Acupuncture treatment aims to relieve pain, restoring and re-balancing the body’s systems. Acupuncture uses needles to stimulate specific points in the body to produce natural chemicals, such as endorphins to relieve pain, melatonin to promote sleep and serotonin to make you feel better. We will always tailor our treatments to suit you and your specific needs. When you visit us at our clinic we will undertake an in-depth assessment to determine the source of your symptoms. The assessment will allow us to select the acupuncture points required to effectively treat your condition. We use this treatment within the background of clinical and research evidence to reduce recovery time and allow other physiotherapy treatments to achieve optimal results. Acupuncture can relieve pain and help you to relax, thus enabling you to effectively engage in rehabilitation.

We will use specific points depending on your needs and area of symptoms. We generally use points in the area of your pain, in addition to some carefully selected points in other parts of your body. Research has shown that this provides longer lasting pain relief. Acupuncture points are located along meridians. The concept of meridians stems from Traditional Chinese Medicine, where they are considered to be “energy highways” through which our Qi (energy) flows. Meridians can be mapped throughout the whole body and have acupuncture points located along them.

We have 12 meridians: lung, large intestine, stomach, spleen, heart, small intestine, bladder, kidney, pericardium, triple heater, gall bladder and liver. The meridians are named according to their corresponding organs, limb positions and yin and yang properties. Yin and yang are considered two opposite, while complementary energies that are interdependent. Traditional Chinese Medicine theory is about bringing yin and yang forces back into balance. The 6 yin meridians are located on the inner side of the limbs, on the chest and abdomen. The 6 yang meridians are located on the outer side of the limbs and on the head, face and trunk.

Our acupuncture treatments are approximately 40 minutes long. We leave the needles in place for 30 minutes for optimal effectiveness.

During your treatment, your therapist may gently manipulate the needles to stimulate the acupuncture point and keep it working throughout your treatment. When receiving treatment, you may feel an aching sensation that the Chinese call Deqi. Deqi refers to the excitation of qi or vital energy inside meridians by acupuncture needle stimulation. Deqi is considered a parameter of therapeutic effectiveness and its presence suggests that treatment is taking effect. On rare occasions you may feel a little light headed, drowsy or develop a small bruise in the area where the needle has been inserted. These effects are rare but if you do experience these, or any other side effects, please let your therapist know.

We may use Trigger point acupuncture in addition to your physiotherapy treatment. Trigger points are hypothesised as being hyper-irritable points in the muscle or connective tissue (fascia), which can cause both local and referred pain. Acupuncture can work directly into trigger points to relieve pain. During trigger point treatment, your therapist may manipulate the needle more strongly for a short amount of time in order to relieve the trigger point, associated pain and tightness.

We use top quality needles, which are sterile and single-person-use. Furthermore, we safely dispose of the used needles in a sharps bin following your treatment. Side effects are minimal. We would however, urge you to consider acupuncture as part of your treatment, rather than as the whole package. We believe that exercises, postural change and other aspects will need to be addressed too, in order for the benefits to be maintained.