Self-help: get the best out of your acupuncturist!

So! You’re planning to visit an acupuncturist? First, do some Self-Help!

Think about your problem and try to marshal your thoughts about it. A little forethought goes a long way.

The following might help jog your thoughts – but they don’t cover everything …

What is the feeling or discomfort or pain like?

What sort of pain (problem) is it?

People consult acupuncturists for all sorts of problems, and many don’t involve pain – Insomnia, for instance.

But suppose it is a pain, then …

• If it’s a pain, how can you describe it other than just ‘pain’?
• Think of all the different kinds of pain there are: boring, bruised, burning, burrowing, bursting, contracting, constricting, cord-like, cramping, crushing, cutting ….etc.!
• Which matches the pain you experience?

• What circumstances correlate with the onset of the pain, (eg the weather, the time of day, what you are doing, who you are with, what you have been thinking or talking about, what you have been feeling, after or before food/drink, menses, Monday morning, Friday evening…. etc) ?

• What other illnesses or problems have you had, recently and in the past?  
• Also, which medication do you take? And what supplements?
• Is there anything you have learned to do, (eg special exercises or diet habits), but for which the pain, or another pain, would occur, or be worse?
• What other treatments or interventions have you had that have been effective, ineffective, or partially effective, or after which things changed for the worse or the better?
• Who else that you know, or are related to, who has had something similar?
• What about the health of your brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents? If any of these have died, what was their health like during their lives, and what caused death?

Self-help can pinpoint answers that only you know, and to your acupuncturist they can make an enormous difference!

Reading List 
Helping Ourselves – A Guide to Chinese Food Energetics by Daverick Leggett 
The Web That Has No Weaver – Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted Kaptchuk 
Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies: Psychology, Energy and Chinese Medicine by Leo Hammer 
The 5 Laws for Healthy Living by Angela Hicks 
Acupuncture in Practice: Case History Insights From the West edited by Hugh MacPherson and Ted Kaptchuk

Further Study and Educational courses 

If you wish to consider training as an acupuncturist or herbalist, the nearest (to Scotland) good centre is in York: the Northern College of Acupuncture, 61 Micklegate, York YO1 6LJ. 
Tel. 01904-343305. 
Website http://www.chinese-medicine.co.uk.

Done the Self-Help? Ready now for an Acupuncturist?

The other question is what kind of acupuncturist to consult. Think in the same way you would if consulting any professional, such as a lawyer, architect or private doctor.

You would probably prefer someone well-qualified, with experience and preferably with a good track record.

Of course, since you’ll be discussing very personal matters, you’ll want someone you can trust. If you know of someone that a friend has visited, with good results, that might be a good place to start.

All members of the British Acupuncture Council have spent many years in training, with good clinical supervision. Members maintain their standards through regular CPD – Continuing Professional Development – and they are all fully insured.