One of the reasons I love my job is the sheer variety of conditions that I see. And these past few weeks, I've been working with a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD).

This progressive neurological disease - characterised by tremor, muscle rigidity, slowness of movement, and impaired balance and co-ordination (think about Muhammad Ali's last public appearances) - has no cure. Medications used to control the symptoms (dopaminergic drugs that mimic the action of dopamine) stop working after a while and have severe long-term effects on the nervous system such as nausea, confusion and hallucinations.

Enter scalp acupuncture, which I learned at the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine when I was doing my hospital placement in 2014. Up to that point, I had been learning traditional acupuncture, whose origins can be traced back to ancient China more than 2,500 years ago. Scalp acupuncture is a relatively new kid on the block, developed in China in the 1950s. It integrates traditional Chinese needling methods with Western medical knowledge of the areas on the scalp that correspond with the central nervous system's functions (such as motor activity, sensory input, vision, speech, hearing and balance).*

It just so happened that in that part of northern China where Heilongjiang is located, the incidence of strokes is the highest in China. The explanation I heard over and over was this was due to the high rates of smoking and alcohol consumption, and the high-fat diet (think foods that are mostly fried). As a result of the high number of stroke patients, the Chinese medicine hospitals became very good at rehabilitating post-stroke patients. Doctors used a combination of Western medicine drugs, Chinese medicine herbs, physical therapy, Chinese medical massage, body acupuncture, and scalp acupuncture.

(As an aside, a 2010 documentary called 9,000 Needles by an American filmmaker, Doug Dearth, chronicles his brother Devin's journey after Devin suffered a massive stroke. When he couldn't get the care he needed in the US, he travelled to a hospital in Tianjin in China, where he is treated with acupuncture.) 

There is evidence that scalp acupuncture is effective for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, although larger-scale trials are needed. However, I can say that after five acupuncture sessions, my PD patient shows better movement, less tremor, and improved energy levels and mood. PD is a cruel degenerative disease, but I believe that with scalp and body acupuncture, the quality of life of someone with PD can be greatly enhanced.


* Hao, J.J. and Hao, L.L. (2011) Chinese scalp acupuncture. Boulder, Colorado: Blue Poppy Press.

If you've always wanted to know a little bit more about how Chinese medicine came about, I invite you to watch this video of a talk that I recently gave to members of  the University of Third Age in Crouch End (north London). The challenge was how to condense 3,000 years into a 50-minute talk!

The talk covers how the ancient Chinese viewed health and disease, starting with China's mythological beginnings and then on to the most important developments throughout various dynasties. Why did the ancient Chinese place such importance on living in harmony with nature? How did the concept of Qi (pronounced "chee") or vital energy come about?  We end with the spread of Chinese medicine around the world in the 20th century.

My friend Kim told me the other day that when she went for a run, her knees started to hurt. We reckoned a lot of it had to do with the amount of sitting that we're doing during this period of lockdown.

This video will show you a simple massage that will bring blood circulating around the knee joints. I often do it after periods of intense tai chi training, after spending hours on my feet, and often with all of my weight on one leg or another. It's lovely to feel the warmth around the knees. Enjoy! 

I don't know about you but I am definitely spending way too much time staring at screens recently. The result is screen fatigue or Zoom fatigue. In this video, I will show you a simple eye massage that you can do at any time. Please note that I do not want you to poke your eye! This massage is meant to stimulate the area around your eyes, which boosts blood circulation and gently stimulates acupuncture points.

​I hope you enjoy this video!

I don't know about you, but my family and I have been in coronavirus lockdown for 25 days (first in self-isolation, then in semi-lockdown along with the rest of the UK) and I am starting to feel a niggly ache in the back. And I am hearing this a lot when I talk to friends and colleagues, who say they have stiffness or pain in joints as a result of sitting a lot.

If we were already, as a society, sitting too much before, then this is certainly the case now as movements are restricted to however many rooms you have in your living space. In the UK, we're allowed to go out once a day for exercise, shopping for essentials, medical appointments, and essential work. Assuming we sleep eight hours a day, that leaves us 14-15 hours a day potentially sitting down a lot!

One solution is to invest in a standing desk. But if you look at amazon, for example, stands desks are neither cheap nor always in stock. Yesterday a friend of mine suggested using your bog standard ironing board as an adjustable desk for a laptop.  

I like to set an alarm so that every hour, I am reminded to get up, stretch and move. Make a cup of tea! Or better yet, offer to make others cups of tea. Everyone knows that a good cuppa is all you need to make it all okay.

In terms of supported exercise, of course you have a plethora of Youtube exercise channels and yoga webinars to choose from.

However, if you fancy doing a more gentle exercise that is good for circulating and generating energy and requires no specialist equipment, do give qi gong a try. Qi gong is a system of energetic and healing exercises from ancient China that integrates principles of relaxation, movement and breathing, especially helpful during these days of self-isolation. My colleagues and I at the School of Tai Chi Chuan London are running free weekly webinars at 6pm (London time) on Tuesdays. No previous experience necessary. 

If you'd like to give qi gong a try, please email me and I will send you a link to these online gatherings.

Day 2 in Locked-down London. I hope you're keeping safe and remembering your epidemiologically approved 2m distance. (Try saying that word three times in a row!)

Our professional body, the British Acupuncture Council, has advised members to stop practising acupuncture. How frustrating because in China, Chinese medicine doctors are very much in the frontline of the war against this novel coronavirus. But if we can't give acupuncture treatments, there are other ways to help.

We all know the importance of eating well and in moderation, doing enough exercise (Boris Johnson has given us all a pass to go out once a day!), and getting enough physical and mental rest. Those are all key to keeping your immune system strong. But because the coronavirus attacks the lungs, we can all do with specific exercises to strengthen the lungs.

Qi gong and tai chi are so-called internal exercises that were developed by the ancient Chinese and are very much part of the Chinese medicine universe, along with acupuncture, herbs, massage (tui na) and diet. Tai chi is a system of movement, meditation, and self-defence; the tai chi form consists of a sequence of postures, strung together in smooth, slow, continuous movement. In contrast, qi gong is co-ordinated body-posture and movement, breathing and meditation, and done standing or sitting.

You don't need to know the tai chi form to do qi gong. Both exercises are fabulous ways of circulating qi (translated as vital energy) around the body, which is essential to health. If you are interested in doing some qi gong exercises for strengthening the lungs, watch this lovely video of Peter Deadman, one of the pioneers of Chinese medicine in the UK. We all seem to have a lot of time nowadays!

Photo credit: Edward Johnson

​The 4th of February was World Cancer Day, and it's a stark reminder of how prevalent cancer has become. In 2015 the British Journal of Cancer reported that one in two men and women in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.  

Cancer survival is improving and has doubled in the past 40 years in the UK. However one major problem is that the side effects from conventional treatment make it hard for many patients to continue with their therapy.

Acupuncture is a very useful adjunct to conventional therapies as there is a wealth of evidence that shows the benefits of Chinese medicine for cancer care. Fatigue and pain are some of the most common conditions we help with, as well as nausea and vomiting, hot flushes, and peripheral neuropathy (pain, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs). I certainly wish my father had access to acupuncture when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1981.

Watch this British Acupuncture Council video marking World Cancer Day 2020 to see what oncologists have to say about acupuncture.

Earlier in the week, I heard a news item about a cosmetic surgeon being sued by former patients because of a botched nose job, eye tuck and other cosmetic work. It turned out that the cosmetic surgeon was not even insured to work in the UK. We often hear about these cases of cosmetic procedures gone wrong.

What does this have to do with acupuncture? 

The ancient Chinese figured out pretty early on how to use acupuncture for cosmetic purposes. The practice of facial rejuvenation acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty in China (960 - 1270 AD), when cosmetic acupuncture was used by the empress and the imperial family. This type of acupuncture involves the use of micro needles on areas of the face where you want to reduce wrinkles or smoothen out fine lines, especially around the eyes, on the forehead, or in between the eyebrows. It works by increasing blood circulation to the face and activating collagen production.

Nowadays it’s a popular way of rejuvenating and revitalising the face. Celebrities like Jeniffer Anniston, Kim Kadarshian and Gwyneth Paltrow use this safe, non-surgical way of enhancing their appearance.

However, what I like about this practice is that it’s not just about the face. I also use acupuncture points on the body to address any underlying issues such as dark circles around the eyes, puffy skin, or rough skin. It is always about the person’s health above anything else.

​To be clear, this is not about erasing wrinkles. It’s for people who want to look fresher and healthier without the risks of surgery or Botox.

Ah, new year, new resolutions. Whether it's dry January or Veganuary, lots of us want to start the year right by starting a healthy habit or kicking old ones.

I like supporting patients who want to stop smoking, or indeed any addictive substance. I use points on the ears as well as on the body. Why the ears? In the mid-1970s an auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol was developed in New York to treat many common drug addictions. The protocol is now referred to as the NADA protocol (NADA stands for the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association), which involves the insertion of small, stainless steel and disposable acupuncture needles into five points on the outer surface of the ears.
 
When the auricular points are combined with acupuncture points on the body, the treatment aims to relax the patient, relieve anxiety, regulate the autonomic nervous system, and strengthen the lungs and immune system, among other things. There is even a point on the wrist that makes cigarettes taste bad. 

As with all these things, acupuncture is not the one magic bullet that replaces all the hard work. It is one tool at your disposal, along with having a strategy in place, getting a buddy to help you, or getting behavioural counselling.

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash