About Acupuncture
Classical acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient, well respected and widely practised natural therapy that can safely and effectively help with a broad range of physical, mental and emotional health issues. It originated in China around three thousand years ago and it has been developed and refined over many centuries. This gentle, safe and effective healing system is now used worldwide as a means of helping to restore, promote and maintain good health and wellbeing.
Importantly, body and mind and spirit are seen as interdependent aspects of a person and good health depends on them being in balance. Pain and illness are signs of imbalance, which happens when the body’s Qi, or vital energy cannot flow freely. This can be for many reasons, with emotional and physical stress, poor nutrition, infection or injury amongst the most common causes.
The overall aim of acupuncture treatment is to restore mind-body equilibrium. It can be used to help with a wide range of acute and chronic health conditions, either on its own or alongside conventional Western medicine.
A key strength of acupuncture is its focus on the person as a whole. Treatment is tailored to meet each patient’s needs and to address the underlying cause of their condition, not just individual symptoms. Extremely fine, sterile needles are inserted into specific acupuncture points on the body to re-establish the free flow of Qi, restore balance and stimulate the body's natural healing response to help ease pain and promote recovery.
Facial revitalisation (holistic) acupuncture
Facial revitalisation acupuncture is a safe and natural way of improving the health and vitality of the skin and enhancing the overall appearance of the face. The skin is gently stimulated with tiny, ultra-fine, sterile needles to increase its natural processes of protection and repair, which slow down over time. This encourages increased blood flow and collagen production, as well as helping to reduce puffiness and inflammation, relax tension held in the muscles of the face and soften facial markings to give a more radiant, youthful glow to the complexion.
Who has acupuncture?
Many people use acupuncture to help with specific symptoms like pain, tiredness, constipation, hot flushes, anxiety, nausea, headache and backache, or with a wide variety of health conditions such as asthma, IBS, fibromyalgia, migraine and arthritis. Others choose acupuncture as a preventive measure to strengthen their constitution, help with emotional issues, or because they just feel generally unwell. Acupuncture is considered suitable for all ages including babies, children and the elderly. It can be very effective as a stand-alone treatment, also when combined with conventional medicine, or with physical therapies like physiotherapy and osteopathy.
How can acupuncture help me?
Acupuncture is widely considered to be beneficial in helping with various types of illnesses and injuries - from clearly defined symptoms to more general feelings of ill health, reduced energy and low mood. Take a look at the BAcC research fact sheets to find out more about how acupuncture may be able to help you.