Acute and chronic pain is part of many people’s lives. Pain affects people differently. What may be perceived as only a minor nuisance to one person, may be completely debilitating to someone else. It is a warning that something isn't quite right. Pain is not just a physical sensation or psychological event, but a combination of these and other components.
One of the strongest areas in Chinese Medicine is that of pain management. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can relieve symptoms and give long term results!
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Bruises, lacerations, shin splints and twisted ankles have shown to heal much quicker with the application of specific herbal formulas and acupuncture! Managing acute trauma is one of the strengths of Chinese Medicine. Any pain in the body is considered a blockage. By breaking up this blockage and allowing the free flow of blood circulation, pain is relieved! Acupuncture and herbal medicine have a great reputation for doing this. Even if you are not an athlete, the wear and tear of everyday life can take its toll.
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Chinese Medicine takes a unique approach to weight loss! Nutrition, exercise and good quality sleep are the proponents of weight loss. Using acupuncture and herbal medicine, loosing from 8-10 lbs the first month is a very common outcome. Of course, results depend on your body type and the effort you put into it. This approach teaches you to reprogram your eating habits and helps you learn how to significantly improve your condition!
Acupuncture is used primarily to strengthen the endocrine and digestive systems. Herbal medicine is an important component for working at the root of the problem. The theory behind this is simple. When stimulating the digestive system, the stomach and spleen can become more efficient at transforming and transporting the energy of the food we consume.
Advanced BIM health screening can identify metabolic problems that may block weight loss for example, food intolerance, insulin resistance, thyroid problems or adrenal stress. If appropriate, hypnotherapy can be offered by an experienced associate practitioner to help deal with psychological dependency and poor dietary habits.
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Chinese medicine is often helpful where conventional medicine is not. Infertility, PMS, endometriosis, PCOS, menstrual disorders and menopause can be better managed or resolved with acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and nutrition.
A diagnosis of infertility can be made after a series of tests conducted in both the man and woman. The tests, best organised by your GP, are done to check if the woman is ovulating and to look for any abnormalities in her uterus or fallopian tubes. The tests are usually carried out within one or two menstrual cycles. In men, an infertility diagnosis involves performing a semen analysis to evaluate the quality and quantity of the man's sperm.
Infertility candidates for acupuncture are women or men who have a functional, rather than a structural reason. Studies show that it helps as many as 65-80 percent of these cases. They show the positive role of Chinese medicine on fertility. (See our clinical trials section). This exciting potential of Chinese medicine is offered to our patients through individualised acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine treatment.
During treatment we offer continual review and fertility testing for men and women to monitor progress.
Our Natural Fertility Clinic offers advice, guidance and treatment to individuals or couples who would like to increase their chances for a natural conception and pregnancy, and to offer supportive treatment for couples undergoing assisted reproduction.
We have found that Chinese medicine can dramatically enhance the chances of a natural pregnancy.
Our primary aim is to enhance natural fertility. In natural fertility, the health of one or both parents is improved so that conception can occur on its own and a healthy pregnancy is maintained. Through years of practice we have found that Chinese medicine can dramatically enhance the chances of a natural pregnancy.
Issues that effect fertility include:
Low sperm count and sperm motility are fertility issues that men face and the combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine has shown to benefit men with these issues.
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A woman’s menstrual cycle plays such a fundamental and central role in her life that it is an area where much imbalance can occur. As such, gynaecological disorders make up nearly than half of the patient complaints that we treat with Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.
Unfortunately it is also an area where there is a lack of conventional treatments. In broad terms, for a young woman with menstrual irregularity, the main suggested treatment is to use the contraceptive pill. While this may sometimes work, it has always seemed odd to have a single treatment for all these different conditions. If a woman is near menopausal and having menstrual problems, then the suggestion of a hysterectomy arises much too quickly. Chinese medicine does not consider the removal of any part of the body can be done without creating great disharmony throughout the rest of the body.
In general, there is a great lack of treatment options for an area which some reports suggests affects up to 90% of women at some time or another. Acupuncture and herbs have been treating menstrual irregularities for more than 2000 years!
A woman’s menstrual cycle is a very delicate hormonal balance. When this delicate balance is disturbed by various stresses and strains of life, problems occur.
Often, women consider menstrual irregularities as normal. Because they have always had painful periods or PMT or other symptoms and have never had treatment, they consider it will always be this way. This is not true, and while it may not able to help everyone there are a lot of people that can benefit from treatment. The most common complaints treated are.
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All women eventually experience the ending of their reproductive years as their menstrual cycle ceases. The hormonal changes that occur at this time can cause many different types of discomfort when our bodies are not in balance. Some problems women deal with at this time include hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, vaginal dryness, headaches and stress. There has been much discussion about the use of soy products to ease the symptoms related to menopause.
Soy contains phytoestrogens that are help to alleviate symptoms related to the drop in oestrogen that a woman's body experiences at this time. But it may not always be appropriate.
In addition to supplementation with soy, there are many ways to balance the body and reduce discomfort during this natural change. In Chinese medicine, the symptoms associated with menopause are considered to be a result of a decline in the yin functions of the body.
Yin is the nourishing, moistening, restorative, structural energy of the body. In this way, it is closely related to the feminine hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone. The bone loss that some women experience at this time would also be related to yin deficiency and to deficiency of the Kidney in Chinese medicine. The Kidney in Chinese medicine relates to the health of the bones.
While many women seek out hormone supplementation, acupuncture and herbs, along with lifestyle and dietary changes can alleviate menopausal symptoms naturally.
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Acupuncture and Chinese medicine has an excellent pedigree and knowledge base for treating digestive disorders.
Symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, acid reflux, gas, diarrheoa, constipation and nausea, can have several different root causes. Causative factors like adverse emotional states, lifestyle, inappropriate diet, excessive use of pharmaceuticals or anti-biotics, chronic illnesses or external factors such as bacteria or parasitic problems can trigger an individual pre-disposition to chronic digestive problems. Acupuncture and herbal medicine combined with nutritional supplements have a powerful combined influence on the body’s recovery. Lifestyle factors are also key in repair and maintenance.
Grahame Gargini has had 12 years experience of treating digestive disorders using acupuncture, herbs and nutrition. Add to this our facilities of BIM screening and food intolerance testing means we are uniquely positioned to enable treatment success.
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Fatigue is a symptom of many different disorders, both psychological and physical. It is often difficult to discover its cause with modern Western diagnostic methods. Fortunately, diagnosing and treating this sort of generalized complaint is one of the strong points of traditional Chinese medicine.
The first and most important step is to examine the person's lifestyle to eliminate any possible causes of fatigue, such as lack of sleep, poor diet, insufficient exercise, or overworking. Without correcting these problems, it is difficult or impossible to restore the patient's energy level. Once the proper lifestyle adjustments are made, treatment, particularly moxabustion and herbs are more likely to be effective.
Fatigue is different from drowsiness. In general, drowsiness is feeling the need to sleep, while fatigue is a lack of energy and motivation. Drowsiness and apathy (a feeling of indifference or not caring about what happens) can be symptoms of fatigue.
Fatigue can be a normal and important response to physical exertion, emotional stress, boredom, or lack of sleep. However, it can also be a non-specific sign of a more serious psychological or physical disorder. When fatigue is not relieved by a good night’s sleep, good nutrition, or a low-stress environment, it should be evaluated. Because fatigue is a common complaint, sometimes a potentially serious cause may be overlooked.
There are many possible physical and psychological causes of fatigue. Some of the more common are:
Chronic fatigue syndrome, (CFS), often referred to as ME or CFIDS, is a condition that starts with flu-like symptoms and typically lasts for 6 months or more. Chinese medicine and acupuncture has had a high success rate in treating CFS compared to conventional medicine. Primarily, it understands the condition as a retained pathogenic virus that the weakened body’s defences cannot expel properly. Other factors such as adrenal exhaustion and the quality of diet and lifestyle are key.
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Our Skin Clinic has been established for over 5 years and offers the undoubted benefits of Chinese medicine in the treatment a wide range of skin conditions. Many acute and chronic disorders can be significantly helped and resolved by the correct use of Chinese herbs and the appropriate use of acupuncture.
Herbal medicine has been successfully used in the Orient for thousands of years to manage and benefit diseases of the skin. In modern times, specialist dermatology departments in hospitals throughout China use the holistic principles of traditional Chinese medicine to treat the widest range of dermatological conditions. Recent research in the West has also clearly demonstrated not only efficacy, but lack of side effects of this method of treatment (see for example the treatment of atopic eczema by Chinese medicine in “Research & Clinical Trials").
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Detoxification is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph and skin. But in our world today, body systems and organs that were once capable of cleaning out unwanted substances are now completely overloaded; thus many unwanted substances stay in our tissues. Our bodies try to protect us from harmful material by setting it aside, surrounding it with mucus or fat so it won't cause imbalance or trigger an immune reaction. (Your body stores foreign substances in its fatty deposits - a significant reason to keep your body fat low). Some people carry up to 15 extra pounds of mucous that harbours this waste.
Ideally, we should live in a pollution free environment, eat untainted foods and drink pure water. This isn't practical, so the next best thing is to keep pollutants to a minimum and to periodically get rid of them through a detoxification programme.
Grahame Gargini can help by using the Bioelectrical Impedance Measurement health screening equipment, MSAS, to assess body toxicity, assess the affect of this toxicity on the body’s inflammatory responses and identify an individually tuned detoxification and drainage protocol. This depends on the effectiveness of your body’s detox organ systems. Specific and timed drainage regimes can be more effective if planned correctly. If the liver and colon function is impaired, for instance, the emphasis will be placed accordingly.
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Emotional problems respond extremely well to acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Chinese medicine theory states that the physical, emotional and mental aspects of the individual operate as one integrated entity. All aspects respond to movements of qi energy and pathogenic states such as stagnation and heat.
Emotional problems that respond especially well are depression, anxiety and insomnia. Associate practitioners offer counselling and hypnotherapy alongside acupuncture and herbs if appropriate.
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