From the 3rd-10th of March 2014, it will be Acupuncture Awareness Week in the UK. Supported by the British Acupuncture Council, the main aim of Acupuncture Awareness Week is to help inform people more about the practice of traditional acupuncture. Although acupuncture is a very popular therapy in the UK, with over 2.3 million treatments carried out each year, many people only turn to acupuncture as a last result after the ineffectiveness of other therapies. The purpose of Acupuncture Awareness Week is to change this and make more people aware of the many health benefits of acupuncture.
Traditional acupuncture is an ancient practice that originated in China and other far eastern cultures. Acupuncturists believe that the basis of all diagnosis and treatment is that the mind and body should be in equilibrium. This means that acupuncture focuses on the whole person rather than just an affected area and aims to improve a person’s health and wellbeing as a whole. Each treatment is geared towards the individual.
Acupuncture therapy is widely regarded to be an effective treatment for a whole variety of illnesses and symptoms, from lower back pain, osteoarthritis or even nausea. Treatment involves the use of extremely fine, sterile acupuncture needles to stimulate specific points of the body, not only around the area where a patient may be suffering from pain or discomfort.
Although some people may not like the idea of the use of needles, acupuncture is an extremely safe procedure, with the risk of a serious adverse reaction believed to be below 1 in 10,000 people. Any side effects that one may experience from osteopathy are only very mild and short lived. A common myth is that acupuncture needles are as large as an injection needle, whereas the reality is that an acupuncture is roughly the width of a human hair. This kind of needle is more likely to induce a slight tingling rather than any real pain.
If you would like to find out more about what is involved in acupuncture therapy and how it can benefit you, you can go to the main Fiona Passey & Partners page or visit the official Acupuncture Awareness Week website.
