Entrepreneur Giselle Boxer recently featured on the popular television show, Dragon’s Den. She had suffered from M.E, or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and credited her recovery to four things. She said “I went on a personal healing journey using diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and ear seeds. 'Using this combination, I believe, helped me recover in less than 12 months”.

The episode has sparked debate about ear seeds and other forms of Chinese Medicine. It focused attention for this ancient practice, but also led to misrepresentation. Viewers and healthcare professionals, including acupuncturists, raised concerns about the programme.

Full Circle Funerals have created an online gallery for people suffering the loss of a loved one. This gallery is a safe place for anyone, from professional artists to adults or children who have never consider themselves to be artists, to share their expression of loss through art. The art shared here might be a drawing or painting, a photograph or poem, collage, fabric creation or a link to a song. Any medium of art is welcome.

he NHS estimates that 1 in every 7 couples have problems conceiving.

The average couple has around a 25% chance of getting pregnant in each cycle. And most couples (84%) will conceive naturally within a year of trying.

The first reason for not falling pregnant could be that you’re just not having sex often enough. Try for at least two or three times a week. Once you’ve ruled that out, have a look at these common reasons for infertility -

Chinese medicine sees emotions manifesting in the organs; the heart feels the emotion of joy, the spleen pensiveness, the liver anger and frustration, the kidneys fear. And the emotions of sadness, grief, and worry affect the lungs. Although we cannot escape grief, there are ways we can help ourselves to cope.

Tinnitus and Stress?

Yes, there’s a relationship. And it can create a vicious circle. Research has shown that how you look at tinnitus affects your levels of stress. Stress can be a factor in the onset of tinnitus. And it can affect your experience of tinnitus in the long term.

Last night we all had the chance to sleep for an extra hour. Are you one of those people who rejoice at having that extra hour to snooze, or did you use it to cram something else into your day?

It may seem strange, but according to Mark Walker, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, and Director of their Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, this annual ‘experiment’ involving 1.5 billion people in the Northern Hemisphere, shows the rate of heart attacks plummet the day after the clocks go back. And the reverse is true, losing an hour in Spring causes a sharp rise in heart failure.

Can acupuncture help?

Anxiety is the scourge of the modern world. Technology meant to help us throws us into a pace of life that we just weren’t designed for; 24/7 access via electronic devices, and constant pressure to look good and be seen to have exciting lives leave us ever vulnerable to criticism, be it real or perceived.

Watching brekfast television this morning, I was surprised to hear there was an 18% chance of having an adverse reaction to acupncture. Some people bruise a little, some might feel a little light headed, but the chance of you having an adverse reaction to acupuncture is 1 in 10,000 So why such a discrepancy?

Is Something Disturbing You?

We’re coming towards the end of stress awareness month. But do you know what stress really is, how stress affects your health, and how can you live a less stressful life? Find out here!

February is Raynaud’s Awareness Month. Raynaud’s affects 1 in six people living in the UK.

Acupuncture is often dismissed by western scientists because they don’t understand how it works. That’s understandable. Chinese medicine practitioners talk a different language. We ramble on about Qi, Zang Fu organs, channels, extraordinary vessels and the like. But, at the end of the day, we’re treating the same body and there is plenty of evidence that acupuncture works well for a wide range of conditions (see my “Does Acupuncture Work” blog).

If only I had a pound for every time someone asked me that question! It usually comes up when someone is trying to decide how to deal with a health issue and is not sure what to do.

Not so long ago, you went to your family doctor if you were ill. Nowadays, there is a wealth of choice. That’s great in one respect, but it can also be confusing.

The NHS advisory service, The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), recommend acupuncture for the treatment of migraines and chronic headaches. Acupuncture has been found to be more effective than basic or no treatment, and at least as effective as some drug treatments, but with little risk of side effects.

Cancer care is an area in which Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine complement each other well. Acupuncture can make changes to biochemistry that help to reduce these symptoms along with the stress and anxiety that cancer naturally brings.