In April of this year I developed a nasty finger infection which progressed to gangrene. This involved a hospital stay, many drugs, a lot of distress and fear for the future. I decided to try acupuncture in May initially to bring down the swelling in my hand, which it did almost immediately. I also noted that during sessions my finger began to feel “alive”. I was also aware of the emotional response I was having to treatment. I generally felt more positive and less frightened. The acupuncture had certainly tapped into and connected mind and body.

Lin Du is an excellent practitioner. I feel very comfortable with her. She has a lot of knowledge and experience in both Chinese and western medicine. She has a strong commitment and passion for her work and a sense of humour!

I have suffered from psoriasis, very severely at times for the past 32 years. I have tried every remedy traditional and alternative medicine has to offer and every diet under the sun, and nothing has ever made the slightest difference.

In December I started preparations for IVF and began seeing Lin for this purpose. The very next day after my first treatment, I noticed a marked improvement in my psoriasis and form that point, over the next six weeks I watched it completely disappear. I am now still, nine months later, (for the fist time in my life since I can remember), psoriasis free. I can’t thank Lin enough for my first summer wearing a skirt with no self-conscious thoughts.

And what is more, I’m now five months pregnant, having been successful at the first attempt at IVF!

Lin has done wonders for my multiple sclerosis (MS). I noticed a difference after the first week. I was not as tired and had more energy. She gave me herbs and acupuncture each week. The difference is amazing! I am no longer stiff and can run up the stairs. The burning is not as intense and the horrible ill feeling I used to experience after getting up in the morning has gone so I don’t need gallons of coffee to get me going. All in all I feel much better.

                                          Ann, Derbyshire

Shingles, or herpes zoster, occurs when immune system is weakened, allowing the herpes zoster virus to attack the nerve(s). It can affect both the old and the young people, and they always have one thing in common – low immune resistance. The pain associated with shingles, can be debilitating, especially for the elderly. The pain can be burning, itching, stabbing or a combination of them, and is worse at night. Usually the patient recovers after a couple of weeks. However, in some occasions, especially among older people, it leaves severe nerve pain which may last for years.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) sees shingles as a combination of Xu (deficiency) and Shi (excess) in the body. Xu refers to poor body defense (or low immune resistance, low energy level); Shi involves wind, damp, heat and toxin.

Several acupuncture techniques can be employed to treat shingles, separately or together.

My personal favourite method is to treat the area around the rash which is called ‘surround the dragon’. Needles are put around the lesion with about 2cm intervals and tips pointing towards the centre of the lesion. The number of needles depends on the size of the lesion. Ideally patients are still in acute stage (within two weeks) and treated daily, or at least twice a week. This treatment can make the duration of shingles shortened.

Identify affected channels according to the location of lesions and clinical symptoms. Then select corresponding points to treat.

Identify affected nerve roots, needle related Hua Tuo Jia Ji.

If it has already become persistent nerve pain, treat local area. Plum blossom needle (hammer-like needle) and moxibustion can also be used.

Patients are advised to stay away from fatty, greasy, spice food, alcohol and beer.

Q:

A: Yes, it can alleviate many symptoms of MS. However, if a long-tem life quality improvement is expected, we would definitely suggest Chinese herbal medicine as well.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a diagnosis simply no one wants to get. It is such a horrible problem in most people’s minds that seems capable of smashing every good thing in their lives.

MS is the most common disabling disease of central nervous system. It is the result of damage to myelin – a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system. When myelin is damaged, this interferes with messages and signals between the brain and other parts of the body. This causes a wide variety of symptoms depending on the affected nerves. There is no cure for MS at this time, nor is there any absolute certainty about its cause.

There was no record of MS tracing back to ancient China, but amazingly we still can use ancient wisdom to explain this modern disease. Because every patient may manifest different symptoms, various pathogenic factors could be identified – wind, heat, phlegm, dampness, blood-stasis etc. Nevertheless, no matter what symptoms the patient has, there is always one common factor – deficiency (especially Liver and Kidney deficiency). Therefore, this is the key tone of our treatment, and we take other factors into consideration after this.

We always recommend Chinese herbal medicine to patients because from our clinical experience it has better and more profound effect. Of course, the option is down to the patient. If one opts out of herbal medicine, we can still use acupuncture to treat. Acupuncture is indeed good at alleviating symptoms, and we have found seven-star hammer acupuncture has particular good result. But due to the fact that no one would like have acupuncture treatment everyday or every other day + the effect of acupuncture is accumulative + MS is a complicated problem, we believe the protocol of acupuncture + Chinese herbal medicine is a better choice. Sometimes we also teach patients to use moxibustion at home which they find very helpful.

Our goal is not merely to bring as much relief of the symptoms as possible, but also to improve life quality to as normal standard as possible. And we have seen this happen in clinic. So there is hope.