Tag: wellbeing

A Pain In The Neck – Disc Prolapse/Referred Pain

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Gareth came to see me following the recommendation of a local Physiotherapist (cheers Tom!). He had a disc issue in his neck and referred nerve pain down his arm which was quite painful. He’d had acupuncture previously on a knee injury which had been successful so was open to the process.

Apart from the obvious discomfort caused by the disc problem, Gareth trained hard at the gym and it was affecting his ability to stay fit.

Disc prolapse can’t be ‘cured’ as such, but acupuncture is incredibly effective in dampening the nerve signals to reduce inflammation and pain. I used Tuina remedial massage to soften the muscles and spinal acupuncture to deal with the nerve pain. Cupping was also effective in restoring blood flow.

Gareth’s wife Anna, also came along for help with her acute lower back pain, which was quickly resolve

Gareth’s story

Rita was highly recommended to me by Tom Astley who was performing physio on a neck/arm injury. I asked Tom for the best and most highly recommended practitioner of Acupuncture he knew and Rita was top of his list.

I had C6/C7 displaced/bulging disc in my neck that was causing referred pain down my left arm. The treatments made a huge difference. I’ve lost 90% of the discomfort in my neck and arm and gained back 90% of the use of both neck/arm.

My wife Anna had two sessions and experienced almost instant relief from her lower back pain.

Rita is very friendly, knowledgeable and professional and I continue to recommend her to friends & family.

Gareth Evans

Chronic back pain and tennis elbow – Marianne’s story

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Marianne had a handful of sessions of western acupuncture for her chronic  back pain a few years before that hadn’t been effective. After suffering from tennis elbow for 18 months as well, she felt that standard western medical approaches were not going to solve her issues as they didn’t look at root causes.

 

She worked at a desk on a computer every day which exacerbated her symptoms. Because her musculoskeletal issues were long standing, she recognised that it would take some time to resolve her chronic pain but she was willing to commit to treatment.

 

Following several initial sessions of acupuncture/electro-acupuncture, TuiNa remedial massage and cupping, Marianne continued to come for maintenance until recently when she moved countries!  Her general health had also improved immeasurably and she feels more in control of her health.

 

Marianne’s story:

 

My treatments have made a huge difference! Rita was also able to relieve acute pain of tennis elbow within one session and the problem was totally resolved in a few months (it took months or maybe even years to appear so I knew it would take a while to get better). It taught me that acupuncture can treat both on the short and long terms. The treatment has shown me that self-care is a constant, not ad hoc.

 

I also had regular Vitamin B, C and D injections.

 

Rita is an amazing practitioner: personable, very friendly, passionate about her work and loves to explain how things work in the body (and I love to know more), highly professional and knowledgeable. She tailors the treatment to each person very precisely and will always focus her session on what my current issues/pain points are. She is also very punctual; a feat no western medicine professional has ever achieved! Her positive and energetic attitude is always appreciated.

 

I also had several sessions of Thai oil massage with Kung. She is simply fantastic. Her massages are softer than a Tuina massage, and yet she works deep enough into the tissue for you to feel completely loose and limp (in a good way!) and utterly relaxed after a session with her.

 

The clinic is great, a cosy, clean and welcoming place in a private surrounding.

 

Marianne, N4

 

Hypothyroidism, Clinical Anxiety, Insomnia and…. Fertility

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Many patients come to acupuncture with more than one health issue, and as treatment continues, other priorities come to light. Health, as in life, is rarely a linear process and recovery is often a journey that can take a somewhat circuitous route to its destination.

 

Phillippa came to see me a couple of years ago. She’d been diagnosed with hypothyroidism a couple of months before and had started taking Thyroxine to control it. It was the first time she’d ever really been ill and this had a profound effect on her mental as well as physical wellbeing.

 

Despite taking medication, her hormones were all over the place, the anxiety became so severe she had to stop work and the stress meant she carried a lot of tension in her muscles. She also developed insomnia which understandably made everything more challenging.

 

A clinical diagnosis requiring ongoing medication can be difficult to accept, and this then may elicit other distressing symptoms. So using Chinese medicine to complement the Western approach helps to manage not just the initial problem but all the other symptoms around it. This may also lead to a reduction in medication (under medical supervision) which can only be a good thing.

 

After Phillippa’s initial health issues were brought under control, she continued having acupuncture, TuiNa, cupping and moxibustion on a maintenance programme. Once she was fully recovered and back at work, we concentrated on improving her fertility.

 

Phillippa’s story:

 

I came to Rita with a number of health problems that had culminated in severe anxiety. It took everything I had to attend that first consultation, but it was the best thing I ever did. This was the first time I’d experienced clinical anxiety and I was really scared of it.

 

Having acupuncture treatment has made a complete difference. My anxiety has receded, and I am perhaps better than ever before. My thyroid hormone levels (which were a big driver behind fluctuating emotions) have remained in the normal range for nearly a year, with minimal drug intervention. 

 

What can I say about Rita? Whenever I visit, I feel her energy, her care and her genuine love for what she does. She’s become a master of her craft. But it’s everything she does on top of this that really makes her special. She gave me some great advice during my recovery and would always go beyond the call of duty. She became a friend and confidante to me, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.

 

My husband and I finally fell pregnant after several years of trying and Poppy was born in May 2020.

 

Phillippa, Crouch End

Anxiety and IBS. The Terrible Twins

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Vicky first came to see me feeling uncharacteristically anxious. As a news editor, she did a stressful job but now she was finding things she would normally take in her stride had become anxiety inducing.  She started worrying about everything. Much of it was related to travelling; for example, whether she’d be able to go to the loo if she was out, but also having meetings with her peers which she had done a hundred times before without incident. She would work herself up to whatever the event was that she was concerned about, until she really felt quite bad. It was rarely how she imagined it, but this is the nature of anxiety and it’s not easy then to talk yourself down. As she was peri-menopausal, I wasn’t surprised by her symptoms and felt I could help her.

 

In addition to this she developed what could be termed as irritable bowel syndrome. She regularly experienced  diarrhoea which only added to her anxiety. 

 

Acupuncture is very effective at calming the mind and helping the gut to process food properly and transport that energy around the body. And with the anxiety in check, life is just much more manageable.  In Chinese medicine, worry and overthinking are linked to same meridian as gut issues, so as acupuncturists we often see them together. The terrible twins…

 

I think it’s always useful to take a fully holistic approach and in this case, that meant Vicky acquiring the tools to deal with the cycle of negative thinking. I therefore advised Vicky to get CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) alongside acupuncture. 

 

Vicky’s story 

I had been suffering from anxiety and stomach problems and a couple of friends had mentioned that acupuncture might help. I had only tried acupuncture once before to induce labour and I was quite sceptical about the whole thing.

 

I have quite a stressful job, probably don’t look after myself as much as I should, drink a bit too much and am also approaching the menopause. I had never really had any mental health problems before and I was worried about how debilitating it was. Feeling anxious was also giving me a bad stomach, I would often have diarrhoea or worried about needing a wee when I was out, and all this seemed to be getting into a cycle where the anxiety was making my stomach worse and then having a bad stomach was making me anxious!! The problems had been building up for at least a couple of months before seeing Rita,

 

Since I’ve been having acupuncture, I feel it has really helped, Rita really put me at my ease and she is so easy to talk to and empathetic I didn’t feel embarrassed telling her about how I was feeling. During my first session she had to take all the needles out after she’d just put them in because I suddenly needed the loo!!  I didn’t even really feel too embarrassed about that as she is such a warm and understanding person. 

 

Both my stomach and my anxiety are much improved, I worry much less about travelling and am having far fewer incidences where my stomach is bad. I actually look forward to acupuncture now and feel much less ragged and calmer after a session.

 

I’m so grateful and happy to have found Rita and she has given me really good advice even outside acupuncture about dealing with my anxiety, and for instance about CBT.

 

I have also already recommended her to a friend who is suffering with insomnia.

 

Back pain, Sciatica and Disc Prolapse

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Chronic back pain and Sciatica due to disc issues are frighteningly common. I see patients in a great deal of pain, unable to get comfortable or sleep, in some cases unable to work. Sufferers will sometimes opt for cortisone injections which can work for a limited time, spinal surgery and of course physiotherapy. Many people I see are on high doses of NSAIDS and opioids as other alternatives haven’t worked for them.

 

When Jacquie first came to see me with back pain, pins and needles in her legs and sciatica, she had decided against surgery. She was extremely motivated to keep her weight down, work with a PT to exercise safely and commit to regular treatments of Acupuncture and TuiNa medical massage. This has undoubtedly played a big part in her recovery.

 

She responded very well to electro-acupuncture and TuiNa, coming every week for treatment. Jacquie is now pretty much pain free and her general wellbeing much improved. She was also sleeping badly and this has now been resolved. 

 

Acupuncture is known for reducing pain. In the US there is evidence that it is helping in the fight against opiod addiction. TuiNa is a highly effective remedial massage that complements acupuncture and relieves muscle pain and tension.

 

In addition, Jacqui also sees Kung, Peachy’s Thai oil masseuse, to manage general muscle tightness, improve blood flow and aid relaxation.

 

Jacqui’s story

After suffering severe back pain I was diagnosed with a burst disc and slipped disc in L4/L5 region. I was medically treated with an epidural hydrocortisone treatment. The consultant said I also needed to have physio and non-impact exercise as part of my rehab. After a few months of weight loss and exercise I still had residual pins and needles in my legs, dull ache in my buttocks and lower back, and generally was not sleeping well.

 

The pins and needles have completely gone. I went back to see the consultant who was hugely impressed with my speed of recovery. Since the initial diagnosis I have also been suffering from a taut IT band which has now been resolved through acupuncture

 

The acupuncture has been a godsend in speeding up the recovery process for the back problems I had. Rita is fantastic and the set up is friendly, informal, clean and peaceful.

 

Jacquieline O’Donnell, Highgate