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Blog
If you’re reading this, you have already shown some interest in finding out more about acupuncture. You are not alone. Acupuncture is becoming an evidence based medicine. The Cochrane database, a revered database of research and controlled trials which is recommended by the NHS for research purposes, has recorded 18,252 clinical trials using acupuncture up to April 2023. It also has 140 Cochrane Reviews on acupuncture. These reviews analyse trials using a specific system and provide clear evidence for the benefit of a healthcare intervention. The reviews cover subjects including headaches and migraines, menstrual issues, arthritis, asthma, shoulder pain, insomnia and labour induction amongst many others. The Western medical profession is starting to sit up and take notice. In April 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that people suffering with chronic pain should have access to non-phramalogical interventions including acupuncture to help manage their condition. NICE also recommends acupuncture for migraines or tension based headaches.
Every time we eat or drink, it’s an opportunity to benefit our wellbeing through nourishing our body. To be clear, there are many different systems of nutrition and dietary therapy. Chinese medicine has its own theories on how to use food as medicine and it has been practiced in China for thousands of years. It does differ from some Western theory but for me, it makes a lot of sense and I have found it very helpful and simple to follow. Full disclosure, I am not a registered nutritionist. I am a qualified acupuncturist so my opinions on nutrition are exactly that. However, I studied with qualified nutritionist practitioners and I use all of this advice in my own life. The key point about Chinese medicine nutrition is that it’s different for everyone. When you come for a consultation, it might be that some nutritional therapy could be beneficial to you. But that’s totally concluded on an individual basis.
Dare we say it.....is it here....Spring. The Equinox has passed and we are now definitely in Spring. Even the clocks have sprung forward and the evenings are finally lighter. The transition from Winter to Spring can be a tricky one. Winter is about restorative hibernation. Bursts of cold activity followed by warm, comforting food, indulging in the shorter days, marvelling at full moons being so low in the sky and relishing every ray of sunshine. Spring is bursting with energy. We can see it all around us - lambs are appearing in the fields, bulbs are shooting from the ground, brave daffodils are being battered by every type of weather. This substantial shift in energy can be a tough one for us to navigate. I find that suddenly my diary is getting busier and I have one eye on the promise of warmer weather and the Summer. It’s a time of excitement, renewal and energy. But there are things we can do to help ourselves if we understand and recognise this shift in focus. Given its origins in the observance of nature, Chinese Medicine connects Birth and the colour Green with Spring in the same way that we still do today. But interestingly, Wind is the weather most associated with Spring.
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