One of the most common questions I get asked is why would people come for treatment? Often current patients have friends who they think would benefit from treatment, but they don’t know how to explain what I do or know if treatment can help someone. This is a very basic explanation of what I do in simple, non technical terms to help you decide.
What is energy? The “energy” in and around our bodies, is what leaves us when we die. In some ways, it is what makes you “who you are”, but the core of you is always perfect and complete. The state of your energy will affect your emotions and ability to respond to life. All animals and plants have a form of energy. I have trained in two systems of working with energy. They are separate but
Acupuncture works with the energy that flows in meridians or channels that run within the body. Each channel has lots of tuning points which have specific uses and these are accessed through needles or probes and enable me to “tune” your energy. The meridians run deep within the body and give us very specific ways of working with issues. These meridians are like garden hoses which run through the body. They can become blocked or restricted through scarring, traumatic life events or illness. Simple examples are surgery, childbirth, a bad virus or chest infection, car accidents, falls, wounds etc. Typically people will feel less resilient and have less energy, they also often report suffering from depression or low mood. This is because the flow of energy in our bodies directly affects our emotional state. We can work with these meridians through healing as well but the use of the individual acupuncture points is more effective.
Healing works with the energy in our aura and chakras. The aura is the energy field that surrounds and protects us, the chakras are energy centres within the aura, like spinning wheels. We often need healing when the energy coming into our body has been disrupted. This could be through illness, an accident or fall, through mental-emotional problems or a history of drug or alcohol abuse. Healing will improve your strength and vitality and helps you to become more grounded and present in your life. Often when our aura is out of balance we feel quite vulnerable and open to outside influences like being aware of other peoples emotions or being sensitive to certain places. Our aura is affected by emotions, life events, surgery, illness, accidents, trauma and addiction. There is a huge cross over between healing and acupuncture as they both work with our energy but in slightly different ways.
Working with scarring has had a huge effect on my practice and understanding how energy moves. I used to work with scars using special needle techniques but now use the Low Level Laser which is much more effective. Scars have a huge effect on the energy flows in the body. The scar you see is the “tip of the iceberg”. Underneath the skin the scar spreads out and sends out tendrils to link around organs and bones. These are often called adhesions and can cause pain and discomfort. Adhesions often cause pain and restriction and may affect the function of the organs they attach to. Low Level Laser is very effective at restoring the tissue underneath the scar and this generally results in a reduction of pain and better energy flow.
Legalities. In the UK complementary therapists are not able to claim to treat any condition unless there is current research to back it up. Research is not designed to work on an individual basis. For example, if we wanted to do a study into back pain, we would be expected to take a number of patients with back pain, give them all the same treatment and publish the results. Patients are all individuals and need to have treatments specifically designed for them, so the rules around research don’t work for us. Some therapists who don’t have to comply with professional standards flout this law but my professional standards mean I am unable to make any specific claims in writing. So, for example, you may ask “Can you help me with back pain?” The answer will depend on the reason for your back pain. It may be due to an imbalance in your energy or muscle structure, or it may be because there are specific problems in the joints of your back. It could also be from abdominal scarring. I can’t tell that unless I see you or you have a scan. Consequently, I find it helpful to chat to people in clinic or on the phone to see if I can help them. Often we need to work together to resolve a problem and I am happy to refer out if I feel that you would benefit from seeing someone else.