What is Acupuncture?

If you are wondering - "What is acupuncture?" - Stephen Bayliss, an acupuncturist in Kent, South East England UK, gives a brief history and explanation.

Acupuncture is a safe and natural holistic approach to health and well-being. It has been used and refined in Far Eastern countries, such as China, for more than 2000 years and in more recent times has found growing popularity in western countries such as the United Kingdom.

Acupuncture can be used to benefit a wide range of illnesses, not only physical, but also spiritual/ emotional. It also supports the maintenance of health and can reduce the likelihood of future illness.

A great benefit of the approach by acupuncturists is that they deal with the whole person, not simply the symptom. Therefore an individual approach to treatment is given, rather than a standard one size fits all!

Chinese medicine holds that health affected by, the flow and balance of energy, qi (pronounced ‘chee’), that is within our body in channels (meridians). When qi flows smoothly, we are healthy. However, a variety of physical, mental and emotional factors affect the flow of qi, including: our emotions such as anger, anxiety, grief, over-thinking and sadness; weather and climate; diet; constitutional/ hereditary factors; infections; overwork and fatigue; trauma.