Is Acupuncture safe?
To practise acupuncture in Australia a practitioner must complete a four-year Bachelor of Health Science, including hundreds of practical hours.
Since 2012 Acupuncture has been included in the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
The same agency that regulates medical practitioners, chiropractors, physiotherapists, dentists and nurses.
To practise acupuncture in Australia, practitioners must be registered with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA), a subsidiary of AHPRA. In addition to maintaining registration, acupuncturists must complete a minimum of 20 hours of continuing professional development each year.
Like all medicine, there is always a risk of adverse effects, however, when Chinese medicine is safely administered by a highly qualified practitioner, adverse effects are extremely unlikely.
What is Chinese Medicine?
Chinese medicine is one of the oldest systems of medicine in the world with a history over 5000 years.
Chinese medicine is based on the holistic theory that health is a product of balance within the body and mind and between human and the environment.
Theory teaches that we all have energy flowing within us called qi and that any blockage to this flow may manifest as illness. Chinese medicine focuses on the root cause of disease rather than simply suppressing or treating symptoms.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the predominant method of treatment at Essentially You Healthcare. We use single use, sterile, disposable acupuncture needles to treat a vast array of conditions caused by imbalance within the body. Needles are placed in areas where the energy is most concentrated or blocked, stimulating the release of neurotransmitters and hormones.
Will Acupuncture Hurt?
A very common question is whether acupuncture will hurt. The needles we use are very fine, rarely you may feel a tiny prick as the needle passes through the skin, most patients feel a tingling or heaviness around the needle point.
What Can Acupuncture Help with?
Because Chinese Medicine focuses both on the root cause of disease and presenting signs and symptoms, not just suppressing the illness, acupuncture may be beneficial for a myriad of conditions. These include: mental/emotional, digestive, sports injury, gynaecological, cold and flu, acute and chronic conditions or pain.
Is Acupuncture and dry needling the same?
Many find the distinction between acupuncture and dry needling confusing.
Dry needling is a term used by body therapists such as chiropractors, physiotherapists etc to describe a technique of muscle stimulation using the same solid filiform needles as acupuncture.
The differences being technique, theory and training. Where dry needling uses strong stimulation of muscles to make them release, acupuncture is based on channel theory using points to stimulate the body’s natural desire for homeostasis (balance). To practise acupuncture in Australia practitioners must undergo a four-year Bachelor of Health Science majoring in acupuncture. inclusive of hundreds of hours of practical and clinical experience. However, dry needling requires as little as 20 hours of training. The patient experience between the two are vastly different.
