The foundation of all styles of Chinese Medicine from TCM, 5 Elements, Shang Han Lun theory and Classical Chinese medicine is firmly based in Herbal Formulary dating back thousands of years.

The canon of materia media available to us is vast and often exotic and yes, some herbal compounds are not appropriate for use in the UK, along with animal or mineral products, none of which I use in my formulary practice. Herbal medicine is a necessary therapy and a major treatment element for many conditions according to Chinese Medical Diagnosis.

Successful treatment can be had, for many conditions, with even a short course of herbs bringing balance to the body. Topical herbal preparations are commonly used for skin conditions ie; Eczema & Psoriasis, as well musculo - skeletal issues.

As a practitioner I’m obsessed with your Qi & Blood and Yin & Yang amongst a few other things, mostly we talk about the status of each of these elements and how they interact within your body. If these elements are unbalanced, stuck, insufficient or excessive, acupuncture is used to rebalance, open the channels (unstick the Qi or Blood) nourish the deficiencies and reduce the excesses. These tenets are pretty simple but the journey there is often complex.

Treatment begins with an in depth consultation and mini treatment - so that you can experience having Acupuncture with me, to make sure you feel comfortable. A course of treatment is recommended, ranging from 3 sessions upwards dependant on the condition being treated. Progression reviews are ongoing, and it is my intention to get you back to a state of balance or achieve the goals in mind so you can get on with your life, continuing sessions on an ad hoc basis for ‘top-ups’ or maintenance

Chinese Medicine works in a different way to Western Medicine which is why we can treat Acute & Chronic Pain Conditions, Stress, Muscular Pain, Insomnia, Skin Conditions, Fertility issues and provide Support for IVF

Cupping - An incredibly useful therapy mainly used for moving Qi & Blood to provide relief from muscular & joint pain. I use fire cupping; glass jars with a flame to create the vacuum. I no longer offer wet cupping, if you know, you know!

Moxabustion - Another integral and much underused therapy. The burning of a herb is used as a vehicle to apply heat into the body to either warm Qi, expel cold or engender yarn - often used during fertility enhancement therapies. The herb used is Mugwort or Ai Ye.

Bhuddist monks use Moxa on a daily basis as they believe it will help them live longer by preserving their yang. There are many different methods of applying Moxa, loose, cones directly placed on the body or applying heat to points distally. I use smokeless pre charcoaled sticks a bit like a smudge stick.

Tuina - a very direct manual therapy - definitely not a relaxing massage, and not a stand alone treatment but invaluable when treating muscle-skeletal ailments.

There are other auxiliary methods in our tool box, Gua Sea, Manaka Ion Cords, Electro Acupuncture to name a few.