My congratulations go out to 3 of my patients this month who gave birth to bouncing babies and a further congratulations to 2 patients who found out they were pregnant this month. I’m not sure which I’m more excited about! 2014 certainly is off to a flying start!

It’s got me thinking about how many acupuncture babies might have been born last year. I’ve done the rough workings out for my clinic alone and that stands at 14 healthy babies. And plenty more mums who are due to have their babies this year. Certainly my acupuncturist friends also have good stories to tell about the women they’ve helped so there must be hundreds of babies, mummies and daddies out there who all owe it to acupuncture. It just makes me feel grateful that I can be involved in this wonderful experience.

Acupuncture really is hugely beneficial in helping fertility problems for both men and women and the results speak for themselves!

This week I attended a very interesting course led by world renowned Chinese medical dermatologist Ken Lloyd. Ken's approach for treating skin conditions quickly and effectively involves the use of acupuncture, topical creams and powdered herbs to be taken in a solution of water. His results are second to none and he has helped thousands of patients suffering with painful skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and urticaria.

Ken shared his methodology during his course and I'm now pleased to say that I too can deliver these effective dermatological treatments and I am now able to prescribe Chinese medical patent herb formulas and topical creams.

I decided to attend Ken's seminars because I have seen an increase in my clinic of patients seeking acupuncture to help with their various skin complaints. The approach to treating dermatological problems in Western medicine tends to be on a trial and error basis with patients trying creams and lotions one after the other to see which ones benefit their skin. Once they've found a cream that helps, it becomes less effective over time as the bacteria causing the infection becomes immune, driving the person back to square one again! Often the patient will be prescribed steroid creams which come with a list of possible side-effects - high blood pressure and bone thinning to name a few!

When we use herbs, the bacteria causing the skin complaint struggles to develop immunity because the herb is a living organism, itself ever changing to the environment & developing it's own immunities to the bacteria around it. By prescribing patients topical creams made from ground herbs mixed into aqueous cream and using a complimentary internal formula of powdered herbs mixed with water there is less of a chance that the bacteria will grow immune and so the potency of the formula remains strong. This means that the active ingredients will target the bacteria and clear it from the system as a pose to steroid creams which merely suppress the symptoms.

Acupuncture alone can be extremely beneficial in treating skin conditions as my patients would affirm, however the reason I have decided to adopt the approach of using herbs alongside needles is to bring about healthy skin more quickly. It means that the patient is still getting treated in between acupuncture sessions. It also means that if finances are limited, a patient can reduce the amount of treatments they have but still have the peace of mind that the herbs are working for them, as often skin conditions require weekly acupuncture treatments over several months.

I will be consulting my current skin condition patients to decide upon a treatment plan that works best for them. If you are a new patient suffering with psoriasis, eczema, urticaria or acne feel free to get in touch to discuss what would work for you. 

State of the art 3D imaging technology has proven that acupuncture points exist according to a recent study published by the Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena. 

The CT scanners revealed that "Acupuncture points have a higher density of micro-vessels and contain a large amount of involuted microvascular structures. The non-acupuncture points did not exhibit these properties."

Another study saw researchers use an amperometric oxygen microsensor to detect partial oxygen pressure variations at different locations on the anterior aspect of the wrist. It showed a direct correlation of increased oxygen pressure with known and commonly used acupuncture points.

This is only confirming what acupuncturists have known for centuries but it is one step further to proving that the concept of qi or energy flowing through the body is not hocum. Acupuncturists have always thought that acupuncture points are simply areas where the qi pools and at this point an acupuncturist would use the conductive nature of the needles to manipulate that persons qi. This research shows this to be correct and is a huge finding for researchers and the acupuncture community.    

For more information click here.