Skip to main content

Point taken

I wish more people knew that acupuncture doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. As a migraineur and chronic headache sufferer, discovering acupuncture in my mid 30s was a real game changer. While treatment rarely keeps me pain-free for more than 10 days, regular sessions give me welcome relief from constant low level pain. But with a private acupuncture session costing up to £60 per hour, it was never going to be an affordable long term option for me. It’s thanks to community acupuncture that I can continue to have treatment on a regular basis.

At a multi-bed clinic you’re treated at the same time as other clients in an open plan treatment room. While you don’t get the undivided attention of your practitioner, in terms of treatment it’s really no different to a private consultation. Arrive at your allotted time slot,  jump on the bed, briefly talk over your ailments and the acupuncturist gets to work sorting them out. Once the needles are in, you’re left to relax for 30-40 minutes. They out they come, off you trot, with change in your pocket and a balanced chi – what’s not to love?

OK it’s not for the body-shy and certainly it takes a few sessions to get used to lying half naked in a room full of strangers with needles sticking out of every orifice. However, you soon realise you’re not the only Pinhead in the room, and before long you’re floating off to Tibetan chants. With needles in – you say? Yes! Apparently the needles release endorphins, which helps you to feel relaxed. I quite often hear the regulars snuffling away oblivious to patient A beside them with chronic something or other. And if forty winks ain’t for you, then you can always ear-wig on your neighbour’s latest prognosis.

While it’s taken us reserved Brits longer to catch on, group acupuncture has been practised as part of Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. So if you’re looking for affordable, ongoing pain relief for chronic conditions, it’s worth finding a local community acupuncture clinic near you. Find a British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) registered practitioner at http://www.acupuncture.org.uk. Remember that it takes time to get good results; acupuncture is a process, but one worth taking the time over. 






If you live in Norwich, UK, go see Rebecca Geanty and her super team of acupuncturists at www.treatnorwich.co.uk

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yaly Couture

15th March 2005 HOI AN Staying at Ancient House Resort on Cua Dia, a small boutique hotel with spacious, immaculate and stylish rooms. Can imagine that this would be a good place for honeymooners, as the service is discreet and the gardens and pool are beautiful. Got an upgrade on the second day to a room with a balcony so I can now sit outside and write, which is a marked improvement. I get free bike rental here so I’ve been out exploring. Riding a bike after so long and in Asia was a thrilling experience. Make me think how much quicker I could get about and see so much more. Today I cycled off the beaten track for a good 2 hours until I came to a boatyard where I pulled up for a refreshing drink. Don’t think these people see many white faces round here. I was drinking alone then suddenly there were about 15 faces staring at me. Curiosity got the better of one old man who hopped on his moped and escorted me down the road! I noticed that even this far out, huge speakers blast out propa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eating the heart out of Valentine’s Day

I didn’t think the highlight of Valentine’s Day would be eating a heart but today was set to confound my expectations in many ways. On arrival at Fareshare’s headquarters in east London we were ushered into the warehouse for drinks and canapes, where it was ubundantly clear by the stacks of unwanted foods and industrial fridges surrounding us that eco-chef Tom Hunt would be spoilt for choice of ingredients. Amongst the crates I spotted supermarket own brand goods from Tesco Value pasta to Sainsburys Taste the Difference Olive Oil Crostini, brand name goods including Nestle and Green Giant, and independent producers such as Propercorn gourmet popcorn. As I surreptiously checked out the clientele, we were served a warming aperitif of mulled cider with star anise and delicious canapés of confit rabbit offal, cod-head cakes and pork liver pate with onion marmalade. While there were certainly lots of couples out for an alternative take on the Valentine’s meal, groups of friends were also t...
Post a Comment
Read more

In praise of gilda, the quintessential bar snack

On a recent city break to Bilbao I discovered the perfect bar snack: the gilda. Allegedly invented at Bar Casa Vallés in San Sebastián and named after Rita Hayworth's character Gilda in the eponymous film, it’s been a star of the pintxo bar for over 70 years. Equal portions of pickled guindilla pepper, salted anchovy fillet and tangy green olive neatly stacked onto a cocktail stick: a perfect mouthful of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and piquant that awakens the tastebuds. In the same way that a club sandwich is the mark of a good hotel bar, the test of any good pinxto bar, is the quality of its gildas. Making a tasty gilda at home is easy, as long as you have the best quality ingredients to hand: a pickled Guindilla pepper, a Cantabrian salted anchovy fillet, and a juicy Manzanilla olive. Carefully add each layer onto a cocktail stick and in seconds you have an exquisite mouthful of pintxo. Partner with a house-made vermut or a crisp txokoli and you’ve got the perfect a...
Post a Comment
Read more