Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been used in the Far East to restore, promote and maintain good health for over 2,500 years. The first needles were made from stone, and then later from bronze, gold and silver. The first medical account of acupuncture was ‘The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine’, which dates from about 300 BC.

Acupuncture is rooted in the Daoist philosophy of change, growth, balance and harmony, and The Yellow Emperor's Classic outlines the principles of natural law and the movements of life - yin and yang, the five elements, the organ system and the meridian network along which acupuncture points are located. These records also contain details of pathology and physiology, which some 2,000 years later provide the theoretical foundation for acupuncture today.

"Although I studied traditional acupuncture I have always worked with western medicine. Over the years my treatments have developed into a fusion of western medicine ideas with acupuncture treatments. I find this fusion works particularly well, that the patient feels that there is a familiarity about the way we treat them, and they are not overwhelmed by too much new terminology.

I believe that this approach will help bring about the healthy transformation of Chinese medicine. It means that we are bringing acupuncture up to date without totally rejecting the thousands of years of knowledge on which it is based.

All the acupuncturists that are part of A Healthy Conception have done lengthy mentoring programmes with me and therefore practice in a similar way. Although we all retain our own individual styles which I think is to be encouraged.

When I started the fertility support clinic at Westover House I found that many people were coming to me for acupuncture before they had ever visited an orthodox practitioner. It made sense to me to work in tandem with orthodox medicine and other practitioners in order to offer these couples a comprehensive approach to their fertility. Fertility is often multi-factorial so I believe it works well with a multi-disciplined approach.

We do use tongue and pulse diagnosis but we combine this with information gained from western medicine procedures such as blood tests and scans etc. It is an exciting and accurate way of working".

Emma Cannon