Acupuncture FAQs...

Q: WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A TREATMENT?

A: First there is a discussion on your main complaint/s. There will also be other questions that at the time you may not think are relevant to your condition, but all information is essential in order to make a thorough diagnosis. Patient honesty is needed for a successful treatment! Next your tongue and pulse are examined which help clarify the diagnosis. With the diagnosis made, and acupuncture points chosen accordingly, needles are gently inserted and left for 20 to 30 minutes. 

Q: WHY DO YOU ASK ME TO STICK OUT MY TONGUE???

A: There are several things that your tongue can show us, which help us choose the correct points/herbs to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q: HOW LONG DOES A TREATMENT TAKE?

A: An initial consultation takes around 1 - 1½ hours.  Subsequent treatments take 1 hour on average.

Q: DO I HAVE TO HAVE ACUPUNCTURE, OR CAN I JUST GET HERBS?

A: Of course! However the same discussion is needed in an herbal consult as there is for an acupuncture consult in order to obtain a thorough diagnosis.

Q: CAN I GET A REFUND FROM MY HEALTH FUND?

A: Yes! Both Teja and Jacinda are accredited members of AACMA. Most health funds recognise Acupuncture and offer various levels of rebates.  Please contact your provider for more information.  You can email Point Specifics from the contacts page if you would like a list of health funds and rebates.

Q: I AM SCARED OF GETTING INJECTIONS AND BLOOD TESTS... I DON'T THINK ACUPUNCTURE IS FOR ME...

A:  Below is a diagram of a needle your GP uses for injections and blood tests, the Hypodermic needle, compared with a human hair and an acupuncture needle: 

This is a common concern for new patients.  Many people have had traumatic experiences with needles by having blood tests and vaccinations.  Often these  procedures are very painful, and the area can be sore for days.  Acupuncture is NOTHING like this.  If you look at the diagram, you can see that the hypodermic needle, which GPs use, is quite thick and has a cutting edge... this is why it hurts! It is also hollow, so as to inject something or draw fluid out.  Compare the hypodermic needle with the acupuncture needle.  Point Specifics uses needles that are 0.20mm thin.  Between 5 - 10 acupuncture needles can fit inside one hypodermic needle.  The point of the acupuncture needle is very fine, and often you don't know that it has been put in.  This is because the point is not designed for cutting, but rather for sliding into the point.  Once the needles are in place, you will often forget that they are there, and after they come out there is rarely any discomfort.  

Q: DO YOU TREAT MULTIPLE PATIENTS AT ONE TIME?

A: No. You are paying for our time and attention, so at Point Specifics we treat one person at a time.  If we are not in the treatment room with you, we are in the dispensary preparing your medicinal formula.  

Q: DO YOU DO CONSULTATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO FAR AWAY TO ATTEND YOUR CLINIC?

A: Yes! Contact us for more information. We can do a skype consultation and express post your raw/powdered herbs to you anywhere in Australia!

Q: HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?
 
A: It depends on which perspective you are looking from.  From a Western biomedical framework of thought, acupuncture remains largely mysterious.  It is suggested that the use of fine needles stimulates the release of various hormones.  From a Chinese Medical paradigm, acupuncture stimulates the body to heal itself.  Fine needles are placed in specific points around the body, tapping into a special energy (Qi - pronounced 'Cheee').  Acupuncture can be seen as a catalyst for health, it gives the body a kick start on it's way to well-being.  As acupuncturists, we don't 'cure' you, we enable your body to heal itself.  A therapist of Chinese medicine is not superior to his/her patient, rather we are equals, just not equivalents. 

 

 

A: Yes!  It is common for both partners to attend the first session, although there is usually only enough time for one person to get treatment.  We also have partner  assessment forms that you can take home if your partner cannot make it in for treatment, and we then use that information to prescribe the appropriate medicines.  If you both want treatment at the same session, then let us know when you make your booking so we can leave enough time.

 

 

A: According to Chinese Medicine, the health of the parents at the time of conception is vital to the future health of the child.  So what does this mean? Just stop smoking for the few nights around ovulation? No. Gametes (sperm and follicles/eggs) take around 3 months to develop from a single cell into a functional sperm or follicle.  During this 3 month period, whatever one eats, drinks, breathes in, puts on ones skin, experiences emotionally, all of these factors will influence the growth of that sperm/follicle that could be fertilised into your future child.  Ergo, we usually recommend a period of time from when you start treatment where you eliminate alcohol, tobacco, junk food, soft drinks, excessive refined sugars, reduce tea/coffee, increase whole foods, eat regularly, drink plenty of fluids, take supplements if necessary, and take TCM herbs to strengthen the sperm and follicles.  When this happens, we have the best chance of helping you fall pregnant, and then stay pregnant.  In some cases with a history of miscarriage, the preconception period may be longer. Please contact the clinic for more information, or read more on our Fertility page. Also check out this interesting research!

A: LSA, or lifestyle advice, is probably the most important aspects that will lead to you regaining control of your health. When we use acupuncture, we make your system more efficient, the needles act like a catalyst. It is YOUR energy that cures you, we just make it all work faster. Journalist and Novelist Daniel Akst tells us that half of all deaths in American (and therefore presumabably here too...) come from over-eating, smoking (in the USA, more people die each year from tabacco related diseases than were lost in World War 2), drinking too much and failing to exercise, behaviours we endulge in knowing all along that we're commiting slow motion suicide. 'We are the architects of our own demise...' he says. Before any therapist, be they inclinded towards Western Medicine or Eastern, can make a difference in your life, you have to take responsibility for what is in your control and make changes to the way you live your life. You know already what these changes are, you know you need to exercise more, eat better, drink more room temperature water, stop smoking, drink less alchol and never EVER drink Diet Coke, get more sleep, take up tai chi or yoga and de-stress, moderate your sexual activity, get out and plant some trees, etc. Although we know that you know these things, when you come in and see us at the clinic, we'll just give you friendly reminders!

 

 

A: Yes. 99.8% of women we see for fertility experience the same phenomena. Biological pain is something that can't be soothed with rationality.

 

 

A: Um... No... Chinese Medicine did at one point associate ill health with demonic affliction, but this was back in Warring States Period, i.e. the Dark Ages. See Teja's article here for more info.  It seems like the Church/s are stuck back there... Tai Chi is a form of exercise, it is proven to help people prevent illnesses such as arthritis, and it helps people reduce their levels of stress.  Some people who come to the clinic are stressed, even though they are part of a Church... Tai Chi is a 'mindful' exercise, you have to concentrate fully on moving the body smoothly and without tension.  If you are emptying your mind of anything it is the crap that burdens most of us on a daily basis, and then we begin to actually focus on ourselves, our bodies, and realise that our bodies are not just vehicles to carry our heads around.  It is not a spiritual practice, unless you choose it to be. Ideally Tai Chi should allow you a better relationship to God, or Allah, or Buddha, or who/whatever. See here for a Christian's perspective.

 

 

A: Yes!  We no longer practice in Arcadia or Dural (or the city).  Point Specifics  now operates from 1 Rhodes Place, Kellyville (just down from Windsor Road). Our new clinic number is 8807 2828.

 

 

 

 

A: No. The labour room has many different energies at different stages. There will be times when you just want the support of your husband/partner. In this situation the Doula can be in the background preparing hot towels, filling the bath, getting drinks etc. Then there will be times when reassurance is needed - you and your husband need to be told that everything is OK, that you're both doing really well. This sounds simple enough, but just by having someone there to say that to you (someone that you've gotten to know really well and trust) can get you through another hour - which also could be the difference between 7cms and 10cms! At other times the husband/partner may look lost and need guidance - a Doula can provide this. And there will be times when you will need an advocate - someone who is not caught up in the emotional aspect of the labour to fully express to the hospital staff your wishes/concerns/wants and don't wants. This is where a Doula is invaluable.

 

 

A: Most couples who hire a Doula do so because they want to be supported in having an active birth. They want a normal, natural birth and they want to be able to be free to do whatever they feel like in labour, within the boundaries of safety. Your memories of labour will stay with you for the rest of your life. It may be your first pregnancy, second or fifth - everyone benefits from hiring a Doula. 

 

 

 

A: No. Whether you are going private or public, having your baby at a birth centre or at home every woman has the right to a Doula as part of her support team. 

 

A: You can! The operating theatre can be a scary place - an unfamiliar room with unfamiliar people looking at you. Once baby is born your partner will usually go to spend time with him/her, leaving you alone with the surgeon, anaesthetist and nurses while you get sutured up. How great would it be to have someone you trust and respect, who can relay what's going on in layman's terms, there by your side and who will stay with you while the epidural wears off?!

 

A: I'm afraid not. The hospital system at the moment cannot afford one midwife to stay with one labouring woman. The ratio of midwives to labouring women in any hospital system is more likely 1:3. A midwife will come in periodically to check your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and monitor the baby (occasionally check dilation) but that's about all, because this is all they have time for. The continuity of support you are looking for in a midwife is provided by a Doula.