About Alison Courtney

I came into acupuncture after a long time working as a nurse then midwife.

I enjoy all the aspects of a busy general acupuncture practice, I also attract a lot of pregnancy work because of my midwifery background.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) of which acupuncture is a part can seem very strange to us in the UK, its language, the way the body is seen , the diagnosis and the treatment. My role is to make it less mysterious and enable you to gain the benefits of the treatments and to bridge the gap between East and West. I bring to my work a grounded approach being more of a practical person by nature.

Not sure about being treated with needles? Well, join the masses who have come for treatment with just the same feelings and gone away deciding that it was a positive experience.

My training, work experience and any achievement

What goes on in the treatment?
First there is a lot of talking. You get to tell me your story and what has brought you to acupuncture. I ask some more questions which help me to understand the issues in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) terms. This then guides me on your treatment. I will feel your pulses on both your wrists and look at your tongue, these are very much a part of Chinese medicines diagnostics. I may also want to physically review areas of pain or look at rashes etc. Then we get down to talking about what could be tried to help you and what are reasonable expectations.

Treatment:
The treatments consist of acupuncture, using warmth from moxibustion, cupping which uses a glass cup warmed by a flame which when placed onto the skin has a vacuum effect and is good for releasing all sorts of mysterious things but it is also a good way of treating muscular tightness. Chinese medicine has a whole host of ways to treat people and these are some of them.

What do I treat?
I don’t intend to start great long lists of what I treat but my text books cover much the same as any other medical texts such as medical obstetrics, digestive disorders, gynaecology, and muscular skeletal conditions. Although acupuncture is commonly known in relation to back pain, IBS, headaches and hay fever, but it treats so much more.



IN MY CLINICS
In a typical week I will see clients with back pain, joint pains, RSI, period pain, headaches and digestive problems such as indigestion or IBS. Some clients with asthma or Hay fever, lots of stressful lives with associated symptoms, fatigue and lack of energy, a soul who has recently had a bereavement, coughs and colds, poor sleep, someone with sweaty hands and a man with side effects from his chemotherapy. I will also see pregnant women who come for treatment for all of those pregnancy issues. Someone has morning sickness, someone with a breech another has low back pain several are overdue and some come for birth preparation.

Why do people choose this form of treatment ?
Well that varies but the main reasons are they have had acupuncture before and it is their first choice of treatment. They have been recommended it by a friend or a doctor. They read about it somewhere or they have not been successfully treated by western medicine and are desperate to find an answer somewhere.

How will I feel after a treatment?
I recently heard the term Acu –stoned and liked it so I am borrowing the term for myself. For a short time after your treatment do not drive or cycle and take care crossing the road as you may be very relaxed, this does settle and you go into a state of normal relaxation, this is a pleasant state and in fact people often achieve more on these days. You get accustomed to this effect with further treatments, many clients comment on how well they sleep the night after treatment and that they seem to have more energy. I know of very few treatments with such advantageous side effects. There are some less common and less desirable side effects such as rarely the pain is worse , nausea and an emotional release though with this it may be very beneficial once it’s over.

Need to know more? Go onto the British acupuncture council web site and you can feast on more information such as just how safe acupuncture is, what are the potential side effects how to find a suitable acupuncturist, how acupuncture works (actually we don’t yet know but there are clues) recent research etc. www.acupuncture.org

Should I tell my GP I am having acupuncture?
You can happily share this information if you want to and you are seeing your GP. There is an increasing awareness of the use of acupuncture by doctors as many of them are now training in medical acupuncture themselves (British Medical Acupuncture Society BMAS) , along with this many physiotherapists now use a form of acupuncture in their treatment. I may talk with you about contacting your GP in some circumstances and may even refer you to your GP for an opinion or tests if I feel this would be helpful.

At the first consultation I will ask you about any medical or surgical history and what medication you are on, some medications such as Warfarin a blood thinner is something I need to be aware of.