ACUPUNCTURE

Acupuncture is one of the healing methods used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has been used in China for thousands of years. It involves the insertion of needles into specific points on acupuncture meridians to facilitate healing. The needles used may be of different lengths or sizes or materials. Dr. Forde uses acupuncture as a complementary therapy.

What are meridians?

Meridians are vessels or channels similar to blood vessels except that instead of circulating blood they circulate what is called 'Qi' ("chee") by the Chinese, or 'electromagnetic energy' in the Western scientific world. Just as the organs and cells of the body are nourished by blood, they are also nourished by the energy or Qi that flows in the meridians. If there is a blockage to that energy flow, disease-ease or pain can set in. In the same way that a blocked blood vessel can cause disease or pain such as cardiac disease, "stagnation" or blocked energy in a meridian can cause symptoms of disease-ease.