FAQs
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is part of the traditional medicine of China which draws on the wisdom of two thousand years of accumulated knowledge and experience in treating human disease. Central to Chinese medicine is the concept of qi (pronounced ‘chee’). Qi is the life force or energy which flows throughout your body. Acupuncture stimulates the qi to speed up your body’s natural powers of recuperation.
What is illness?
Chinese medicine looks at health and illness in a different perspective from conventional western medicine. In a healthy person the qi flows smoothly through the body, ensuring normal function. However, if this flow is disrupted for some reason then illness can occur. The flow of qi can be disturbed, for instance, by cold and damp, diet, stress, overwork, drugs, injuries, emotional and hereditary factors.
What does the treatment do?
Your acupuncturist can correct the flow of qi, and stimulate the body’s own healing response, by inserting needles into specific points on the body which have powerful therapeutic effects.
Chinese herbal medicine
In addition to acupuncture, you may be offered treatment with Chinese herbal medicine, usually prescribed in the form of pills which meet standards of Good Manufacturing Practice, originally laid down in the United States for pharmaceutical manufacturers. These herbal remedies are used to support and enhance the effect of acupuncture, and can often considerably speed your recovery, particularly where there is long-term chronic illness. Often the herbal formula selected for you will have been tried and tested over hundreds or thousands of years. Prescriptions now have the added advantage of coming from UK based suppliers who use modern scientific processing and control methods, ensuring that only pure ingredients are used.
What will happen when I come for a treatment?
At your first consultation I will ask you detailed questions about your condition, your personal health and your lifestyle. I will feel the pulse at your wrists and examine your tongue. The first consultation will last approximately one and a quarter hours; subsequent treatments will take between 30 and 45 minutes. All treatments include a period of rest.
Why do you ask so many questions?
I will not be looking for one or two symptoms in isolation. Rather, through detailed questioning and observation I will build up a comprehensive picture of you and your state of health, and from this formulate a diagnosis, in the context of Chinese medicine. This will allow the selection of the appropriate combination of points in which to insert the needles.
Does it hurt?
Exceptionally fine sterile, disposable stainless steel needles are used and the process should be almost painless, though you may feel a slight pin-prick and some sensation of tingling, dullness or heaviness around the area needled. An acupuncture needle is entirely different from a hypodermic needle – in fact, an acupuncture needle is so fine that it can be inserted into a hypodermic needle. Most people who are frightened of needles, find that acupuncture needles do not bother them at all. In addition to needles, an acupuncturist may use cupping, moxibustion (where a herb is smouldered near the skin to warm joints or muscles) or a heat lamp. These additional treatments are generally experienced as pleasant and relaxing.
Should I do anything to prepare for treatment?
Before your treatment you should avoid alcohol and coffee; also foods or drinks which colour your tongue. Try not to have a large meal within the hour before your treatment, though you should also avoid coming on an empty stomach. Please wear loose clothing for your appointment. You may find it easier to wear separates. It is helpful if you bring with you a list of any medication you are taking.
What should I do after treatment?
After your treatment you may find you feel particularly calm and perhaps a little light-headed. It is best to avoid planning anything too strenuous for the next couple of hours. It is also suggested that you avoid alcohol on the day of treatment.
How many treatments will I need and how much will it cost?
This depends on the individual nature of your problem, how long it has been present and how severe it is. At your first consultation, I will try to give you some idea of how long treatment might take, how frequently you will require treatment and over how long a period. Some problems can be resolved within one or two treatments, others take five or six, and severe, long-term problems may require treatment over several months. However, acupuncture is more affordable than you might think.
Your acupuncturist
Dwara Young MSc DipAc MBAcC.
Dwara is an experienced, professionally trained acupuncturist and a member of the British Acupuncture Council. She has been in practice since 1992.
If you would like to have a chat with her before making an appointment, do phone the practice nearest you and ask Dwara to get in touch with you, or email dwara@acupuncture-bristol.co.uk, putting "Enquiry from website" as your subject heading.
Clifton Physiotherapy
111 Pembroke Road
Clifton
Bristol BS8 3EU
0117 970 6390
Link
on Google Maps
The Chiron Centre
130 Westbury Road
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol BS9 3AL
0117 962 0008
Link
on Google Maps
Trinity Osteopathic Practice
42 Bell Street
Shaftesbury
Dorset SP7 8AE
01747 851 726
Link on Google Maps