CHRISTCHURCH FAMILY MEDICAL CENTRE - IAN ROBERT HOPE

Acupuncture can be used as a stand-alone therapy, as a complement to orthodox medicine or as a way of reducing or eliminating the need to take drugs. The World Health Organisation has identified over 40 health problems that respond well to acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture is also an effective way of maintaining good health. It helps boosts the immune system, promotes a sense of wellbeing and brings harmony and health to body, mind and spirit. Acupuncture doesn’t treat individual symptoms in isolation. Instead, it goes to the very root of your problem to address the underlying causes. This makes it an incredibly powerful treatment. As well as helping to resolve your immediate complaint, it revives you on every level - physical, emotional and spiritual.

Gwyneth Paltrow displayed her faith in the therapeutic power of cupping when she appeared at a film premiere with a line of circular blotches on her back. Chinese swimmers at the Beijing Olympic Games sported the same telltale marks. How does cupping work? Cupping treats illness and pain by using suction to improve the flow of Qi in the meridians. It also helps to move blood and lymphatic fluid where there is stagnation within the body. How is cupping applied? 'Cups' are glass vessels that come in different sizes and look rather like miniature goldfish bowls. The traditional method is to heat each one in turn, then quickly place it on an acupuncture point or an area of the body that is causing pain. Because the heat creates a vacuum, your skin and the underlying tissue are sucked inside and blood rushes to the area.

Hence the circular blotches. Although Gua Sha is widely practised all over Asia, it is not well known in the West. This is a great pity, since Gua Sha is one of the most powerful treatments for pain. Gua Sha stimulates the movement of Qi and unblocks blood stagnation. In the process it works simultaneously on your skin, connective tissue, lymph system, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and brain.