Tag: holistic

Dan’s Story – Running On Empty

by  on  in Case Studies

I met Dan while I was doing a taster day at the Haelan Centre in Crouch End where I am an endorsed acupuncturist and TuiNa practitioner. He initially enquired about whether acupuncture could help him with his hands that were so cold he would regularly need to put them under a hot tap to warm them up. He was also going through a particularly stressful time, his work and home life were difficult and he often found that his brain was ‘on’ 24/7 – he literally never stopped. He was tired, stressed out and his mood was low at that time.

Dan’s first appointment was very significant in that he said that it was the first time in two years that he experienced that his mind stopped racing. It actually made him more aware of where he was in his life and that he needed to address his health. So he continued to come for treatment, weekly initially, and then monthly to keep him feeling well.

His initial health issues have all but disappeared and his improved wellbeing, energy and outlook have allowed him to step back and make decisions about what he wants to do in the future.

And… his hands are no longer cold!

Read about Dan’s experience:

Rita’s treatment worked symbiotically, addressing both my emotional and physical needs in tandem. The impact of my first treatment was immediate: I felt calmer, more balanced, and incredibly energised when I rose from the treatment table and I felt like an old piano that had finally been tuned. As I attended further sessions I found that Rita’s treatments became more specific focusing on local issues while balancing out the overall whole (for example there was one occasion when I had a severe respiratory issue which was alleviated miraculously quickly but not in isolation or at the expense of the causal factors which were also addressed.)

Having resolved many of the initial problems I presented with, I chose to continue having sessions with Rita that promoted a better sense of well being, balance, perspective and calm in my day-to-day life.

Practitioners like Rita are a rare and treasured find. Not only does she show great skill and knowledge within her fields of practice she combines it with a fantastic energy, a great sense of humour and a very personalised approach. It is so unusual to meet someone who can balance such an effortless lightness of touch with such a seriousness of intent. She is generous with her advice and clearly has a passion for her practice; you really get the sense that she is on the journey with you and that she will be as supportive and educative as the need requires.  To top it all off she has a lovely bedside manner, full of wisdom, kindness and consideration.

Dan, Crouch End

 

 

 

Sciatica – a right pain in a**e!

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Sciatica can be a right (or left) pain in the a**e. For those of you who’ve lived with sciatica (as I have), you’ll appreciate just how much.

Sciatica is a common type of pain caused by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve. Sufferers will usually experience sciatica on one side of the body, in the buttocks and often extending down the back or side of the leg, down to the feet. At it’s worst its a particularly disabling and chronic condition which can vary in intensity from manageable to excruciating.

*Common symptoms of sciatica include:

– Pain in the buttock or leg that is worse when sitting
– Burning or tingling down the leg
– Weakness, numbness, or difficulty moving the leg or foot
– A constant pain on one side of the buttock
– A shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand up

Chronic lower back pain or disc herniation is the most common cause but unfortunately patients will often just be offered pain medication by their doctors, which isn’t a sustainable option.

Acupuncture has a good track record in treating back pain, and along with Tuina medical massage can help to reduce pain and inflammation, and significantly lessen the need for medical intervention or pain killers. Patients will usually experience some immediate relief even after the first treatment with follow up treatments necessary to successfully manage the condition. However the more chronic the problem, the longer it takes to repair.

Many people live with chronic pain and only seek treatment when they’re in crisis. Don’t wait til you can’t get out of bed. Get help and start to feel better fast.

*source: webMD

 

Read Jacki’s story:

https://peachyacupuncture.com/2016/07/25/prolapsed-discs-sciatica-jackis-story/

Stressed out… Linda’s Story

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Like many people, Linda is a busy person juggling home and work life. Stress was definitely affecting her wellbeing but in addition, she’d had a shoulder injury that was preventing her from sleeping. Even after this had been resolved, her sleep was still disrupted which further compounded her stress.

Here’s her experience of the process:

I attended Rita’s stress buster group as I was having difficulties sleeping and dealing with the stress of everyday life. Within a couple of sessions I found I was more relaxed and more able to cope, shortly followed by my sleep pattern returning to normal.

I have also found I now have more energy….I would fully recommend attending this course and Rita is welcoming and friendly!

Linda Paterson, Crouch End

What I’ve been treating this month….

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It’s been a busy month at my clinic in Crouch End with a run on frozen shoulders, a particularly chronic case of migraine and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among the conditions my clients have required treatment for.

But as is often the case, people rarely have one thing they are suffering from but perhaps a range of seemingly unrelated health issues, one of which is bothering them the most. Acupuncturists are trained to diagnose the whole person, and will often find that someone’s symptoms are a reflection of a more systemic problem (in terms of Chinese medicine). So the symptom is not directly treated but the patient still recovers.

It’s also the case that acupuncturists treating say a neck problem, may needle an acu point on the ankle and on the hand rather than the area where the pain is most acute. The patient still recovers.

Chinese medicine regards emotions with equal importance to physical symptoms and certain emotions are often found alongside specific conditions. For example, IBS is a problem of the spleen, and anxiety is the emotion connected with the spleen. I’ve yet to see a case of IBS without anxiety being present in some form. When you treat the spleen and it’s partner organ, the stomach, both symptoms, anxiety and IBS, improve.

So while most of my clients will leave my clinic feeling their main complaint has been addressed; they can move their shoulder at last or they haven’t had a migraine for two weeks, they’ll also find that they’re sleeping better, that niggly cough has gone, and they have more energy. Those are the positive side effects of treating the person, not just the symptoms.

Treatment focus: Acupuncture and Back Pain

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Most of us will know someone with back pain. It may have affected you personally, or someone you know – and I can tell you that it’s certainly affected me. Depressingly, if you haven’t experienced it yet, the chances are that you will at some point.

The condition affects more than 1.1 million people in the UK, with 95% of patients suffering from problems affecting the lower back. And it costs the NHS and care providers in the over £1b a year.*

There’s no surprise why that is – we spend too long lounging about in front of the telly, work in sedentary jobs and don’t exercise enough. Having said that, my dad had a slight dowagers hump, worked in an office, never exercised and loved watching telly – never had as much as a twinge…

Acupuncture is well known anecdotally as a treatment for back pain. But there’s also a great deal of evidence to support its efficacy. *Research has shown that acupuncture is significantly better than no treatment and at least as good as (if not better than) standard medical care for back pain (Witt 2006; Haake 2007; Cherkin 2009; Sherman 2009a). It appears to be particularly useful as an adjunct to conventional care, for patients with more severe symptoms and for those wishing to avoid analgesic drugs (Sherman 2009a, 2009b; Lewis 2010).

This encouraged NICE to recommend its use within the NHS. Your doctor can refer you for 8-10 acupuncture treatments as a first line treatment for persistent, non-specific low back pain. And that’s got to be a good thing.

It works in numerous ways: *providing pain relief, reducing inflammation, improving muscle stiffness and joint mobility, reducing the need for medication, complementing rehabilitation exercises and over the long-term, and is more cost effective than other treatments.

That’s the ‘science bit’, but it only tells part of the story, because studies will only have used specific acupuncture points in order to standardize their research. Traditional Chinese Medicine doesn’t really work in this way and your acupuncturist may feel that the reason for your back pain may be related to something else – and use other acupuncture points in their treatment.

It’s personalized, and that’s why individual experience will be based on the reason you have lower back pain. Which takes me back to my dad. There are people who are more prone to back pain, in the same way that others may be pre-disposed to stomach problems. What the acupuncturist offers is a genuinely holistic look at you. Not just your back.

  • Source: NICE
  • Source: BACC
  • Sources: Pomeranz 1987; Zhao2008
  • Kim 2008, Kavoussi 2007;Zijlstra 2003
  • Thomas 2006
  • Radcliffe 2006;Witt 2006
  • Ammendolia 2008; Yuan 2008