Self-help to get the best out of your acupuncturist
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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, many of them listed on the left side of this page, 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?
- Is the pain different in different places, or under different circumstances?
- Where does it hurt?
- Where does the pain come from, or go to? In other words, where else do you feel it?
- What causes the pain?
- What makes the pain or problem worse and what makes it better? For example, is it better (or worse) for warmth, being outside, being massaged gently, rest, air that is fresh, or warm, or cold, inside or outside…etc? What else makes it different? For instance, does the time of day, or the weather make a difference?
- Clear answers to these questions could make an enormous difference to the diagnosis your acupuncturist reaches. And you may find that the answers even help you "self-help" the pain away.
- What circumstances, (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) seem to correlate with the onset or duration of the pain?
- When you have the pain, how does that affect what you feel like doing?
- What else hurts or bothers you when you are in pain?
- Is there any unpleasant sensation you feel when you don't have the pain: what alternates with the pain?
- After having the pain for a while, what happens - to it, and to you?
- What do you want to do when in pain?
- How does it affect your appetite, sleep, digestion, bowels, urination, circulation and so on?
- When did it start?
What were the circumstances surrounding the original onset? For example, what was going on in your life in the months preceding the onset of your problem or at about the same time as it started?
Is there any other kind of discomfort that you have?
- What other illnesses or problems have you had, recently and in the past?
- What medication do you take? 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!
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.
Booking Consultations with Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott
Click here to see when Jonathan is available, or to BOOK your appointment online.
Alternatively, ring him on 07950 012501 or freephone (only free to telephone within the UK) 0800 298 7015.
Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott Books
All the books in the 'Chinese Medicine in English' series should be fully accessible on Kindles and Kindle apps. (Or you can buy the softback print editions, of course.)
('Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine' published 1986, was never available in a Kindle version.)
Request! Please!
If, having read one of my books you can write a review - preferably positive - that would help others decide whether to read it.
You can put your review on Amazon or, on this site, here.
And if you think it was terrible?
Well, let me know so I can improve it for the next person. (Ideally let me know before cursing it in public!)
Here are some of the books I (Jonathan) have written.
Subscribers to Kindle Unlimited can borrow the first four for 'free'.
Qi Stagnation - Signs of Stress
Yin Deficiency - Burnout and Exhaustion
Yang Deficiency - Get Your Fire Burning Again!
Yuck! Phlegm! How to Clear Your Phlegm ...
Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine
Published 1986 and, amazingly, still selling. Was apparently used back then by at least one acupuncture college to help students understand Chinese medicine!
Four Reviews so far. (Despite the lurid cover, it explains the five main types of phlegm and what works best for each type. I hope it's easy to read and will be much more useful than all the websites on the subject.)
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