Toolbox

A painter has their paintbrushes.

An acupuncturist also has their tool kit.

Here's Sarah's tool kit.

Acupuncture

Sarah's style of acupuncture is based on the system of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is a style that is based on classical teachings written over 2,000 years ago and is a one of the core styles that is taught and practised in Chinese universities and teaching hospitals today.

Sarah believes in using as few needles as possible. Think of an archery target. If the archer is not able to hit the target, then they will use more arrows until they get as close to the target as possible. Sarah believes that a good practitioner should be able to diagnosis and treat their patient with a focused and targeted treatment.

Sarah has been trained under the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board, a 3-year full time degree level course, with a minimum of 400 clinical hours before qualifying. This is one of the few acupuncture courses recognised by the Department of Health.

Below is a video of some the needles used by Sarah San Acupuncture.

How does acupuncture work?

Tui Na

Tui na, or Chinese massage therapy, is one of the four main branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Although its roots in China are ancient, tui na is still relatively new to the West. Archaeological studies have dated the use of Chinese massage therapy back to around 3,000 BC, making it the grandmother of all forms of massage and bodywork that exists today, from shiatsu to osteopathy, and is one of the first form of Chinese medicine practised.

Tui na follows the same diagnostic and treatment principles as acupuncture and to that end, tui na can be used to treat specific illnesses of an internal nature (eg mental health, digestive health, female health) as well as more external muscular skeletal ailments.

Tui na is especially useful for treating children and the elderly or those who are sensitive to needles. Sarah incorporates the use of tui na into her sessions as both a diagnostic tool and also for treatment purposes.

Sarah has been trained under internationally renowned tui na practitioner, Sarah Pritchard, on a one-year training programme. Below is a video of Sarah's teacher talking about tui na.

Nutrition

Nutrition lies at the heart of Chinese Medicine. During the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), the famous physician, Sun Simiao wrote the famous book ‘Recipes Worth a Thousand Gold', in which he states that food and nutrition should be the first line of defence when it comes to the maintenance of health.

Food and nutrition is also increasingly recognised by Western Medicine as important to our overall well-being. So what is different in Chinese Medicine and how can we apply it to Western modern-day living?

Every food and drink is classified according to their nature: hot, cold, neutral or damp. And within this, there is a scale in their classification. For example, alcohol is classified as hot, but did you know that red wine is classified hotter than white wine? So, for someone who gets very hot at night, such as menopausal women, but would like to continue having a glass or two, perhaps choosing a glass of white wine would be more beneficial than drinking a glass of red wine.

Sarah is passionate about nutrition and has undertaken further training on Chinese Medicine nutritional advice.

Yang Sheng

Prevention is better than cure. Think about brushing your teeth to prevent cavities, or gentle exercise to keep the joints lubricated. Yang sheng is all about taking care of the body to minimise ill health later down the line.

Taking a Chinese medicine view of health, Sarah will incorporate yang sheng advice into her sessions with you. For example, do you get a crick in the neck in the summer, working in an air-conditioned office? Sarah may advise to wear a light-weight summer scarf in the office to block the cold air from your neck. Or do you suffer from tennis elbow syndrome when gardening in the spring? Then perhaps wearing a light weight long sleeve top could help block the spring breeze from giving you the constant niggling pain in the elbow.

‘A superior physician treats a patient before he is sick’ – Yellow Emperor.

Sarah strongly believes that prevention is better than cure and will suggest yang sheng advice tailored to your health and lifestyle.

Gua sha

Gua Sha is an Oriental skin scraping technique that dates back over two thousand years. Any area where there is pain, tension in the skin or muscles, congestion, discoloration or vascular spiders may benefit from Gua Sha.

When the skin is scraped the Gua Sha tool pushes a build-up of fluid ahead of it, and after it has passed it leaves an indention or vacuum behind which draws toxic fluid and static blood out to the skin surface from deep in the tissues. Gua Sha immediately improves blood circulation and general metabolic processes to the area where it has been applied; it forces blood out of the tiny capillaries, allowing new blood to flow in.

Gua Sha is effective for both acute and chronic conditions as it helps to move blood and body fluids stagnated by obesity, lack of exercise, chronic injuries and unresolved emotional issues. Areas of discomfort, tension or pain typically improve directly after treatment. It is used to treat many problems, such as:

Muscle and tendon injuries, muscle knots
Tension, stiffness, pain, immobility
Headaches
Poor circulation of blood and/or lymph
Acute illness such as colds, flu, hay fever and bronchitis