All About Acupuncture

Acupuncture benefits mystery illnesses?

Winter

Diagnosing infertility with Chinese acupuncture.

Acupuncture reduces health services spending on low back pain.

Acupuncture cost-effective for headache

May 13, 2012

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Should acupuncturists wear a white coat?

White Lab Coat. I had a student observing me last week, who’d come prepared with a white lab coat, should I want her to wear it in the treatment room. It kind of shocks me that some practitioners still wear these things and I’d love to know other practitioners thoughts on this; or indeed patients. [...]

December 23, 2011

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Should Acupuncturists Specialise?

A hot topic here in the UK is over whether acupuncturists should specialise. On the one hand, therapists argue that certain areas call for specialist knowledge over and above standard college teaching. On the other, people argue that acupuncture is a holistic system that is antithetical to specialisation. The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), the lead [...]

December 12, 2011

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Acupuncture Placebo – Does it matter & can we improve it?

Common questions about acupuncture. As an acupuncturist I dread talking about it socially, at least with the uninitiated. I get asked Does it hurt and, does it work. The answers to both are more complex than they might appear but my pat answer is that most people find it surprisingly comfortable to receive an acupuncture [...]

December 4, 2011

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9 reasons to wear a haramaki.

Muffin Tops The most unfortunate women’s fashion trend in recent years has been the pairing of hipster jeans and short shirts exposing a bare midriff; the so called muffin top. I say unfortunate because it exposes a vitally important energetic centre, the dan tian, to the environment. I guess whether it’s aesthetically pleasing is down [...]

November 20, 2011

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Scientists attack Prince Charles’ ‘fixation’ with alternative medicines, says Daily Mail.

An article in the Daily Mail yesterday ran with the title: “Scientists line up to attack Prince Charles ‘fixation’ with alternative medicines”. The article begins: “Prince Charles will not accept alternative medicine is of little benefit to patients because he is ‘ideologically fixated’, it was claimed today. Homeopathy, acupuncture and chiropractic therapy are ineffective [...]

November 11, 2011

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A nice cup of tea.

When I started eating a paleo/primal diet, the hardest thing for me was giving up black tea with (skimmed) milk. This great British staple is such a way of life for many of us that to even consider giving it up seems intolerable. We have a cup of tea to get us going in the [...]

November 6, 2011

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Does Chinese medicine support a low-carb paleo diet?

I think most people imagine not. The contemporary Chinese diet emphasizes the importance of ‘fan’, or staple foods such as wheat and rice. These are thought to have a neutral energetic (being neither cooling or warming) which balances the other elements of the meal – such as cai (vegetable dishes) and any proteins such as [...]

October 20, 2011

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Acupuncture Books: then & now.

I’ve been reflecting this week on how much the acupuncture profession has changed here in the UK. When I started my studies at The College of Traditional Acupuncture, back in 1984, acupuncture was still to most people a mysterious and exotic therapy. My interest in acupuncture was piqued by the Acumedic Centre in Camden Town, [...]

October 16, 2011

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Cupping

Cupping is on of the oldest methods of Chinese medicine and is still often used alongside acupuncture. Cupping was widely used in the ancient world, in cultures such as the Egyptians and Greeks. It was used in England by doctors until the modern era, and is still used in some parts of Europe and Asia [...]