Why you need acupuncture, NOW
Acupuncture is a medicine that is rapidly increasing in popularity. This millennium has seen an increase of acupuncture in the west of 300% [1]. And, of course, as an acupuncturist, this is incredibly exciting. Despite this, so many people I talk to, don’t see acupuncture as something for them. Lots of people think its for hippies (clever hippies I say!) or for people that western medicine can’t help. I want to tell you why you need acupuncture NOW.
Here are the 5 reasons everyone could use an acupuncture treatment, even if you think there is nothing wrong with you!
Prevention is better than cure.
Using acupuncture to maintain health is an ideal way to look after your body. If you visit your practitioner with a specific problem they will likely ask you to come into the clinic once a week. If you go for general wellbeing you can go once every 4 to 6 weeks. If you see a good practitioner, they should also give you lifestyle and diet advice to help with any underlying imbalances they see within your body, That along with the regular treatments can work to stop those imbalances turning into illness.
You don’t have to live in pain.
Those monthly period pains, those weekly headaches, that crick in your neck every morning, that doesn’t have to just be the way life goes. We should all aim to live our lives pain free. We also become complacent, we easily forget what it was like before the daily bloating and just accept, “thats life”. Wrong. Acupuncture can be a great way to tackle these problems that you’ve decided are just a part of normal life. And I bet you notice them loads more when they are gone and you are pain free! Then you'll be wondering why it took you so long to get acupuncture.
Its not just about pain.
Acupuncture is best known in the west for its use in pain relief. However, acupuncture is part of an entire healthcare system that covers all areas of health. As we learn more about the science behind this medicine, the west is accepting its use outside of pain management. For example, the effects of acupuncture on the immune system. It is now known to increase blood cell count, and enhance lymphocyte and natural killer cell activity [2]. Not to mention the effects on the central nervous system and the endocrine system (hormones).
We all need a chance to switch off.
We are all modern people. Our lives are fast, filled with phones, endless scrolling, emails and demands. An acupuncture treatment is an hour dedicated to self care in amongst the crazy world outside your treatment room. A chance to forget about the work, the washing and the dinner. A chance to slow down, connecting your body and your mind. Not forgetting acupuncture is also shown to increase the number of central nervous hormones such as endorphins, serotonin and noradrenalin [3] and therefore is biochemically relaxing the body.
Its fun!
Now, I can’t guarantee every patient would agree with me on this. And those of you that haven’t had acupuncture will probably now think I’m mad. Being stuck with needles for fun? But yes, I really do think its fun. I love my own practitioner, so spending an hour with her is amazing anyway. I love the experience she creates in her clinic. I enjoy being active in my health. It’s fun lying there, feeling super chilled out. You’ll be surprised how much you look forward to your sessions!
So, come on, book your appointment now!
References:
[1] Acupuncture Growing in Popularity. (2009). Retrieved from http://sleepeducation.org/news/2009/08/02/acupuncture-growing-in-popularity
[2] Hao, J. J., & Mittelman, M. (2014). Acupuncture: past, present, and future. Global advances in health and medicine, 3(4), 6–8. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2014.042
[3] Samuels, Noah & Gropp, Cornelius & Singer, Shepherd & Oberbaum, Menachem. (2008). Acupuncture for Psychiatric Illness: A Literature Review. Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.). 34. 55-64. 10.3200/BMED.34.2.55-64.
My Story
Firstly, welcome to the A D Acupuncture Blog! I’m Alice Douglas and I’m the founder of A D Acupuncture. I’ve decided to start writing a blog alongside my clinic work to try and give greater detail into how acupuncture works, how we can use lifestyle and dietary changes to improve our health and, most importantly, open up the conversation around acupuncture! If there is anything you want to know about, just let me know.
However to start with, I’m writing about me. I believe one of the amazing things about acupuncture is the relationships built between patient and practitioner. Having someone dedicated to your health that you trust is invaluable and sets acupuncture apart from many conventional medicines where, unfortunately, that is not an option. In a conventional setting, it can leave the patient having to expose themselves and their vulnerabilities to someone who doesn’t have to do the same.
I also want to share my story to explain how much acupuncture has changed my life and maybe encourage some of you to look into acupuncture with me or your local practitioner.
So, in a nut shell: At the age of 3 or so children are expected to grow out of nappies and become toilet trained. I didn’t. I stopped wetting the bed but my mum would still notice wet pants at the end of the day. I rarely had huge accidents. This lead my mum to think I was just a bit lazy, I didn’t want to stop playing with my friends and go to the loo. Children grow out of it and it takes some longer than others. She believed it was normal and that the problem would go away. By age 10 I was still in the same position and finally admitted to my mum I had no control over my bladder.
So began the hospital visits. it started with medications which took up the first 9 months. Then progressed to investigations, some invasive and some less so. I spend days in the hospital being analysed. Finally a diagnosis of Overactive bladder with urinary infrequency was given. Essentially my bladder twitched as did the sphyncter (tap) that lets urine out meaning I dribbled urine all day long. They tried to retrain my bladder with more days in hospital but this didn’t work either. I had botox injections into my bladder, which meant I had to learn to self catheterise, (insert a tube in order to urinate) but that didn’t work either. I was 13 and I wet myself, everyday, no matter what.
By this point, western medicine confessed there was little they could do to help me. They had tried everything they could. Through my own research I had read that acupuncture can work. I didn’t know what it was, neither did my mum, and the hospital didn’t really know either. But it was the very last option. It is all too common that acupuncture is used as a last resort, when all hope has been lost, rather than as a non invasive, gentle therapy to make a start with. Using the British Acupuncture Council website, we found the contact details of an acupuncturist close by. I instantly connected with her, she was interested in my case and she has turned out to be one of the most influential people in my life. After 6 weeks of treatment, my symptoms began to improve. And neither me, my mum, or my acupuncturist could quite believe it.
My acupuncture journey was a long one. I had weekly treatment for nearly a year, I had huge set backs and leaps forward. But ACUPUNCTURE CURED ME. And allowed me to live a normal life like all my teenage friends. The relationship I built with my acupuncturist is extremely prominent too. Throughout my teenage years and beyond I have had someone I can confide in without any risk of judgement or ridicule. Someone who I can speak openly to about every part of my body and mind. She is now also a professional mentor and amazing friend.
As well as my health, acupuncture obviously had a different impact on me too. My own experiences lead me to finish school and then decide to study acupuncture. I had grown up wanting to study medicine and although I have done it in a different way to how I expected, I have. I went to the City College of Acupuncture, where I learnt loads and met some brilliant people. In my final year I started to develop a special interest in bladder conditions, particularly Interstitial Cystitis. Now as a qualified acupuncturist, I want to help others in the way I was helped, as I know just what a difference you can make if you are caring, non judgemental, and good at acupuncture!
I hope this post has given a little insight into my life, and hopefully given you a pretty impressive acupuncture success story, so if you needed that last nudge to give it a go, you just got it. No more waiting around, get in touch!