Acupuncture in Blackburn
If you are based in Blackburn and are looking for Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, why not visit our Tonic Acupuncture clinic in Longridge?
Our beautiful clinic is only a drive away from Blackburn, where we offer a range of traditional Chinese medicine treatments to improve your health and wellbeing.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine practice that has been used for thousands of years to improve physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, the body has over 2000 acupuncture points, 361 of these points are situated over the 14 meridians of the body. Meridians are the channel pathways that the vital resources (Qi, Blood and Body Fluids)* of the body and organs flow through. Stimulating the acupuncture points with needles, acupressure, heat therapy or cupping, will improve the flow of these vital resources and bring balance back to the body, organs and spirit.
For acupuncture, your practitioner will carefully chose the right acupuncture points and then they will gently insert thin, sterilised needles into the skin to stimulate specific acupuncture points. This will generally be anywhere between 1 and 30 acupuncture points, depending on what you, the patient, needs.
What is it like to have acupuncture at Tonic Acupuncture?
When choosing to book your appointment, you’ll notice the detailed intake form. This intake form you will notice asks a lot of questions that you may not feel are relevant to your main condition. We can promise you that every single condition, injury, scar or symptom is essential to helping your practitioner understand the root cause of your main condition. An old scar could be situated on a channel, this scar could be blocking some vital resources and over time this could have an effect on an organ and then cause physical or emotional symptoms related to that organ.
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At your first appointment, your practitioner will work through your answers, asking more details. Then your practitioner will use other diagnostic methods such as palpation of your meridians, affected body area, looking at your tongue and feeling the pulses of the body. We then attempt to establish the main causes for your symptoms – this is NOT a western medical diagnosis, but your practitioner will explain what they feel has been some or all of the causes of your symptoms. We say attempt as sometimes a full picture takes several sessions.
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Your practitioner will advise you how many sessions you will need to start reducing your symptoms and how many could be needed to resolve your symptoms. These are often an estimate, mostly because everyone is very different. We will always be honest if we feel that acupuncture wouldn’t be helpful for your symptoms and occasionally we suggest to try a few sessions and if there’s no small changes, then we may recommend another type of treatment. We will never keep you attending for treatments if we felt we couldn’t help.
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The first time you receive any acupuncture, will normally be on the first session, this will generally be a gentle treatment of anything from 1-10 needles. Using a gentle approach to help our practitioners see how your body reacts to the acupuncture.
Why should I have acupuncture?
For many, acupuncture is a lifestyle choice used to complement treatments they are currently undertaking or as a means of pain relief. Often patients turn to traditional Chinese medicines and alternative therapies when other treatments have failed them, and they are seeking symptom relief. Although this tide is turning now and many people who have experienced acupunctures benefits before, will come before exhausting other options first.
Whether you are suffering from a chronic illness, an injury, or simply looking to improve your wellbeing, acupuncture at Tonic Acupuncture can be a great addition to your life.
The Benefits of Acupuncture
Acupuncture can be incredibly beneficial to people of all ages and from all walks of life. Within TCM, all symptoms of illness are a direct result of Qi (pronounced chee) being blocked or interrupted in the body. Qi is the life force that makes up all living entities, guiding each person's physical, mental and emotional health. When this Qi is blocked, the body becomes unbalanced, and it is by using acupuncture, your practitioner can help reharmonise you. Acupuncture can help with a range of conditions and symptoms that affect your overall wellbeing.
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There are many symptoms and conditions acupuncture has evidence suggesting it can be beneficial for some people, such as:​
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The NHS (NICE) currently state that acupuncture shows strong evidence of efficacy in the treatment of Chronic tension type headaches and migraines. They also include that there is potential benefit (limited clarity of evidence) when using acupuncture in the treating of the following conditions –
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chronic pain, such as
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neck pain
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joint pain
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dental pain
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postoperative pain
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Advertising Guidelines (ASA) permit acupuncturists to say that acupuncture can have a some short term positive effects on the following conditions –
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Overactive bladder syndrome
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Tension type headaches
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Migraine headache
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Chronic low back pain
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Neck pain or chronic neck pain
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Temporomandibular (TMD/TMJ) pain
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Adjunctive treatment for osteoarthritis knee pain
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With many conditions, it is vital that you seek out advice from your GP before getting treatment with any complementary therapist.
You will never have a guaranteed response from a course of acupuncture, even when the evidence base is strong for your condition, the best way to know if acupuncture will work for you is for you to try some sessions. At Tonic Acupuncture, your acupuncturist will most certainly advise you if we felt your condition wouldn’t respond, our if we felt a different type of therapy would be more suitable to your health needs.
As many of the government bases of evidence for acupuncture are out of date or, not fit for purpose, the above conditions are very limited. This is despite many acupuncture researchers producing excellent summaries and submitting them for review to NICE and ASA. If you would like more recent evidence of the effectiveness of acupuncture, please check out this website for some very detailed acupuncture study reviews, including their recent review on the evidence base for the use of acupuncture for anxiety and depression.
Is acupuncture painful?
No acupuncture is not typically painful, and in many cases, patients will find their sessions therapeutic and relaxing. When your practitioner gently inserts the hair-thin needles, most patients will experience little to no sensation, but on occasion, you may feel slight pressure, mild aching, tingling or a momentary pinching. Patients often leave feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, describing this sensation as if they are floating home. After an acupuncture session, it is always advisable to rest, relax and rehydrate for the remainder of the day whilst your body heals.
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Get in touch today
If you are looking for Acupuncture in Blackburn and would like to learn more about the Acupuncture sessions we offer at Tonic Acupuncture, please don't hesitate to contact us today on email us at clinic@tonicacu.co.uk. Or book your free 20 min call by clicking here.
We are more than happy to discuss the benefits of acupuncture and how it can improve your overall wellbeing. To book an appointment at our clinic based close to Blackburn, please visit our Longridge Clinic booking page.
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