I offer acupuncture and reflexology.  I have a life-long interest in people and their health and well-being, training initially as a nurse.  My wish to be able to treat people holistically led me into the complementary medical field.  I still practice as a nurse and feel that each area helps inform the other.

Acupuncture

I trained with the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading and qualified in 2005.  I ran a small successful practice in Bristol before my recent move to the Chippenham area.

Acupuncture works to help a wide range of conditions, both physical and emotional.  After taking a detailed case history I will make a diagnosis according to Chinese Medical theory and plan a treatment strategy.  The main part of a treatment will consist of inserting very fine needles into carefully selected acupuncture points in order to balance the flow of the body's vital energy, known as Qi (pronounced 'chee').  I may also choose to use other treatments such as the burning of a special herb, suction cups or electro acupuncture.  All these options will be discussed with the client beforehand.

Reflexology

My reflexology training, which was undertaken at the Tisserand Institute, was completed in 1992.  Reflexology works on different areas of the feet which are said to correspond to different areas of the body.  Some of these may feel out of balance to the practitioner and the aim of relexology is to restore this balance.  It is an extremely relaxing experience and most people find they enter a meditative state or fall asleep, thus allowing the body the opportunity to heal itself and the person to have some much needed 'time out'.

I have an expertise in treating musculo-skeletal problems such as arthritis, frozen shoulder, back ache and various muscle aches and pains.  Other areas of interest are headaches and migraine and "women's problems": pre-menstrual syndrome, irregular, heavy or light periods and the menopause.  Both acupuncture and reflexology are safe to use in pregnancy and are helpful with the various problems some women encounter, eg "morning" sickness.  Acupuncture has been used successfully to induce labour can be helpful during labour too.

I am a member of the British Acupuncture Council and the Association of Reflexologists.  Both these professional organisations have continuing professional development as a requirement of membership and codes of professional conduct.