If you smoke, giving up is probably the greatest single step you can take to improve your health and the good news is that half of all smokers do manage to stop. With the right support there’s no reason why you can’t.

Just some of the benefits

• Improved breathing and general fitness
• Reduced risk of smoking-related diseases
• Improved life expectancy
• Feel great about yourself for having quit
• Clearer skin and whiter teeth
• You’re protecting the health of those around you
• More money to spend

 How Does Acupuncture Help you Stop Smoking?

Acupuncture takes all of your symptoms into account and aims at balancing the energy within the body to optimize your health. 

The acupuncture treatments look to help with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, insomnia and restlessness. All symptoms that people commonly complain about when they quit. It also aids in relaxation and detoxification.

Usually a combination of points in the ears and body points will be used. In between treatments, small seeds can be taped to the acupuncture points in the ear. When a cigarette craving hits, gently pressing on the seeds stimulates the acupuncture points to calm the mind and eliminate the craving.

New Research – Acupuncture for Cigarette Smoke Lung Damage

New research finds that acupuncture heals injuries to the lungs due to cigarette smoke exposure. Acupuncture demonstrated a significant reduction in anti-inflammatory biochemicals suggesting that it may be effective in treating the resultant COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The study discovered that acupuncture reduces levels of inflammatory related cytokines, immunomodulating cell-signaling protein molecules. The researchers suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of cytokine regulation and concomitant antioxidant effects may be responsible for prolonged clinical benefits from acupuncture. From HealthCMi-Read More.

To find out more please email or call me and i’ll be happy to have a chat with you.

Acupuncture and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects 10-20%* of the UK population at any one time causing embarrassment and discomfort to sufferers. Up to 12 million people in the UK are affected by IBS at some time in their lives.  More women seek help but it is just as common in both sexes and commonly starts between 15-40 years old.  Acupuncture has been found to be very effective in relieving the symptoms of IBS.

IBS is a long-term and often debilitating condition that causes re-occurring pain or discomfort in the abdomen. Bloating, swelling, bouts of diarrhoea and/or constipation and feeling sick are just some of the symptoms which can cause misery for sufferers.  The exact cause of IBS is unknown; so many sufferers remain undiagnosed or struggle to manage their symptoms.

Traditional acupuncture is a branch of Chinese medicine that recognises the importance of healthy bowels for overall physical and emotional health. Acupuncture treatments for IBS have been researched, refined and developed in China for thousands of years and understands how emotional stress can combine with physical factors to stagnate the body’s vital energy, known as Qi, and result in the symptoms of IBS.

Acupuncture moves stagnation and regulates the flow of Qi in order to restore normal bowel function so that your body can properly digest food and eliminate waste products. By alleviating energy blockages in the body, acupuncture relieves IBS symptoms by reducing pain, regulating muscular movement and strengthening of the digestive tract, reducing anxiety and depression as well as decreasing stress.  Acupuncturists look at the body as a whole and also provide dietary advice to ensure patients are well nourished and improve digestion.

“In my practice i’ve seen many patients who have struggled to get a diagnosis for IBS and so look to Traditional Chinese Medicine to help.  Many of them who have suffered with IBS for years have found acupuncture to be a great relief.

Acupuncture can relieve stress, one of the main causes of IBS as well as reduce pain, bloating and nausea. By treating the underlying cause of the problem rather than just the symptoms, acupuncture can provide longer term relief for sufferers”.

If you want to find out more please contact me and i’ll be happy to help.

IBS awareness month (April 2013) aims to raise awareness and increase understanding of this very common condition.  For further details please go to www.theibsnetwork.org

About the BAcC:

The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) has a membership of nearly 3,000 professionally qualified acupuncturists.  It is the UK’s largest professional body for the practice of acupuncture. BAcC members practise a traditional, holistic style of acupuncture diagnosis and treatment based on a system developed and refined over 2,000 years.  To achieve BAcC membership, practitioners must first undertake extensive training in acupuncture (minimum three years full-time or part-time equivalent), which includes physiology, anatomy and other biomedical sciences appropriate to the practice of acupuncture.

Acupuncture:

Acupuncture is based on Chinese medicine principles that have been developed, researched and refined for over 2,500 years. Acupuncture is holistic, not focused on isolated symptoms. It regards pain and illness, whether physical or mental, to be a sign the whole body is out of balance. Western or medical acupuncture is a more recent development practised predominantly by doctors and physiotherapists, who use acupuncture techniques within their existing scope of practice on the basis of a western medical diagnosis.

 

Acupuncture Awareness Week, which takes place from 25 February to 3 March 2013 aims to educate people about how traditional acupuncture can help improve sleep and aid relaxation. Among the 82% of us who admit to sleeping troubles or insomnia, many of us are missing the point when it comes to this ancient Chinese medicine.

With 2.3 million acupuncture treatments carried out each year, traditional acupuncture is one of the most popular complementary therapies practised in the UK today. Yet statistics show that 1 in 5 of us would only consider acupuncture for sleep as a last resort. Almost a quarter of people admit they didn’t realise acupuncture could benefit them despite its widely recognised health benefits.

However it has been found that acupuncture can be enormously beneficial in helping to correct sleep problems. With people finding treatment very relaxing and reporting improved sleep patterns.

Traditional acupuncture is a natural system of healing that has been practised for over 2,500 years. It is a safe and effective treatment that involves inserting sterile needles, no bigger than a human hair, painlessly at specific points on the body.

Supporting Acupuncture Awareness Week is actress and singer Toyah Willcox who, like many others, feels that acupuncture has made a huge impact to her life. “Having suffered with chronic insomnia since I was 14, I had to learn to make it work for my lifestyle”, says Toyah. “However, I realised I needed to do something about it when I was made aware of the detriment it has on your health and immune system. I won’t take sleeping pills and it’s actually better not to medicate chronic sufferers of insomnia anyway. I now have regular traditional acupuncture to help let my body heal itself. When I’m having a treatment I fall into a deep sleep straight away, which gives me immediate relief.”

Recent research finds acupuncture effective in treating tension-type headaches and migraine. New information released by NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) today reported medication overuse is one of the most common causes of headaches affecting about one in 50 people and women are five times more likely to suffer from these. NICE conclude that acupuncture is the only proven method to prevent tension-type headaches and migraine and that doctors should prescribe it. For further information and to see if acupuncture can help you just call or email me.

What a great success the Olympics has been, with Team GB going strong and the nation captivated, a very exciting time. With athletes excelling in their chosen fields it seems many of us have found renewed enthusiasm for sport and are keen to get out there and have a go.

Also exciting to see acupuncture has played such a prominent part, with the Chinese Olympic team using acupuncture and all its related modalities to ensure performance fitness, as well as athletes from America, Japan, South Korea and our own Andy Murray.

Now with competition so great athletes are looking for what will give them that edge, what will make the difference between gold and silver. With this in mind they surround themselves with teams of experts, enabling them to perform to the best of their ability. It means that acupuncture is at last gaining the recognition it deserves as a remedy for sports related injuries and ailments as well as improved recovery.

Long used for the relief of chronic pain, acupuncture not only provides immediate first aid help for injuries, but can also accelerate the process of healing. With many athletes attributing some of there long time success to acupuncture in it’s management of injuries as well as prevention.

With acupuncture there’s also more! With it’s holistic approach It looks to treat the whole person and get to the root of the problem so can go beyond merely alleviating sports injury pain, with regular treatment it can also help improve performance and provide more energy. Which is what we’re all looking for in our own way and maybe for some of us it means a a trip to Rio in four years!

If you have any questions or would like to discuss if acupuncture could help you please call me and I’ll be happy to have a chat with you, or you can book a free consultation by emailing me.