues
- Cancer treatment support
- And Morning Sickness!
Some cases are common place, such as lower back ache. Other cases are more specialised and challenging, for instance chemo-induced hot flushes.
But what we actually feel is often just the tip of the iceberg.
Pain is not the Cause, but the Symptom
What all the conditions I have seen this week have in common is that they are the symptoms of an underlying cause. They are not the root itself. Think of a tree, or an iceberg. The part that we can see is only a small part of what is actually going on.
No matter how simple a case may seem, the root can be (more often than not) complicated. We are not machines that if you change a spark plug everything will be fine again. We are complicated organisms that are affected by what we eat, how we sleep, what we are thinking, where we live, who we talk to….and on and on. So that is where the real skill of being a practitioner lies; being able to sort through everything and root out the actual cause of a disease or condition.
Do you trust your mechanic?
There is a real danger of treating ourselves as we would our cars. Something goes wrong so we take it to the mechanic. At the end of the day he calls you to go and pick it up. And one day, it costs just a bit too much, so you sell it or scrap it. There is a whole industry that encourages us to treat our bodies in this way, as if they are misbehaving machines. We are given a pill for this symptom and a pill for that, and then another pill for the side effects of the first pill! The pain may be dulled, but now you can’t think straight and your hands are numb!
Qi follows Mind
People often ask me how acupuncture works. I explain about the concept of Qi , our vital energy, and how if this energy is impaired then illness will result. But what the acupuncture needles really do is kickstart the Mind and Body into what it should have been doing all along – healing itself.
In Chinese Medicine we say that Qi goes where the Mind goes. That’s why practises such as Mindfulness and Meditation are so important for our health and wellbeing. They teach us to focus our Minds and really feel what we are feeling. No one can feel what you are feeling but you.
Please do contact me if you have any questions about Acupuncture. Or you can find out more about any of the topics in my blogs here, about me, or my treatments
