What is Medical Acupuncture?

Acupuncture has its roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has been practised for over 2000 years. Over this time acupuncture has developed and been adapted to different cultures, treating a huge range of health conditions, disorders and diseases. Certain adaptations of acupuncture have evolved and been integrated into our Western healthcare system (which we call Medical Acupuncture). At Zensations, only Medical Acupuncture is used, this is a safe and very effective treatment which can relieve the symptoms of many medical, musculoskeletal and pain conditions, including: chronic tension-type headaches, migraines, chronic pain, neck pain, whiplash, shoulder pain, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, back pain, leg pain, sports injuries, knee pain, hip pain and some types of sciatic pain.

Medical Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles into the skin and muscles at specific points in order to stimulate sensory nerves and muscles, to encourage the body to heal and repair itself. Needling an acupuncture point causes a local twitch response. The body then reacts by:

♦ Activating endogenous opioids in the brain and spinal cord, these are naturally produced chemicals that relieve pain, promote sleep and wellbeing. This modifies the way pain signals are received.

♦ Reducing muscle hypertonicity – which means that chronic contracted, short, tight muscles will improve in tone.

♦ Increasing local blood flow – the more blood flow you have going to an area, the faster you start to heal.

♦ Increasing local blood flow allowing for the removal of metabolic waste – which helps to maintain healthy muscles, improves recovery and decreases swelling.

Acupuncture needles are very fine, pre-sterilised and single-use needles that are disposed of after use. Lots of people don’t feel the needle go in; you may feel slight pain, a tingling or a dull ache around the needle site, which is normal. You shouldn’t experience any significant pain during acupuncture. The needles are left in position from 2 minutes up to 30 minutes. Your therapist will rotate or stimulate the needles while they are in place, to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. Your acupuncture session may also include a combination of massage, exercise and heat in order to aid your recovery. Most people need an initial course of acupuncture treatments because the effects of acupuncture are cumulative, so a course of treatments will provide longer lasting pain relief. Some people will feel immediate relief from their symptoms and some will feel a gradual improvement over a few sessions. The overall number of treatments depends on you and your condition. Usually a course of 6 treatments is average (normally within weekly intervals), although 1 or 2 sessions may be enough. Sometimes you may need to return for one or two top-up treatments.

Acupuncture isn’t for everyone; some medical conditions may prevent you from receiving treatment. It is very important that you let Zensations know if you have any of the following: Epilepsy ♦ Asthma ♦ Heart condition / disease ♦ Damage to the heart valves ♦ Bleeding disorder e.g. haemophilia ♦ Pacemaker or any other electrical implant ♦ Taking anticoagulants e.g. Warfarin or any other medication ♦ Under 12 weeks pregnant ♦ Trying to conceive ♦ Diabetes ♦ Deep vein thrombosis ♦ Weakened or deficient immune system ♦ Metal allergy – specifically to stainless steel ♦ Needle phobia ♦ Under 16 years.