Victoria Hill Therapies

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are a way of treating the individual based on ancient principles dating back over 2000 years. Founded on the idea that the body's vital energy, or Qi, is what governs our health and that when the Qi is out of balance the body, mind or spirit become affected, acupuncture aims to restore balance to the Qi and therefore improve our health.

To do this, very fine needles are inserted into specific points on the body that form a complicated network of energy channels or meridians, which when used correctly cause the body, mind or spirit to react and the patient to feel better.

How does it work?

The traditional theory of how acupuncture works is based entirely on the ancient Chinese concept of the world and everything in it amounting to Yin and Yang energy. The body is seen as a microcosm of the world and therefore that which we see in the world can be found in our body. The energy of the world is contained within our body, and within our body it is found in energy pathways. When these pathways become blocked, disease or injury have occurred and the energy needs to be reset.

This is accomplished with the insertion of needles, or the use of adjunctive therapies such as cupping, moxibustion and guasha. By using these methods the energy can be built up if there is too little, removed if it has become too much, or redirected if it has become unruly, thus restoring the energetic balance of the body to how it should be.

Current modern understandings are starting to suggest that acupuncture is working with the neurological system and within the fascia (a fine layer of tissue between the skin and the muscle) and that that traditional language used in the ancient texts are in fact describing these aspects of the body.

The terminology used to describe Chinese Medicine is hard to grasp and can be in conflict with our understanding from a conventional point of view, but whilst the language is often different, the subject is the same.