Acupuncture Really Helps Insomnia

Acupuncture can be really effective in relieving insomnia, which is one of the most common health concerns in adults. 

Insomnia can really interfere with daily life and be debilitating for some people.

At our clinic in Guildford we have helped many people with insomnia. Acupuncture can help to:

* Improve sleep quality

* Reduce wakings in the night

* Increase total sleep time

* Decrease anxiety and stress

* Relieve pain

People whose insomnia is linked to depression, anxiety, menopause or chronic pain can be especially helped by acupuncture therapy.

We will spend time listening to you and then we will treat you holistically – which means that we don’t just use your symptoms as a barometer for treatment; we also take into account your lifestyle, diet and emotional world. 

The science bit:

During scientific study, acupuncture has been proven to positively affect specific neurotransmitters which are involved in the body’s regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. These are called:

Norepinephrine – which helps us to wake up and stay alert

Melatonin – a hormone which helps us to wind down and prepare for sleep

GABA – which helps us to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.

All of these neurotransmitters were positively affected by acupuncture!

In traditional Chinese medicine we are using acupuncture to stimulate points on the body so that energy can be unblocked and flow freely. This restores systems that have been impaired by lack of energy flow, enabling balance and healing to occur.

Whether you favour western science or eastern wisdom – it is clear that acupuncture can be very effective in helping insomnia.

So if you are struggling with getting to sleep or wakeful nights or finding it hard to switch off, the chances are good that we can help you.

Give us a call or book in on our booking form,

We would love to help you.

Coronavirus, Acupuncture, Diet and Lifestyle

Acupuncture Helps Your Immune System

Research shows that Acupuncture strengthens your immune system. It will therefore almost certainly help you fight off flus, colds and coronaviruses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20399151

Diet and Lifestyle changes that are easy to do can also have a big effect on your immune system. This can help you to fight Coronavirus.

At our £25 acupuncture clinic in Guildford, Surrey, we will be offering acupuncture and dietary advice that will help you deal with coronavirus.

Coronavirus

Covid 19 is a virus. It is the same type of virus as flues and colds. The death rate is now not much more than from having flu. So it is now not much more dangerous than the flu. Interestingly, a vaccine’s job is to trigger a memory in your immune system of how to fight it. So the only thing that fights it when you catch it is still your immune system. And even if your immune system now knows how to fight it, it still can affect you. We see clients who have had Long Covid for several months.

Menieres treatment with acupuncture guildford surrey

Some factors that make Coronavirus more likely to severely effect you are:

  • Age – the older the more likely.
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Existing lung issues
  • Having poor immune system

Acupuncture, Coronaviruses and your Immune System.

Acupuncture is well known to improve the immune system. There are much research proving this. (see references below). In our clinic we see this every day.

Acupuncture can also improve blood pressure. In our clinic we have seen many parients blood pressure improve. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26365445

In our clinic we have had really good results with lung issues, including my own long term asthma. Acupuncture has been shown to help lung issues, and strengthen the immune system while doing so. This is is important in us fighting off coronavirus. Specially older people and those with lung issues. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26939313

Also Anxiety decreases your immune system, making fighting coronavirus harder for you. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce your anxiety and increase your immune system. It also shows that the improvement in your immune system from acupuncture can last for up to a month. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17265549

coronavirus acupuncture immune treatment diet lifestyle

Acupuncture treatment is given daily in the far East. So it is good to come in for a treatment as often as you can. However just one treatment a month can improve your immune system for that month. This is really good news!

So it is really important for you and your family that you make all your immune systems as strong as possible. Now is always the time to start doing this.

With this in mind I have started self treating with acupuncture to strengthen my immune system and help my emotions.

Diet and Coronavirus

There is a lot you can do with your diet to strengthen the immune system:

  • The main thing is to stop all sugar intake. Eating sugar weakens your immune system significantly for at least 5 hours.
  • Also reduce refined flour, and ready meals.
  • Cook 2 meals with vegetables in every day.
  • If you are tired a lot try giving up gluten for a week and see what happens. For many people the effect is amazing.
  • Cut down and if possible stop alcohol. It will benefit your immune system to do so
  • Take a probiotic every day. 70-80% of your immune system is in your gut!
  • Take at least 2gms Vitamin C daily. It strengthens your immune system.
  • Take a daily multivitamin.
  • Have a 10mg zinc supplement daily.
  • Have Vitamin D supplement daily. It strengthens your immune system. We don’t get enough sunlight in the UK.

Lifestyle and Coronavirus

  • Exercise regularly. It will strengthen your immune system.
  • Sleep for 8 hours. Not enough sleep weakens your immune system.
  • Take stress out of your life where possible. Stress and anxiety weaken your immune system.
  • Laugh and sing. Amazingly the evidence is that this strengthens your immune system.

References (this is a small subset of numerous studies)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30232865  elderly stroke patients immune systems improved

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26380438 immune sysem inproved in sepsis patients

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26365445 acupuncture reduces high blood pressure

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25219132 acupuncture reduces high blood pressure and improves immune system

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26825083 acupuncture helps sepsis by improving immune system

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1581655 acupuncture activates immune system to fight infection

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29231575 personal experience of an experienced Chinese MD is that acupuncture treats viruses and bacterial infections and boosts the immune system

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26939313 acupuncture improves immune system in chronic and persistent bronchial asthma

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11977512 acupucture definately improves the immune system after chemotherapy

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20709154 acupuncture reduces strss and improves immune system in elderly

Acupuncture for the Immune System

acupuncture immune virus coronovirus

Acupuncture can really boost your immune system. This can make a real difference with viruses, such as colds, flus. And because it boosts your immune system we think can will help you fight viruses like Coronovirus (Covid-19). Acupuncture is holistic, and uses our body’s own energies to heal. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20399151

The main protection against any contagious disease is your own immune system. Medicines can struggle with infections, because they mutate and change. But a strong immune system adjusts quickly to mutating viruses and bacteria, and fights them off.

At Affordable Acupuncture Guildford in Surrey we see many people with immune system deficiencies. We also treat people for conditions not directly related to immune deficiency. As a side affect of acupuncture treatment our clients find they get less ill and fight viruses a lot quicker.

In a recent Taiwan study they looked at older people who at some point in their life had regular acupuncture at some point in their lives. Amazingly, they had a lot better general health years later, being less likely to get strokes and heart disease.

acupuncture treatment virus autoimmune guildford coronavirus

In our Affordable Acupuncture Guildford clinic we also help people with changes in their life style. We give individual, tailored advice that works. Diet, for example, is a complex issue and is different for everybody.

For a healthy immune system it is very important to eat well, sleep enough, and exercise regularly. But the modern busy life doesn’t always allow enough time. We find that regular acupuncture can help a lot. Then, even with other issues, our body’s natural immunity stays strong.

We see more and more clients with poor immune systems, sometimes due to treatments such as chemotherapy, and who are scared of catching infections (like coronovirus). Acupuncture helps maintain their immunity during these scary times.

Adults and children are increasingly suffering from autoimmune diseases. This is where the immune system attacks it’s own cells instead of outside pathogens. In these cases over-active immunity is the problem. Acupuncture and dietary advice can really help with this.

Autoimmune Diseases and Acupuncture

What is Autoimmune disease?
Autoimmune diseases are when our immune system mistakenly attacks us. We have found that acupuncture can often help.

The most common Autoimmune diseases
Alopecia
Colitis
Celiac diseases
Crohn’s disease
Diabetes (type 1)
Ehlers-Danios syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Grave’s disease (overactive thyroid)
Guillian-Barre syndrome
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Hypermobility
Immflamatory bowel disease
Lupus Erythematosus
Multiple sclerosis
Pernicious anaemia
Psoriasis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sjogren’s Syndrome
Vitiligo

There are about 80 types of Autoimmune disease and many have similar symptoms. It is possible to have more than one at the same time.

What it does to us
Our immune system attacks one bit of us, like the small intestine in Crohne’s disease, or all over. The attacks can come and go for no obvious reason.

Who gets Autoimmune Diseases
Anyone can. They can start in childhood, or often when we are adults. They often run in the family. 75% of those affected are women. It can also be started or made worse by things like bacteria, a virus, chemicals, environmental irritants, or drugs. The drugs can have a lot of side effects, and affect you long term.

Visiting Your Doctor
Your doctor might have struggled to diagnose you. There are no easy tests for some autoimmune diseases. Doctors also struggle to treat or cure most of them. Your doctor will try and help your symptoms with drugs.

autoimmune acupuncture guildford

Acupuncture for Autoimmune diseases
In our Acupuncture clinic in Guildford, Surrey, England, we have found Autoimmune diseases to often be helped a lot by acupuncture. Acupuncture seems to help body to stop fighting itself. Acupuncture also seems to help our immune system re-balance if it is too high or too low.

Immune Systems Out of Balance
Our Immune system are affected by everything we do, eg stress, poor sleep, over or under-exercising, or how we work. Low activity or immune deficiency decreases the body’s ability to fight infections. Over activity can lead to body attacking and damaging it’s own healthy tissue. This is where acupuncture plus lifestyle changes can really help.

Diet and Lifestyle
We often give advice about diet and life style and dietary advice and find this can really help. For example, giving up all grains helps a lot of people, sometimes dramatically, as can giving up gluten, sugar and dairy produce.

Pregnancy Related Problems treated with Acupuncture

Acupuncture during pregnancy can  optimise the health of mother and baby. It can also ease pregnancy related symptoms.

In early pregnancy it can  help circulation and reduce high blood pressure. It can relieve stress and anxiety, help constipation, fatigue and insomnia.

At our Affordable Acupuncture Guildford  clinic we also treat more specific pregnancy related problems such as:

Morning and morbid sickness

Pelvic Girdle Pain

Breech presentation

Overdue pregnancy

Morning sickness

Acupuncture GuildfordMorning sickness occurs due to hormonal changes during pregnancy. Stress, tiredness, emotional factors and inadequate diet can make it worse.

About 50% of women experience nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. Despite the name it can occur any time and it doesn’t always stop at 12-14 weeks.  Some continue to have these symptoms until much later or even the end of pregnancy. We call that morbid sickness. Medicines prescribed by doctors can be helpful but not completely get rid of sickness. Also, lots of women prefer not to take medicines during pregnancy

Apart from feeling unwell this kind of sickness can lead to dehydration which requires hospital treatment to receive fluids. Lots of midwifes are aware that acupuncture can help so at Affordable Acupuncture Guildford we often treat it with a great success.

Acupuncture treatment is a safe and effective way to help women with morning or morbid sickness. At our clinic we also discuss suitable diet, individually tailored to each woman.

In very acute cases we give 2 treatments per week until the symptoms become mild. Usually weekly treatments are enough to help resolve the sickness.

Pelvic Girdle Pain

Acupuncture GuildfordThe research shows that acupuncture is better than stabilising exercises with all types of PGP. We treat it at Affordable Acupuncture Guildford with very good results.

This painful condition (also known as PGP or SPD) is due to joints stiffness or instability leading to inflammation.

Symphysis pubis dysfunction is the most common problem but other joints such as sacroiliac or lower back can be affected too.

Severity varies from dull ache to severe pain deep in the groin or/and lower back. Sometimes it’s combined with grinding or clicking sensation in the pubic area. Different movements (standing on one leg, widening legs) make it worse.

Most painkillers and anti- inflammatories  can not be used during pregnancy as they can have a harmful effect on the baby. Physiotherapy and exercises have a limited success as it is difficult to strengthen muscles in late pregnancy.  Crutches or pelvic support can alleviate some symptoms too.

Research published by  British Medical Journal in 2005 show how well acupuncture works . They involved 386 pregnant women.

Midwifes and doctors are often aware of beneficial effects of acupuncture on PGP and refer patients to us.

Breech Presentation

acupuncture guilfordIt is best to try acupuncture  to turn breech babies  between 32-35 weeks of pregnancy.  We find it can still work right up to term. Many women are not made aware of it til the 37th week of pregnancy.

Lots of breech presentations lead to delivery by Cesarean Section so it’s definitely worth trying a safe , cheep, simple, painless and non-invasive treatment with a success rate of over 80%.

As part of our treatment we use moxa stick (big cigar look alike) to heat up a point on the little toe twice a day until a movement is noticed. It is quite a miracle to see this happening, sometimes after just one treatment!

Case History I had a client whose first baby was breech, she was already 38 weeks pregnant (little bit too late in theory)  and within 10 minutes of starting a treatment we saw the baby turning . Her second baby also decided to sit comfortably until the last scan at 36 weeks so we repeated the same and got the same result but this time after the treatment, during the night. Both her babies were delivered without major interventions.

Research  shows increased fetal activity during the treatment period. The success rate after the 33th week of gestation was  84.6% (Ewies & Olah 2002).

Overdue pregnancy

Acupuncture GuildfordStudies show that women who receive pre-birth acupuncture have an overall 35% reduction in the number of inductions (43% for first pregnancies) . Epidural and emergency Cesarean delivery was reduced by around 31%.

We usually see pregnant women when they are already overdue. Acupuncture can still help soften the cervix and release of hormones which can start labour. Sometimes it’s important  to have 2-3 treatments close together so the stimulation continues.

In my experience having acupuncture during late pregnancy and just before and even during the labour can help normalise the process a great deal. I have seen uterine  bleeding stop, contractions restart, pain managed and afterbirth expelled thanks to acupuncture. It always feels like a privilege to help women  during this incredible process.

Menstrual Problems Treated With Acupuncture

 

menstrual problems treated with acupuncture

Menstrual problems treated with acupuncture works really well.

Many women suffer from:

Painful and/or heavy periods, PMS, ovulation pain, irregular or absent periods, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome &  abnormal bleeding.

For menopause see our article on it here.

Changes in your health & life affect your menstrual cycle. At our clinic in Guildford Surrey we use a holistic approach. We work on your general health & focus on specific issues. Acupuncture can reduce stress, increase blood flow to the reproductive organs and normalise ovulation.

Premenstrual Syndrome

Everybody’s cycle is different. PMT can mean mild cramping and fatigue. More severe symptoms are things like:

Irritability, Food cravings, Fatigue

Anxiety, Insomnia, Mood swings

Headaches, Backache, Breast soreness

Bloating, Digestive problems

Doctors prescribe drugs. They will offer surgery if your problems are really bad. Drugs might  help but can have side effects. Also, you may be taking them for decades. So lots of women choose a natural approach with no drugs.

Heavy and Painful Periods

Here bleeding can be heavier or last longer then the average of 5-7 days. It is mostly caused by imbalances in sexual hormone levels. Other reasons are infections, underactive thyroid gland, fibroids, endometriosis and  pelvic inflammatory disease. It is normal to have some pain and cramping but some women have severe pain. Sometimes it is difficult to diagnose  any of these conditions &  doctors can only give pain relief.

Heavy periods can leave you drained of energy & anaemic. This leads to more fatigue.

Acupuncture helps the flow of energy in meridians (energy lines) related to uterus: Liver, Spleen & Kidney. They can be blocked, congested or low in energy. This leads to menstrual problems. We use fine acupuncture needles to regulate the energy & blood flow. This frees up your reproductive system &  periods become easier.

Absent Periods

sunset-2-by-geeSome girls don’t start periods before the age of 16. This can be due to underlying conditions such as anorexia, overactive thyroid gland or ovarian cysts. It can also happen to adult  women. It can be caused by polycystic ovary syndrome , pelvic inflammatory disease, stopping birth control, weight gain or weight loss.

Sometimes doctors can’t find the cause & prescribe pills to ‘kick start’ the period.

Endometriosis

Endometriosis can show itself as backache, premenstrual spotting, abdominal pain, painful defecation, vomiting or swelling. If left untreated it can lead to infertility.

In Chinese Medicine we see this as a disturbance of blood & energy flow in the Spleen, Kidney and Liver meridians. The Qi (energy) can be affected by stress, emotional problems, injury, surgery, bad diet & life habits, birth control pill, lack of relaxation & exercise.

We often use acupuncture for the treatment of endometriosis & absent periods .We can also help you work out how to look after yourself better & restore your fertility.

Summary

Menstrual problems treated with acupuncture really works. If you are not getting relief with drugs or hormones or prefer a safer & natural treatment this could be for you. If so, get in contact with us & book an appointment.

 

Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment Acupuncture

We are successfully helping people with Peripheral Neuropathy. We use a unique Acupuncture treatment program that has now helped 100’s of sufferers, reducing symptoms, and stopping it progressing. This is good news, as for doctors peripheral neuropathy is extremely difficult to treat.

What is peripheral neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is really a group of conditions where pain, tingling, numbness or weakness are symptoms of damage to peripheral nerves, which make up the peripheral nervous system (that is all the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, the central nervous system).

What are the symptoms of peripheral neuropthy

Pain, pins and needles, numbness, tingling and weakness are the usual signs of PN. Everybody is different and their condition changes with time and treatment so consulting with your doctor at the earliest opportunity is highly recommended as a first step.

What causes peripheral neuropathy?

There are many causes but the most common cause is diabetes. The other most common causes are aging and chemotherapy for cancer.

There are quite a variety of other less common causes, chemical and physical sources of injury to the nerves or their protective sheaths.

Examples include compression of a nerve, whether by inflammation, such as in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, or by tumour, both malignant or non-cancerous, or any growth such as by a bone spur. Chemical causes can be poisoning by alcohol or by heavy metals like mercury.

Finding out the cause of your condition is the first crucial step to taking control of your health.

Doctors struggle to treat peripheral neuropathy

There are two goals in treating PN. The first is to manage the cause of your neuropathy. If the root cause is remedied, the nerves often get better on their own. The second goal is to control the symptoms, hopefully gaining relief from pain.

Some neuropathies can be managed to decrease the symptoms, controlling the pain, but in general it is agreed that there are no effective conventional treatments for PN. No mainstream treatment promoted by the world’s highest medical authorities has a better than 50% success rate in providing 50% improvement. They all admit that PN is difficult to treat effectively and say it is impossible to cure.

Acupuncture treats peripheral neuropathy

We have been successfully treating pn using treatments pioneered by Jonathon Gilbert in America. He has now successfully treated 100’s of patients with acupuncture.

We find that a program of fortnightly acupuncture treatment can improve symptoms, quality of life, & your prospects for the future.

Treating Knee Pain with Acupuncture

Treating Knee Pain with Acupuncture.knee pain gif_1448860578

We have had very good results treating knee pain with acupuncture at our clinic in Guildford, Surrey. We often see knee pain that has been going on for years, sometimes decades.

Causes

Knee joint pain can be caused by lots of things.It can be damage to the knee joint itself, ligaments, or muscles and tendons.It can be postural, referred pain from somewhere else (see our article on back pain here), an old injury that never healed properly, or arthritis (see our article on arthritis here.)

Doctors Treatment

Knee problems are seen by doctors as difficult to treat. They often prescribe pain-killers initially. If the pain doesn’t go, then they may do an x-ray, or MRI scan,which will show if surgery is needed. Surgery can be minor (eg keyhole to clean up cartilage) or major (for severe ligament or joint damage).

Acupuncture Treatment

Often we see people after they have had years of pain, & nothing that the doctors have done has worked. We spend time going over the medical history, and do an examination. We will then use acupuncture needles around the knee & some points elsewhere. We can also advise on exercise.

Case History 1

A man came to us with 2 years of knee pain following a car accident. He was due to go skiing in 3 weeks time! So we treated him once a week for 3 weeks. The pain was almost gone by thhe time he left to go skiing, and he returned after his holiday reporting no pain despite skiing every day. We haven`t needed to treat him since.

Case history 2

Recently a woman in her 40`s came to us having suffered knee pain since being a teenager. It could get really painful if she walked any distance, and all the exercises she had been given by physios had made it worse. The doctors had done nothing other than prescribe pain relief drugs for 30 years. I treated her with acupuncture and when she came back for the 2nd treatment, she hesitantly said the pain seemed not to be there. 2 weeks& 2 more treatments later,still no pain! So I told her to come back if the pain returned. We havent seen her since!

I Learn Exercise After Surgery is Good!

Acupuncture doesnt sort ever problem. I have had keyhole knee surgery for a torn cartilage. Before having the surgery I had several acupuncture treatments that had no effect, and hobbled around for a year. Interestingly, for a year after the surgery I continued to hobble, & thought the surgery had failed Then I did some simple knee strengthening weight training in the gym & and my pain dissappeared within 2 weeks! My lesson from this was the importance of doing strengthening gym work & pilates when recovering from surgery.

So we feel it is always worth trying acupuncture if you have knee pain. Even if you are due surgery, it is worthwhile, as surgery carries risk, whereas acupuncture is risk-free.

With our affordable acupuncture clinic, where we provide top quality treatment at low cost, it makes even more sense!

Menopause & Acupuncture

menopause & acupunctureAt our Affordable Acupuncture Clinic in Guildford we treat many women before & during menopause.

Interestingly, 30% of people who come for acupuncture are women age 40-69. Sometimes women don’t realise their problems are due to hormonal changes & can be treated  with acupuncture.

The World Health Organisation has approved Acupuncture to treat menopause. It also approved acupuncture for other women’s issues. We have written about these issues here.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of menopause are night sweats, weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, depression,anxiety, foggy headaches, palpitations, loss of libido & hot flushes.

These symptoms are due to lower levels of estrogen and other hormones.

Medical Treatment

The main drug used to control symptoms of  menopause is HRT,  tablets or patches. This can work but it increases the risk of breast, ovarian & uterine cancer.

How Chinese Medicine Explains Menopause

Menopause happens when a woman’s body needs to preserve blood & energy to help keep the Kidneys nourished. The extra kidney energy is then used to feed the spirit & extend longevity.  On a deep level this is seen as a change from mother to enlightened & wise being! So with Chinese medicine, the menopause isn’t about struggling and feeling unwell. It is more an opportunity for growth.

How We Treat

Acupuncture can help with the length and severity of hot flushes. We find that it also helps a lot with many other symptoms. We aim to treat each person’s individual symptoms. As well as acupuncture, we recommend  diet & lifestyle. For example, try & eat less dairy products, red meats, alcohol, sugar, spicy foods. Also caffeine & smoking is not good. We also can give you exercises to do. It’s amazing how much the right exercise can help.

Case History

After many years of helping women with one of the biggest changes in their lives I am starting to need my own remedy! Last year I began getting hot sweats, bad sleep, palpitations. I had a course of acupuncture treatments last year with David.  Amazingly all my symptoms went away & my sleep returned back to normal. A year later I am still symptom free. So  I don’t seem to need any treatments at the moment.

Acupuncture worked so well for me, I wonder how women cope without it!

 

Vahida Diaz

 

 

 

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Arthritis treated with Acupuncture

Arthritis treated with acupuncture can be helped. In fact, we have successfully treated both Osteo and Rheumatoid arthritis with acupuncture at our Guildford clinic.

The 2 types of Arthritisarthritis treated with acupuncture

Osteoarthritis is wear and tear of the bones, joints and cartilage. Pretty much all of us have it showing on x-rays as we get older, but interestingly not all of us get pain.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is where our own immune system attacks us. It can start as early as in our 20’s. It can get progressively worse as we get older, with deformed joints. It can be very distressing. It often comes and goes, and can ‘burn itself out’ (stop doing damage permanently) after a few or many years.

Treating Osteoarthritis

Strangely, you can have severe osteoarthritis showing on x-rays, and be pain-free and active. Also you can be in a lot of pain with healthy x-rays. No-one knows why this happens.  So whatever pain you are in, and whatever the x-rays show, there is hope.

arthritis treated with acupunctureWe have found acupuncture helps a lot of the time. Again, no-one quite knows why. In China Doctors say there are energy pathways (meridians) in the body, which if blocked causes pain. They use acupuncture needles in special points on the body to unblock the pathways, which cures the pain.

I have many clients with painful osteoarthritis in the back, hip, or knees, that have walked out of our clinic pain-free after just 1 short course of treatment.

Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

This is more difficult to help. We find regular treatments can often make the pain less, and help the hands & feet to move better. Interestingly we have had clients whose arthritis has burned itself out at the time when they see us for acupuncture.

Client History – Osteoarthritis of Knee

A 40 year old man came to see me some years ago, diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in his knees. The doctors had him on pain killers that were not helping. I treated him 6 times and his pain disappeared. He returned a few time over the next 10 years for other issues, and the pain never returned during this time.

Client History – Osteoarthritis of Hip

This can be helped. If severe and getting worse, it usually this requires a hip replacement. But doctors want to delay as long as possible, as the replacements only last 10-15 years. Interestingly, a lady of 65 came to see me with severe pain in her hip. She had been diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis, and was scared of surgery. I gave her a course of treatment, & amazingly her pain disappeared totally! She also regained mobility in the hip. I last saw her 2 years later, when she was still pain free & happily mobile!

Client History – Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Many years ago I saw a lovely lady aged 65. She was an ex nursing sister and a magistrate. She had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, since her 30’s. When I met her she was wheel-chair bound. Her hands and feet were twisted and damaged, as was her neck and spine. Her upper back was severely hunched. She was also suffering with Ankylosing spondylitis, which caused deterioration and pain in her spine. She also suffered with severe indigestion & reflux.

I treated her for a number of years. Me seeing her coincided with her arthritis stopping getting worse. I treated her systemically, her hands and her feet, and her reflux. She found acupuncture once a fortnight really helped the arthritis to not get worse. It also gave her better mobility in her hands and feet. Her reflux was also greatly helped, as was her general mood. She felt happier, and less anxious. She lived many years longer than the doctors expected her to. I got to know her very well & always looked forward to seeing her. Her mind remained very sharp, and our conversations about medicine, Law & life were both entertaining & educational.

Our Clinic

Both Vahida and myself have over 25 years’ experience. So you will be in safe hands! At our clinic in Guildford in Surrey we have £25 treatment days & on-site parking. So it easy and affordable to come & see for yourself if acupuncture can help you.

David Gilbert