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Here is how to lead a healthy life with acupuncture and a few health tips. On this website you can also read about me Stéphane Espinosa, testimonials from some of my previous patients and how to get in touch for more information.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a healing system that originated in China over 2000 years ago, in which the overall well-being of a person is achieved by considering the integration of the body, mind and spirit, working as a whole in synergy. In this traditional Chinese medicine, the aim of a treatment is to regulate the flow of 'qi'. Commonly translated as 'energy', qi can be thought of as being the sum of all physiological and mental processes of a person. Health is when qi can flow freely, in other words when there is a natural dynamic balance in the person, including the interaction with the environment. This balance may be lost for many reasons, such as emotional state (eg. grief fear, anger, anxiety), the weather, diet, living conditions, infections or trauma, resulting in symptoms of pain and illness. Acupuncture helps recovering a harmonious natural balance by addressing the root cause of the issue, activating our innate healing capacity, whose importance was originally central to Western or conventional medicine, as Hippocrates said: "Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease". Acupuncture is now widely used all over the world as a holistic medicine.
Acupuncture is indeed a synergy of the old and the new, as today we benefit of this ancient wisdom applied with modern technology giving us hair-thin single-use needles that are sterile and disposable, for a very safe treatment.
Who can benefit from acupuncture?
Acupuncture is best known in the West as a therapy for treating pain or addictions, but actually it can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, thanks to its holistic nature. According to the World Health Organisation, acupuncture has been shown to be an effective treatment for arthritis, depression, fertility issues, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, sprain, weight management... and many more acute and chronic conditions. Patients often report that the treatment results go beyond the absence of symptoms, there is a feeling of improved overall well-being. That is why some receive acupuncture when they feel unwell but do not have a clear diagnosis, while others choose acupuncture preventatively in order to avoid the cumulative impact of for example daily stress.
In acupuncture no chemical substances are introduced into the body. This is very helpful in situations such as pregnancy or childbirth, and more generally it means that it is a therapy compatible with conventional medicine. In other words, with acupuncture we benefit from the synergy of traditional and modern medicines.
What happens during a treatment?
First the therapist asks questions that enable getting a complete picture of your health, medical history and lifestyle, in order to put your concerns and symptoms into a relevant and personalised context. Then the diagnostic tools special to traditional Chinese medicine are used, that is pulse taking on both wrists and looking at your tongue. Based on all this information the diagnosis is made with a personal treatment plan, including the selection of acupuncture points. The sealed packs containing the stainless steel needles are open just at the time of treatment, then a few hair-thin needles are inserted and left in place for about 20 minutes, and then safely disposed of in a sharps bin just after the treatment. The whole session (diagnosis and treatment) takes about 1 hour.
How does it feel?
Acupuncture needles are literally hair-thin (much, much thinner than the needles used for injections or blood tests). The sensation is often described as 'tingling', 'dull', 'numb' or 'heavy', while some feel nothing at all. After the treatment, there is occasionally a bit of tiredness, and generally a soft feeling of relaxation and well-being may envelop you and it may take a little while (a few days) to feel the full effect of the treatment.
How many sessions are needed?
There is often a noticeable benefit after the first session, but for a stable, long term improvement, it generally takes a series of treatments. Within five or six, some change is usually felt. Overall, how many sessions are needed (and how frequent) depends on your individual condition, thanks to the personalised diagnosis, and also due to the fact that each of us responds differently to treatment, which is true for all types of medicine.
Health tips
Get more outside. Our interaction with the environment is an important factor for good health because the body naturally follows the changes in weather and seasons, such as temperature, humidity, hours of daylight. It affects our mood as well as our metabolism. This is especially pronounced in temperate climates with four seasons because of the many changes in the year. Being in harmony with our natural habitat reduces the stress caused by the changing environment.
Be kind to yourself. Sometimes it feels that we can't find the energy for an activity that used to come easy and we tend to beat ourselves up. Actually the root cause of our dis-ease may be hidden at first in our fast-paced modern lives, but may become more apparent when we take a step back to listen to our body and take the time to get replenished and balanced. Acupuncture can help greatly in this process, although it is seldom a quick fix, but rather cumulative small steps toward long-term improvement. Taking our time also means that we enjoy patience and heal at a natural pace in order to balance the sudden (hence stressful) change brought by modern medicine.
Eat food that is good for you. Generally this means seasonal non-processed food grown locally or in a similar environment, ideally eaten slowly. This improves digestion and the energy produced from it, but also helps us be in tune with the environment (Why having bananas may not be a good idea during winter?). Some foods may be more or less advisable depending on our individual constitution (Why hot-spicy foods may not benefit a person that gets irritated easily?). The same goes for drinks (Why a warm tea and a cold soft drink have different effects on digestion?). Please ask your acupuncturist for more details tailored for you, knowing that small changes, anytime, are perfectly fine to start enjoying the benefits!
Breathe deeply and slowly. Stress makes our breathing shallow and rapid, as part of the fight-or-flight mechanism, but with a slow breathe deep into the belly, as if breathing with the abdomen, we tell our body to relax into the rest-and-digest mode, which promotes self-healing. This may lead us to mindful breathing, in other words, meditation.
Exercise. Our bodies are designed for an active lifestyle, so as a consequence of our modern sedentary lives we are more vulnerable to stress and prone to stagnation which leads to pain. Daily exercise, even walking or stretching (also helpful in the evening), helps reduce stress and improves digestion as well as energy level.