Acupuncture is an ancient system of healing. The earliest acupuncture books were written about 5000 years ago and today world-wide, there are over three million practitioners.

Acupuncture began with the discovery that the stimulation of specific areas of the skin affected the functioning of certain organs of the body. It evolved into a system of healing as the connection between the skin and the organs was better understood and more sensitive ways of stimulation were devised.  In the west, acupuncture has been misleadingly publicised as only being helpful in specific conditions, for example pain or weight loss, whereas in fact, it is extremely effective in a wide variety of conditions through its power to stimulate our own healing responses. This overall therapeutic effect is one of its great strengths.

Diagnosis

Acupuncture begins with a diagnosis of the individual's energy imbalance. The energy of the body, mind and spirit is distributed through 12 main energy pathways (sometimes called meridians). Each pathway is associated with an organ. The chronic over or under activity of any of these pathways will cause the organ to work less effectively and disease will result.

Whether an energy pathway is malfunctioning is revealed in many ways, for example by facial colour, odour, sound in the voice, emotional state, taste preference, the nature of the symptoms and the distribution of heat and cold in the body. Each organ also has a pulse associated with it which informs the practitioner about the energy of that organ. The pulses are located on the radial artery at the wrist. These signs, together with several others, form the basis of diagnosis. The purpose of the diagnosis is to establish which pathways require adjustment for a specific condition to improve and which require adjustment for your overall energy and vitality to improve.

Treatment

Treatment is the process of re-establishing the energy balance. This is done in two ways. One is the insertion of fine, stainless steel needles into acupuncture points, either stimulating or sedating the energy of a specific pathway.

The other is the application of warmth to the acupuncture point, called moxibustion. These methods are often used in combination.  As balance improves, health improves.