The first appointment consists of a full diagnosis in which I will take details of your main complaint and ask questions about your sleep, diet and general physical health. Since acupuncture is a holistic form of medicine I may also ask questions about your medical / personal history and your current lifestyle and emotional disposition. This first appointment will take between 1½ and 2 hours during which time I will look at your tongue and feel your pulses which provide a good indication of your underlying health. I may also carry out a structural examination depending upon the nature of your complaint. I will then use all this information to make a diagnosis and to formulate a treatment plan for you.

Subsequent treatments involve the gentle insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body. Only a relatively small number of points are used, usually no more than ten during each treatment and the most common ones used are normally located on the lower arms and legs or the back. It is often the case that the points chosen are not necessarily close to the part of the body where the problem exists.

The needles are sterilised, extremely fine and used only once. They come in a small tube which is placed over the point on the skin. Since the skin registers the sensation of the tube the insertion of the needle is barely noticeable. The needles may be inserted for just a few seconds or they may be left in place for up to twenty minutes depending on the nature of the individual diagnosis.

During the treatment you may be lying or semi-reclined on a comfortable couch as the needles are being inserted. I will take your pulses at certain points during the treatment which helps me to monitor the effect of the needles.