Acupuncture is the practice of penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles or laser

Acupuncture is part of the ancient practice of Traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe the human body has more than 2,000 acupuncture points connected by pathways or meridians. These pathways create an energy flow (Qi, pronounced “chee”) through the body that is responsible for overall health. Disruption of the energy flow can cause disease. By applying acupuncture to certain points, it is thought to improve the flow of Qi, thereby improving health.

Studies have shown that acupuncture is effective for a variety of conditions.

• Chronic pain
• Neuropathy
• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms

Acupuncture is a complete system of medicine with a range of application almost as wide as that of Western Medicine.  A doctor who combines Western medicine with acupuncture can therefore select the most appropriate treatment in any particular case.

Children usually respond quickly and with the use of laser the fear of needles is eliminated.

Acupuncture often is not a one session treatment

The average patient with a chronic disease of several years’ duration requires about ten to twelve treatments to achieve the greatest relief possible. Mild diseases need fewer treatments, the really severe ones and more.  Chronic diseases may need spaced maintenance acupuncture at six to eight week intervals after a set course of treatment.

Three quarters of patients who are successfully treated notice a response with the first treatment, usually within seconds or minutes.  Others will only notice this initial response after several hours or days.

The initial response is often heralded, by either an increase of general energy and awareness, or by a feeling of pleasant drowsy relaxation.  Thereafter the patients may observe that some of his symptoms have disappeared – but this may not last.  It will wear off after some hours or days and the treatment will have to be repeated.  With each further treatment the improvement will be more pronounced and will last longer..

A few patients experience a reaction after treatment and feel temporarily worse.  This is more likely to happen after the first treatment than with subsequent ones.  The reaction may manifest itself as an aggravation of the patient’s usual symptoms, or sometimes as merely fatigue.  This tends to pass in a few hours or a day or two.

At Murray House Clinic, Dr Kwai Lee is a trained medical acupuncturist. If you are interested, please contact the clinic for an appointment.