Conditions treated

From clinical experience, Chinese medical acupuncture has repeatedly been found to be effective for a wide range of primary care conditions including:

RESPIRATORY - asthma, chronic bronchitis, idiopathic dyspnoea (breathlessness), allergic rhinitis (hayfever), chronic non-allergic nasal congestion and other breathing problems, including those made worse by anxiety.

DIGESTIVE - abdominal pain, including moderate and severe, bloating, gas, heartburn and acid reflux, IBS, constipation and diarrhoea (either separately or alternating).

NEUROLOGICAL - Essential tremor (moderate to marked improvement), Bell’s Palsy (complete recovery from symptoms), post-Shingles pain (90-100% recovery within 2-6 sessions).

MUSCULO-SKELETAL - lower back pain, both immediately post-acute and chronic, shoulder pain (both muscular tension and joint pain), some cases of knee pain, hip pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis in fingers and more.

GYNAECOLOGICAL - dysmenorrhoea (painful and heavy periods), menopause symptoms.

URINARY - profuse or scanty urination, frequent UTIs (bladder or kidney infections), and some cases of urinary incontinence.

PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL - anxiety, depression

OTHER - various sleep problems, chronic and/or severe 'brain fog’.

NICE Guidelines on acupuncture

Headaches/migraine and chronic pain are the only conditions that NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends acupuncture for based on sufficient randomised controlled trial (RCT), systematic reviews and Cochrane review evidence indicating efficacy. The issue of evidence is extremely problematic as frequently ‘no evidence for’ means there hasn’t been sufficient research done as well as many technical issues with the way the available research is done.

See the Resources page for detailed information on Chinese medical acupuncture and medical research

Acupuncture can also be a beneficial complementary treatment in conjunction with biomedicine when managing chronic and/or severe conditions including serious respiratory and cardiological conditions, autoimmune conditions as well as coping with/recovering from cancer treatment and post-stroke recovery (dependent on time lapse since CVA).

In general patients regularly report:

  • improved immunity

  • improved energy

  • inflammation reduction

  • stress reduction

    This is very useful and important for patients pre- and post-operatively.

Ethical Practice

A clear indication will be given as to whether this treatment is likely to be able to help you. Absolute guarantees are not always possible (not least because lifestyle and other factors play a part), but a reliable guide can usually be given.

If this treatment is not suitable, you will be advised what other route to take. If there are issues that should be checked with your GP, or you should be receiving conventional treatment as well as acupuncture, you will be advised accordingly.