Acu. winter 2022

By

NICE guidelines outcome Practice

Inner Pass Notes What makes a meridian & a point? Community acupuncture is the future Journey To The West Send us your stories

Inspiration

Working together to combat infertility The story behind the picture Earth Medicine volunteering Review: Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine

Opinion Yang deficiency or symptom of modern life? Community Three cheers for three new fellows! Review: Meeting Points

members, for members Acupuncture Quarterly from the BAcC | Winter 2022

for

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Editorial

Acu. is a BAcC publication, written by members, for members. It combines content relevant to the clinical practice of acupuncture with communications from the BAcC office and Governing Board.

Editorial policy

Community: we aim to facilitate debate and the sharing of news and information for all members of our acupuncture community.

Support: we aim to support members in their professional practice by publishing articles that have genuine practical use.

Diversity: we seek to represent all traditions and strands of practice present in the membership. We also welcome content covering other health matters relevant to acupuncture.

Freedom and debate: we respect the right of all members to air their views and to challenge the views of other individuals and/ or organisations where appropriate.

Accuracy and fairness: we strive to be accurate and fair in what we print. We will be open in admitting our mistakes and do our best to rectify them.

Contribute

We encourage all members to contribute to Acu. via editor@acupuncture.org.uk

For full details of submissions and advertising see Contributions page.

Editorial team

Scott Bridges (member)

Tim Brown (member)

Rev Deb Connor (member)

Sally Crowther (member)

Ann Gordon (staff)

Joan Maynard (copy editor)

Gillian Nicol (student member)

Jonquil Westwood Pinto (member, chair)

Mystery and imagination arise from the same Source

This Source is called Darkness Darkness within Darkness, the gateway to all understanding

Lao Tzu

I find the Darkness attractive, an invitation to inner shadow work, exploration of my growth edge as I balance precariously post-pandemic on the verge of what feels to be another Dark Night of the Soul. I don’t think any of us has emerged unscathed from these past few years.

It is community, a feeling of belonging to something bigger and a sense of a wider shared purpose which draws me usefully, rather than forcibly, from the darkness. Attending the in-person conference was a welcome return to a felt sense of belonging. Discussions and dancing were lively. Check out Vivien Shaw’s delicious tales of dissection on page 11, a summary of her stunning conference presentation.

Reading Houri Alavi’s descriptions of charity work in Lesbos with Earth Medicine on page 24, I am starkly reminded that humanity is in a collective ‘dark night’. Houri’s work, and that of others, a hopeful demonstration that when individuals come together in community with a shared purpose there is hope – and with it a step towards healing.

Tony Sigrist’s opinion piece with his reference to hibernation and the simplicity of yin-yang theory echoes my own wish to hibernate in simplicity while avoiding reality. Yes, for hibernate read hide. I want to hide from the darkness within the darkness – a contradiction maybe, but I doubt I am alone in this feeling. I can linger a little too long, not to wallow, more to explore. However the longer I stay with that

Rev Deb Connor

Monk Li Xiao Yi 笑意

Member: Merseyside

contemplative inner focus the more I long to remain there. Avoiding reality, perhaps, in the name of contemplation. But even I – a ‘feet up with a brew holding a real paper copy in my hands’ Acu. reader – can no longer stay in the darkness when it comes to the unsustainability of the print issue. Yes, the time has come for our beloved read to go online. Reluctantly peering out of my cave the thought of yet another reason to gaze into the bright abyss of my laptop screen prompts vague feelings of nausea. Why then, you might ask, did I answer the recent call to help take Acu. online?

Well, as a stubborn resister of online reading and bolstered by a previous stint on the editorial team some years ago, I feel uniquely placed to uphold the spirit of print Acu. even as I do my utmost to lure fellow cave and library dwellers into the onlineAcusphere. I am reminded to ponder the yin and yang of it as Chris Low’s beautiful artwork reaches me in a way that penetrates the darkness. Art, like acupuncture, has a special way of doing that.

An online gallery of artwork by acupuncturists would definitely bring me out of my hard copy cave. While the possibility of hearing poetry read as an online audio would tempt me still further out to come sit around the digital campfire. Inner Pass Notes on page 10 should help lighten any lingering darkness around our move to an online Acu.

Perhaps it is only the embrace of the engulfing arms of darkness that can lead us to our Light. In this global Dark Night surely now more than ever we are collectively invited to venture into the allure of the darkness, to release and let go, to experience our most sacred illuminating Presence within… ‘Darkness within Darkness, the gateway to all understanding'.

Keynotes

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light

Plato

As the nights draw in and in this twilight darkness of winter, I want to cast a light over all that we have achieved in the BAcC over the past year. In so doing, maybe I can add something new to your understanding of our processes – with apologies in advance for all the acronyms!

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) reaccreditation process is a significant piece of work within the annual cycle of the BAcC. With over 70 supporting documents, the PSA carries out a full panel review of our processes and systems to ensure that they are fit for purpose, support our members, and protect the public.

They also make recommendations for further development, with the focus this year being on advertising – our policies and procedures.

It has fallen to Ian Appleyard, our research and policy manager, to tackle this thorny issue and head up our member led Professional Standards and Regulatory Committee (PSRC). I’m sure you’ll be proud to hear that their work has been much praised by the PSA for its comprehensive, supportive, and proportional response. In fact, Ian was asked to present his findings and recommendations to the other PSA accredited registers as examples of best practice.

Now to our brand-new website, which many of you are using on a daily basis. This BAcC window to the world provides both support for our members as well as promoting you and your standards. It is an incredibly complex piece of kit housing a customer relations management (CRM) system that is connected with the website – and it provides a secure and bespoke service for each member, automating administrative processes and freeing up staff to offer a more personal service to you.

The website launch this summer involved a huge team effort and many long nights and weekends for all staff, led by our systems and operations manager, Gloria Jean-Baptiste Flament. And there is more to come, our latest addition being the automation of direct debits. While this may sound like a small process, it involves some of your most sensitive information and we’re pleased to at last be able to move away from a less secure paper system and to put you in control of your own data. Many thanks are due to Stephen Rainbird, membership manager and Juliana Zipperlin, finance

manager, whose contributions have been critical in making sure this new set-up works for you.

In 2022 our communications strategy moved from reactive to proactive –focusing more on how we want to communicate with members and with the wider public. The engagement of Caroline Hedges as communications manager mid-year had an immediate impact on this work. We responded to Ellen White’s announcement that she suffered a pneumothorax following acupuncture treatment and supported the successful #IdoAcupuncture campaign in November. We’ve also spent a lot of time listening to what you want, through our annual survey, one-to-one conversations, and coffee and comms sessions on how we can promote you and the profession further. And now we really can’t wait to show you what we are planning for early 2023 and beyond!

Our wonderful Acu. magazine continued as a hybrid publication throughout 2022 while behind the scenes, the publications manager, Ann Gordon, and the Editorial team have been planning an engaging new online platform that will include audio and video, widening the scope of this benefit for all members.

Our lobbying of local authorities and devolved governments has proved frustratingly slow. The Professional Recognition Working Group (PRWG) is working directly with the PSA to lobby the government on VAT, our members ability to work within the NHS, and local authority registration, as well urging private health insurance providers to recognise PSA standards. We have also collaborated with the British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) and the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP) to respond to the NICE consultations, and our strong relationship with the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) continues, regarding Covid as well as education.

Our ‘Let’s talk about…’ campaigns enjoyed continued success in 2022, with discussions including Boundaries and Consent helping you to be more effective practitioners and deal with challenging situations. We also highlighted moxa – its origins and relation to acupuncture, how to meet safe practice

standards when using it in clinic, and shining a light on how moxa can help strengthen the immune system.

A clear highlight of the year was the return of our in-person conference and ARRC symposium. Many of you came to enjoy our fantastic line-up of speakers and workshops, all conjured up by the Membership Services Committee together with our staff team. It was an action-packed weekend and we can’t wait to do it again next year!

To finish, on behalf of the staff and myself, I want to thank you for all of your contributions to consultations, committees and Governing Board meetings. Your collective presence – whether it be in online webinars, campaigns, Town Hall meetings, regional group meetings, the ARRC symposium and annual conference – is what makes us a dynamic and engaging force. You are at the heart of this organisation, and your participation, feedback and involvement in all that we do makes what we do truly a pleasure.

Thank you!

Jennifer Norton 〉 020 8735 1206 〉  j.norton@acupuncture.org.uk

Jennifer Norton

Chief Executive

Acubites

Health campaigns coming up

National and local awareness days give great hooks for marketing or promoting your practice, plus you’ll be supporting everyone in the BAcC. Here’s a few coming up in the New Year.

JAN 1 Dry January 〉 January 〉 The UK's one-month booze-free challenge that helps millions reset their relationship with alcohol every year 〉 alcoholchange.org.uk/dry-january

Endometriosis UK 〉 28/29

JAN 28

January 〉 London Winter Walk to walk off the Christmas celebrations, kick start your New Year fitness regime and raise awareness and funds 〉 endometriosis-uk.org/fundraising-events

FEB 4 World Cancer Day 〉 4 February 〉 Raising awareness and working for a future without cancer 〉 worldcancerday.org

FEB 6

Tinnitus Awareness Week 〉 6-12

February 〉 The British Tinnitus Association is aiming to get their voice heard in the right places with Tea for Tinnitus 〉 tinyurl.com/4yeva4ca

MAR 1 Endometriosis Awareness Month 〉 March 〉 campaigning for earlier diagnosis and treatment for the one in ten women affected by endometriosis 〉 tinyurl.com/2ka996nd

Acu. input

Going online means we can now welcome all manner of media... podcasts, audio files, videos, interviews, cartoons, songs.... time to reveal the whole self behind that left-hand side of your brain!

Send what you will to editor@acupuncture.org.uk

Should medicine harness placebo?

Many therapies –including acupuncture and drug treatments –struggle to prove effect beyond placebo. Several pharmaceutical companies have now stopped looking for drugs for chronic pain and depression because beating the placebo is so difficult and expensive. One Harvard professor argues we need to understand dummy medicines better and use their power 〉 tinyurl.com/2as8xp6p

Relaxing in green!

Wearing specialized green eyeglasses for several hours a day could reduce pain-related anxiety. It might also help reduce the need for opioids in people with certain chronic conditions. So claims a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2022 annual meeting. The findings are not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal but a calming thought, nevertheless 〉 tinyurl.com/ yc2vtcnk

Timing treatment by the body clock

Research shows that what time of day we treat a disease can be crucial, and that we can calculate the time of day when specific diseases are at their worst. Many ‘chronobiologists’ believe we should use this information to improve medical interventions 〉 tinyurl.com/279yxetu

Turmeric link to liver damage

Same old story or cause for concern? Maybe just another study to reinforce the importance of getting advice from qualified practitioner who properly monitors treatment results 〉 newscientist.com/ article/2343736

Making mind/body connections

Modern brain research rejects the distinction between the physical and the mental. But most people still view the mind and brain as being distinct from the body. It is, however, becoming increasingly clear that the mind/brain and body are intimately linked, and that the body influences our thoughts and emotions 〉 tinyurl.com/ytfv9vcz

Understanding brain fog

Long Covid patients say brain fog can be their most destructive and disabling symptom – a disorder that makes basic cognitive functions incredibly difficult. It afflicts young and old alike, with 20 to 30 per cent of sufferers reporting brain fog three months after their initial infection and 65 to 85 per cent remaining ill for much longer 〉 tinyurl. com/2n9d96p8

Jonquil Westwood Pinto

Deb Connor Gillian Nicol Sally Crowther

Scott Bridges Tim Brown

Your editorial team

A smörgåsbord of plant-based newsbits prepared with members in mind

Lung cancer breakthrough

One in ten cases of lung cancer in the UK is down to air pollution and 99 per cent of people in the world live in places where air pollution exceeds the WHO guidelines. Good news then that a recent study brings a double breakthrough, both for understanding the impact of air pollution and the fundamentals of how we get cancer 〉 tinyurl.com/2xp3etzx

Profiting from depression

An alternative take on depression. Is the chemical imbalance model of depression based on sound evidence? Do anti-depressants work? 〉 tinyurl.com/4yhv4stm

No time to lose

A new report from the Richmond Group finds that one in eight people in the UK are now on an NHS waiting list. Multiple, long-term and complex illnesses are the ‘new normal’. It calls for clear and focused political leadership to see us through the next 12 months 〉 tinyurl.com/48tvkp6j

Work burn out or soul problem?

An African-American acupuncturist who regularly teaches clients about how mental wounds adversely affect our overall physical health talks here about emotional self-care 〉 tinyurl.com/ ye23t5c4

Chinese medicine garden in the making

Charlotte Johnston and Mim Lilley, members in Totnes, are embarking on an ambitious project to grow a Chinese medicine garden right outside their clinic. They want to create a garden where people can connect with medicinal plants and to raise awareness of Chinese medicine. They are asking for the support of the acupuncture community to help them bring the garden to life by making a donation 〉 crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ blossom-tree-medicine-garden

Free carbon calculator for acupuncturists!

If you want to be more sustainable the best place to start is by measuring your annual carbon output. BAcC member Joe Jennings has put together a free carbon calculator for acupuncturists 〉 holistic-health.org.uk/ acupuncturists-greenhouse-gascalculator-2021

For ideas of reducing your footprint and offsetting what you cannot, please get in touch with Joe by email 〉 joe@holistic-health.org.uk

Need to know

Pressed for time? Want to grab the essential info now and read the rest later? Here’s where to start

NICE guidelines outcome statement

Ian Appleyard fills in the gaps 〉 p6

Questions about online Acu? the Editorial Team have some answers 〉 p10

Journey To The West with writer & producer Sybil Coldham 〉 p18

This was our once-a-year day Pia Huber reflects on the AGM 〉 p30

Did you miss conference 2022? catch up with online sessions 〉 p37

Could painting black be the secret of life?

Abstract painter Pierre Soulages died on 26 October at the impressive age of 102 – just hours before the Acu. team were meeting to discuss our Darkness issue. For those who have not yet come across his work, he explored painting in black... pretty dark! 〉 tinyurl.com/da79kmxk

NICE guidelines on osteoarthritis: outcome & joint statement

Following up on his article in the autumn issue, Ian Appleyard expands on the news that NICE remain unconvinced of the case for recommending acupuncture as a treatment for osteoarthritis

Ian Appleyard

Member & Policy & Research Manager

In the previous issue of Acu. I wrote about the impending update of the NICE guideline for osteoarthritis (autumn 2022, page 60). Despite the feedback given by the BAcC, in conjunction with British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) and Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP), the guideline committee made no change from the draft guidance. Therefore, acupuncture was not included.

This is of course disappointing news. Inclusion within the guideline could be used by members to promote the benefits of acupuncture. The guideline can provide leverage to promote the inclusion of acupuncture within NHS services. As I discussed in the autumn issue, the numbers are not going to change and no new evidence is going to emerge that could persuade NICE. This is essentially a problem of how the research is interpreted. I believe our response needs to be one of engaging with this debate in as many forums as possible.

As I see it, the errors with the NICE analysis can be split into two parts. The first part is the research methodology problem. This is something that has been debated in the research literature for some time, it has been coined the paradox of acupuncture research 〉 Langevin HM, Wayne PM, Hugh M, et al. Paradoxes in Acupuncture Research: Strategies for Moving Forward

The key issues here are to understand effect sizes, minimal important differences (MID) and what should be considered a placebo-controlled trial. The second, closely related, part relates to definitions. Put simply: What is acupuncture? And what is sham acupuncture?

As part of our initial response to the NICE decision we published a joint statement with the BMAS and AACP, which you can see in below. This statement is predominantly focused on the research methodology issue. In our feedback on the draft guidance, we also raised the definitional problem. My gut feeling is that the definition problem is not as fully appreciated within the

research community, even those who are sympathetic towards acupuncture, as it should be. It is, however, much more readily appreciated by acupuncturists, especially those with a good understanding of traditionally based systems of acupuncture.

As there are no clear definitions, reviewers simply accept any procedure labelled as ‘acupuncture’ to be acupuncture, and any procedure labelled as ‘sham-placebo’ to be shamplacebo. The NICE review process has thrown up stark examples that demonstrate how the lack of definitions is a particularly profound problem. NICE conducted two sets of analysis, one for manual acupuncture and one for electroacupuncture. Sometimes for electroacupuncture the ‘sham-placebo’ is a switched off electroacupuncture machine. In other words, it is acupuncture with the electrodes attached but no current running through them. The same procedure – points selected, depth of needle insertion, etc – would be counted as acupuncture in a trial comparing acupuncture to physiotherapy or one of the sham-acupuncture techniques, such as the Streitberger needle.

There were at least two trials the NICE evidence reviewed that roughly fall into this category Ju et al (2015) and Weiner et al (2013) 〉 Ju Z, Guo X, Jiang X, et al. Electroacupuncture with different current intensities to treat knee osteoarthritis: a single-blinded controlled study: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC4694423/ 〉 Weiner DK, Moore CG, Morone NE, et al. Efficacy of periosteal stimulation for chronic pain associated with advanced knee osteoarthritis: pubmed.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/24184053/

I say roughly, because the situation is even worse. In these trials a current was passed through the needles in what NICE have described as the shamplacebo group. In the Ju et al (2015) paper the researchers are very clear that they're not using a sham-placebo. They are comparing high-intensity EA group to low-intensity EA group

In response to our feedback on the draft, NICE stated: ‘Ju 2015 did not define the comparison as sham acupuncture. However, this was comparable with other sham techniques that were included and so the study was included for this comparison’ (page 40) 〉 nice.org. uk/guidance/ng226/documents/ consultation-comments-and responses-2

I feel they have completely missed the point. The issue is not that the procedure is ‘comparable with other sham techniques’ – the problem is that the procedure is comparable with acupuncture as well. A procedure cannot be acupuncture and sham acupuncture at the same time.

The NICE evidence review threw up something quite rare. A clinical trial that uses a five-phase form of acupuncture (Korean Sa-am acupuncture 〉 Min M-H, Choi Y-G, Kim Y-J, et al. The Effect of Sa-am acupuncture on Knee Osteoarthritis. Korean Journal of Acupuncture 2009;26). This may be of great interest to many, however, it also relates to the definitional issue. This style of acupuncture uses four points that are distal to the knee and could certainly be classed as a sham-placebo by some researchers. In fact, because of the distance from the knee some reviewers might consider it not sufficiently plausible to be an effective sham!

In summary, it is fundamentally illogical that similar procedures can be classed as either sham/placebo acupuncture or real acupuncture in the same review. This is clearly problematic and undermines the validity of the comparisons made.

The joint statement opposite together with all cited references can be found on the Member website 〉 acupuncture. org.uk/news/response-to-the-latestnice-guideline-for-osteoarthritis-inover-16s

19 October 2022

Re: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has updated its guideline for osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226)

Joint statement by the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) and Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP).

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has updated its Guideline for Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226). The new guideline does not recommend acupuncture. We believe that the decision not to include acupuncture is mistaken. It is a decision that limits access to treatment to millions of patients in England and Wales. The Guidelines could, and should, have taken a more pragmatic approach.

Acupuncture has been recommended for osteoarthritis of the knee in Germany, Scotland and America.

The Guidelines did not include acupuncture principally because the committee considered the comparison with sham acupuncture* to show no clinically important difference. Other physical interventions were not compared to sham. Therefore, acupuncture was required to clear a hurdle that other interventions, such as exercise, were not required to jump. The ‘hurdle’ was to demonstrate a minimally important difference (MID) of 0.5 (SMD**) compared to sham/placebo.

The comparison against placebo was carried out for pharmacological options. An underlying assumption of sham/placebo-controlled trials is that the sham/placebo is inert. As the placebo effects are the same for both intervention and sham/placebo groups the difference measured is attributable to the intervention. Sham acupuncture is not inert. Therefore, the hurdle acupuncture was required to clear was higher than pharmacological treatments. In short, acupuncture is required to show a difference of 0.5 (SMD) against an active treatment, sham acupuncture, whereas oral NSAIDs are compared to inactive placebos. Moreover, topical NSAID (Guidelines 1.4.3) and oral NSAIDs (Guidelines 1.4.4) are recommended even though the committee noted there was ‘no clinically important difference for pain and physical function’ for either (evidence review I, p219 & p244). In other words, the committee opted to lower the hurdle for NSAIDs.

There are problems with sham acupuncture and an arbitrary MID. Firstly, the degree to which sham acupuncture is ‘active’ is not known. A more ‘active’ sham will lead to a smaller SMD. It has been shown that sham acupuncture that penetrates the skin leads to smaller SMD.12 Sham acupuncture is not a treatment given in practice, so it is not the appropriate comparison to assess whether acupuncture is ‘clinically meaningful’ to patients. The comparisons with, or in addition to, other therapies are more relevant.

We believe the main concerns for both patients and clinicians is to know a) whether the benefits of acupuncture are due to the placebo effect and b) how acupuncture compares to other options.

The sham acupuncture trials do control for the placebo effects. The best available evidence shows that the effects of acupuncture, for chronic pain and osteoarthritis, are not simply due to placebo. 12 This was confirmed in evidence review F

In a network analysis of physical interventions for OA knee, sham acupuncture ranked more highly than exercise and weight loss.11 Acupuncture has been shown to be better than sham, and sham acupuncture has been shown to be better than interventions included in the guidelines, exercise and weight loss.

As mentioned above, NSAIDs did not meet the 0.5 MID criterion for pain and physical function. Yet the committee concluded ‘it is possible that the effect could be important in this population’ (evidence review I, p219 & p224). Therefore, we believe, a similar, more pragmatic approach should have been taken regarding acupuncture. Acupuncture should not be excluded from the guidelines on the basis that it failed to demonstrate an SMD of 0.5 when compared to an intervention which has been shown to outperform physical therapies included in the guidelines, sham acupuncture.

*Sham acupuncture refers to different procedures that attempt to mimic acupuncture without providing any therapeutic benefit. The acupuncture equivalent of a placebo pill.

**SMD – standardised mean difference is the average difference between 2 groups in a controlled trial divided by the standard deviation of the difference. It is a way of estimating the size of the effect of an intervention.

People like what we do

On the day the BAcC/BMAS/AACP joint statement was released a few welcome words of support and encouragement arrived by email from Ulla Jerming-Havill

Hello

I just feel I would like to give you some feedback.

You work very hard for us and that is great. Thank you!

I have many many clients who come to me with osteoarthritis and they are very happy with the treatment. And also not one person asked about the punctured lung incident when that was in the media.

I know that my clients will come for treatment 'come hell or high water' because they like what we do as acupuncturists.

So if we just do our work with the best intention we will always have busy clinics.

I have been an acupuncturist since 1996/7 and lived and worked in Sweden for ten of those years. Now I live and work in Cornwall and I have to work at finding enough free time for myself.

People here are much more open to acupuncture and understand that Chinese medicine is a force to be reckoned with, despite what is said in the press. I also treat many more complex cases than I did ten years ago.

People will make a choice and many choose acupuncture.

Regards and thanks for all you do.

Ulla Jerming-Havill Member: Cornwall

Evidence base

RESEARCH

Lisa Sherman

Electrical acupoint stimulation boosts pregnancy rates in IVF

Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) can significantly improve clinical pregnancy rates in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF)-embryo transfer (ET), especially in women of older age, potentially due to improved endometrial receptivity. A total of 739 participants were randomised to TEAS or control groups by a Chinese research team. For women in the TEAS group, electrical stimulation (2 Hz, 1020 mA) was applied via skin pads for 30 minutes, 24 hours before ET and 30 minutes after ET. The acupoints used before ET were bilateral SP 8 di ji, ST 29 gui lai, M-CA-18 zi gong, and SP 10 xue hai. The acupoints selected for stimulation after ET were bilateral ST 36 zu san li, KID 3 tai xi, BL 23 shen shu, REN 4 guan yuan, and REN 12 zhong wan. The clinical pregnancy rate was higher in the TEAS group than in the controls (55.1 per cent versus 46.7 per cent), with no significant differences in embryo implantation, biochemical pregnancy, or live birth rates between the two groups. In women over 35 however, significant differences in favour of TEAS were found for clinical pregnancy rates (48.9 per cent versus 23.7 per cent), embryo implantation rates (30.8 per cent versus 13.9 per cent) and live birth rates (34.0 per cent versus 19.7 per cent). An additional mechanistic study was performed in a group of 120 women preparing to receive frozen embryo transplantation. Participants were randomly assigned to either control or TEAS groups. Patients in the TEAS group were treated on days 16 and 17 of the menstrual cycle using the same protocol as in the efficacy study. On the theoretical embryo implantation day, those in the TEAS group demonstrated better markers of endometrial receptivity (better-developed endometrial pinopodes, elevated endometrial integrin and leukaemia inhibitory factor, and elevated serum progesterone levels) compared with those in the control group.

Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation improves endometrial receptivity resulting in improved IVF-ET pregnancy outcomes in older women: a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Reprod

Biol Endocrinol. 2022 Aug 22;20(1):127 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35996188/

Electroacupuncture reduces insomnia in depression

Chinese researchers have determined that electroacupuncture (EA) can significantly reduce symptoms of insomnia in patients with depression. In a clinical trial, 270 patients were randomised to receive EA treatment plus standard care, sham acupuncture (SA) treatment plus standard care, or standard care only as control. Patients in the EA and SA groups received real or sham acupuncture treatment, during three sessions per week for eight weeks. Manual acupuncture was applied at DU 20 bai hui, DU 24 shen ting, M-HN-3 yin tang, M-HN-54 an mian, HT 7 shen men, P 6 nei guan, and SP 6 san yin jiao with either real or sham needles. For patients in the EA group, electrostimulation was applied to the needles at DU 20 bai hui and M-HN-3 yin tang. Patients in all three groups were provided with standard care guided by psychiatrists. Compared with SA and standard care, EA treatment resulted in significantly better sleep quality scores by the end of the intervention period at week 8, and this improvement in sleep quality persisted during the 24-week observational follow-up. At the end of the eight-week intervention, a significant 6.2-point decrease in insomnia scores was observed in the EA treatment group, with a difference of -3.6 points between the EA and SA groups and -5.1 points between the EA and control groups, in favour of EA. Patients in the EA group also experienced a greater reduction in depressive mood and anxiety symptoms by the end of the intervention.

Effect of electroacupuncture on insomnia in patients with depression: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul 1;5(7):e2220563 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35797047/

Acupuncture effective for chronic tension-type headache

Acupuncture is effective for preventing chronic tension-type headache (CTTH),

according to a study carried out by Chinese authors. In a randomised trial with 218 subjects who had suffered from tension-type headaches for an average of 22 days per month, over an average of 11 years, participants in the intervention group received 20 sessions of true acupuncture (TA group) over eight weeks. The 30-minute acupuncture treatments were standardised, and each acupuncture site was needled to achieve de qi sensation. Participants in the control group received superficial acupuncture (SA group) at the same points, without elicitation of de qi, with the same treatment frequency and number of sessions. A treatment responder was defined as a participant who reported at least a 50 per cent reduction in the monthly number of headache days (MHDs). At week 16, the responder rate was 68.2 per cent in the TA group versus 48.1 per cent in the SA group, while at week 32 it was 68.2 per cent in the TA group versus 50 per cent in the SA group. The reduction in MHDs was 13.1 days in the TA group versus 8.8 days in the SA group at week 16 (mean difference [MD] 4.3 days), while at week 32 the reduction was 14 days in the TA group versus 9.5 days in the SA group.

Acupuncture for Patients With Chronic Tension-Type Headache: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Neurology. 2022 Jun 22;10.1212/WNL.0000000000200670 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35732505/

Five acupuncture sessions as good as ten for migraine

Five sessions of acupuncture treatment is equivalent in benefit to ten sessions for treating migraine, according to research carried out in Thailand. One hundred and fifty-six migraine patients were randomly assigned into two groups: treatment with either five sessions of acupuncture (group A), or ten sessions of acupuncture (group B). Acupuncture was performed twice a week and all patients received manual acupuncture at DU 20 bai hui, M-HN-9 tai yang, GB 20 feng chi, LI 4 he gu, GB 39 xuan zhong and LIV 3 Tai chong.

Overseas member and recovering scientist Lisa Sherman selects top abstracts of the season from the Journal of Chinese Medicine’s news section to keep you up to date with the latest in acupuncture research

Overseas Member: North Carolina

Comparing four weeks post-treatment with baseline, the mean reduction in the number of headache days was 6.4 days in group A, compared with 6.4 days in group B. The mean reduction in headache pain severity scores in group A was 4.5 points, compared with 3.8 points in group B. Both groups also demonstrated an improvement in quality-of-life scores.

A randomized controlled clinical trial comparing different numbers of acupuncture sessions for migraine. Acupunct Med. 2022 Jun;40(3):215-23 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34886700/

Acupuncture can be effective for long Covid

Acupuncture can be effective in treating long Covid, and is effective in preventing viral recurrence after recovery. A retrospective case series carried out by Chinese clinicians analysed the disease and treatment course of 85 patients, who were divided into four categories according to their main symptoms. Forty-one per cent exhibited shortness of breath and general fatigue, 31 per cent complained of body pain, 20 per cent suffered from brain fog, and 8 per cent experienced irregular menstrual cycles. All 85 patients received weekly acupuncture for eight to twelve consecutive weeks, to tonify lung and kidney qi and strengthen spleen and stomach qi. The acupuncture points used were located on the lung, kidney, spleen, stomach, bladder, conception and governing channels. At the end of the treatment period, 72 patients (85 per cent) were classified as clinically cured, while in 13 cases treatment was ineffective. Acupuncture significantly decreased the symptoms of long Covid, improved patients’ physical condition and quality of life, and enabled them to go back to work. No study participants became infected with SARS-CoV-2 a second time.

The Effectiveness of Acupuncture in The Treatment of Post COVID-19 Condition: A Retrospective Study. J Gynecol Reprod Med, 6 (3), 106-09 〉 opastpublishers.com/open-access/the-effectivenessof-acupuncture-in-the-treatment-of-post-covid-19condition-a-retrospective-study.pdf

Acupuncture improves IVF success in PCOS

Acupuncture can improve endometrial condition, regulate serum hormone levels and improve pregnancy rates in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing in vitro fertilisationembryo transfer (IVF-ET). Chinese investigators randomly assigned 83 patients to either an acupuncture group or a control group. Patients in both groups received a gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) agonist protocol as routine treatment. In the acupuncture group, needling was carried out at two acupoint groups for 30 minutes, once every other day. Group 1 points included REN 4 guan yuan, REN 6 qi hai, REN 3 zhong ji, and

bilateral M-CA-18 zi gong. Group 2 points included Du 4 ming men, DU 3 yao yang guan, and bilateral BL 23 shen shu and BL 32 ci liao. The two groups of acupoints were used alternately. Needling was performed from the time of ovulation induction, until the day of embryo transplantation. The control group did not receive any acupuncture. The required GnRH agonist dosage and stimulation time were lower in the acupuncture group than in the control group. Endometrial thickness observed in the acupuncture group was higher than that in the control group. Serum estradiol and progesterone levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin injection were lower, and clinical pregnancy rates were higher in the acupuncture group compared with those in the control group.

Effects of Acupuncture on Endometrium and Pregnancy Outcomes in Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Undergoing in vitro FertilizationEmbryo Transfer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Chin J Integr Med. 2022 Aug;28(8):736-42 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35419725/

Battlefield acupuncture reduces veterans’ pain and opioid use after surgery

Battlefield acupuncture (BFA) shows potential benefits for reducing pain intensity and opioid requirement in military veteran patients undergoing surgery. American clinicians randomly assigned 72 patients undergoing major surgery under general anaesthesia to receive either BFA or sham acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for postoperative pain. Median 24-hour postoperative opioid consumption (measured in morphine milligram equivalents, MME) was lower in the BFA group compared with the sham acupuncture group (18.3 MME with BFA, versus 38.6 MME with sham). Subjective pain intensity reported by patients at 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours postoperatively was also lower in the BFA group compared with the sham acupuncture group. The incidence of postsurgical nausea and vomiting was lower in patients receiving BFA compared to patients receiving sham acupuncture. No intergroup differences were observed in terms of postoperative anxiety or length of hospital stay.

Battlefield Acupuncture Use for Perioperative Anesthesia in Veterans Affairs Surgical Patients: A Single-Center Randomized Controlled Trial. J Integr Complement Med. 2022 Aug;28(8):683-88 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35527689/

Acumoxa suppresses cellular transition associated with Crohn’s progression Acupuncture combined with moxibustion can suppress a cellular transition that indicates disease progression in Crohn’s disease, according to Chinese researchers. Sixty-three patients with Crohn's disease were randomly divided into an observation group receiving moxibustion at 43°C combined with

acupuncture, and a control group receiving sham moxibustion at 37°C, combined with sham acupuncture. Patients were treated for 12 weeks. After the treatment period, Crohn’s disease activity scores were significantly better in the observation group compared with the control group. Morphological and ultrastructural changes to intestinal cells that were consistent with disease progression (epithelial to mesenchymal transition) were also less pronounced in the observation group after the treatment period. Expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TGF-β 1, Tβ R2, Smad3, and Snail) were significantly lower in the observation group after treatment, compared with baseline, and with the control group post-treatment.

Acupuncture and Moxibustion Inhibited Intestinal Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Patients with Crohn's Disease Induced by TGF- β 1/Smad3/Snail Pathway: A Clinical Trial StudyChin J Integr Med. 2022 Sep;28(9):823-32 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/35419729/

Acupuncture improves loss of smell in long Covid Japanese clinicians have reported that acupuncture can be an effective treatment for olfactory dysfunction in the post-acute Covid 19 condition known as long Covid. They describe two cases of olfactory dysfunction in long Covid 19 patients that were treated by using the point LI 20 ying xiang, which has been traditionally used to improve the sense of smell. Acupuncture treatment was initiated at six and seven months after the original diagnosis of Covid 19. Bilateral LI 20 ying xiang points were stimulated until the patients felt de qi, and needles were retained for about 15 minutes. Acupuncture was performed one to two times per week. Immediately after the acupuncture treatment, the symptoms of olfactory dysfunction were alleviated, and this improvement in olfactory dysfunction lasted for two to four days. As the number of acupuncture treatments increased, the time until the return of olfactory dysfunction was prolonged, and the intensity of symptoms tended to decrease over time. Acupuncture is an effective treatment for olfactory dysfunction in the post COVID-19 condition. Front Neurol. 2022 Aug 23;13:916944 〉 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36081871/

With thanks to the Journal of Chinese Medicine

Inner Pass Notes

as reported by the Acu. Editorial Team

Online Acu.

What’s happening? Is something happening? Why does everyone keep saying online Acu.?

Maybe it’s because that’s exactly what’s happening? New Year, New Acu.… online

Wait a minute! I’m not sure I like your tone. All sounds a bit top-down and dictatorial to me

Sorry!!! But it has to be said it’s been a long time coming – with some pretty clear signposting all along the road

You don't sound like you care very much what members think. Isn’t the Acu. strapline supposed to be ‘By members, for members’?

Absolutely right! And Acu. will always be so. Acu. simply can’t exist without the members – no ideas, no inspiration, no copy, no point!

Are you trying to tell me it’s members who want to take Acu. online?

Well, kind of... and you could say that equal and opposite forces of technology and budgets have nudged them along the way

Go on… I’m listening…

It won't have escaped your notice that ways of delivering content, and so the content itself, have evolved. By changing with the times and going with the flow of technology, Acu. can give members a broader platform using all that digital has to offer – quick delivery, more responsive, diverse content, audio and interaction. We can make the most of whatever comes the way of the Editorial Team

So the Editorial Team stays?

Most certainly! As you rightly said, By members, for members. We too have long been wrestling with feelings of regret at having to say goodbye to print. But we also know that print is unsustainable in the long run – and we’re even beginning to get a bit excited about the possibilities that come with an online Acu.

I notice you slipped in the ‘unsustainable’ word there. Are we talking environment or finances? Both, really. Greening the whole

organisation has featured in the BAcC strategy for years now, and that includes Acu. You know the drill –reducing paper use, looking after the planet, etc and so on. Then there’s belt tightening – pretty universal at the moment and something the GB has to chew over at every meeting. So there it is again – BAcC members on the GB having to weigh up how best to give all BAcC members what they want and need

And if Acu. costs less to produce, does that mean my membership fee goes down?

Well, there’s been no increase for ten years now – so you could say that it kind of already does, in a way, year on year

So this is it then? No more Acu. to hold in my hands and stand proudly on my bookshelf

You’ve got it. The Acu. writing is very definitely on the wall… or rather on the screen. And to tell you the truth, we on the Editorial Team have been feeling more than a little nervous about the transition for some time. Taking the lead as we make this leap out of print into the unknown of online Acu. feels like a huge responsibility. But with your support and all of our interests at heart, we think we’re finally ready to give it a go. So with the words of the immortal Sam Cooke playing in our minds and on our lips, let's make this happen! All together now… A Change Is Gonna Come…

Well, I suppose I’m always telling my patients that change is good… Exactly so! Nobody much likes change, including us. And if you doubt that, just take a look at this issue's Editorial featuring Deb Connor’s true-life confession! But honestly, we’ll never know how good it can be until we try. And everyone on the Acu. team is determined to enjoy the ride of making it work, however many bumps there are in the road. Plus we’re really looking forward to taking you with us. Will you come along?

You promise to be gentle with me? Of course, always! Just take a look at our editorial policy on page 1 and the submissions guidelines you see here – some things don’t change. Whatever else happens, we’ll always want – and need – your ideas, articles, images, comments, and enthusiasm. You offer it, we’ll try to use it. By members, for members – forever and always

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What makes a meridian & a point?

Vivien Shaw

Member: Gwynedd

Meridians are often thought of as esoteric channels through the body that carry qi and have no visible physical substrate. However, in historical records from Han-era China, at the point where acupuncture was first developed (roughly 2,000 years ago) there is a record of a criminal being dissected as part of his punishment. The stated purpose of this dissection was to be able to, ‘trace the course of his blood vessels in order to learn where they began and ended. This knowledge could be used to understand disease.’ (Pan, Dubs & P’an Lo-Chi, The History of the Former Han Dynasty. Vol III)

The seminal text The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (Huángdì Nèijīng 黄帝 内經), a compendium of texts spanning nearly 400 years, describes acupuncture for the first time. It likewise describes using dissection to understand human anatomy and says that the descriptions of meridians are based upon this knowledge. My research is based on the assumption that these records are accurate. I have sought to understand how an anatomist at that time would understand what they see when looking at the body without the preconceived ideas that come from being taught what to expect.

Ancient Chinese texts are very terse, and the various available translations differ widely. I therefore started by translating the original texts as literally as possible, and then conducted many dissections of human cadavers using those texts as my guide. My aim was to follow the map of the body that they described.

I will talk here first about the translation of jing 經as ‘meridian’. The act of translation often involves additional interpretation to try to arrive at the best equivalent word. Multiple translations of jing have been suggested, including words like channel, conduit, etc. I discuss where the translation of ‘meridian’ comes from and the broader historical context in which it sits.

In the second part of this article I look at some specific acupoints, showing the underlying anatomy. Finally, I consider how an understanding of the anatomical structures underpinning meridians and points could be used to explain the clinical results that we see from needling them.

Historical & anatomical context for meridians

The word jing was translated as ‘meridian’ by a Frenchman called George Soulié de Morant who lived and worked for about 20 years in Shanghai as part of the French diplomatic corps, before returning to France in 1917. Fluent in Chinese, he became interested in acupuncture and was the first westerner to be trained as an acupuncturist.

China was ruled at the time by the last Qing emperor, and for Soulié de Morant to be allowed access to this system of medicine was a great honour. After

returning to France, he wrote the first textbook of acupuncture in Europe. This book, L’Acuponcture Chinoise, is therefore a record of acupuncture as it was practised in China in the years preceding the Cultural Revolution.

In the chapter on meridians, Soulié de Morant explains his translation of jing as ‘meridian’ by saying: ‘the meridians (jing) are the longitudinal paths… the term jing was used in astronomy for the lines of north-south longitude. It is still used in the countryside for the northsouth paths of a field.’ This indicates that, from the beginnings of acupuncture,

Guang Yu Tu: Er Juan (廣輿圖 : 二卷 /) Atlas: woodblock print, created Nanjing, 1558? Retrieved from the Library of Congress

analogies were being drawn between the microcosm of the human body and the macrocosm of the world around it.

The creation of maps based on grids like the one pictured here was an invention of the Han dynasty. These maps were of huge significance as they enabled better governance and use of the land, particularly for the purpose of agriculture and food production. The emperor ruled through the Mandate of Heaven, with droughts, famines and other natural disasters seen as bad omens that undermined that mandate. Managing land and water through good irrigation practices was therefore key not only to effective food production but also to maintaining a stable empire.

Grid-based maps were invented by Zhang Heng 張衡 (78-139 CE), who was the director of the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy and Calendrics. To create lines of longitude, you need two pieces of information. The first is to be able to see the North star, and the second is to accurately know the time. The innovation of inserting a grid system over a map of the terrain therefore relied on Zhang Heng’s astronomical abilities, and the existence of accurate clepsydra (water clocks).

The value placed on the developing medical system can be seen through the connections that were being made through the use of the same word in the descriptions of the body and the maps. Describing the system of meridians in the body in this way also links the language of the body to the language of landscapes and the natural world, underlining the fact that the same paradigms for understanding the universe could be applied to both. These grid maps continued to be used throughout the ensuing centuries and, although none of Zhang Heng’s own maps have survived, the map from circa 1555 you see below is created using the same system.

When Han-dynasty physicians wanted to understand the human body, their primary interest was in the flow of blood, which irrigates and nourishes

the body, just as water irrigates and nourishes the land. When examining a body, what we know as arteries, veins and nerves tend to run together as neurovascular bundles. The concept of a neurovascular bundle, however, is a modern one. If you are looking at a body without any prior knowledge about what it contains, what you see is three types of structure that tend to run together in longitudinal patterns. There are vessels full of blood (veins), hollow tubes (arteries) and structures that are dense and fatty (nerves).

As has already been shown in the dissection record, the Chinese were well aware of the significance of blood to health. They knew that that if you lose blood, you become weak. If you lose a lot of blood, you die. However, when looking at a cadaver, the body is still full of blood – which presents a conundrum. If the blood is still there, yet the individual is dead, then it logically follows that there must be another animating force involved in life.

The function(s) of the hollow and dense tubes that are visible running alongside the blood are unknown. However, they do run together with the blood, so it would be reasonable to assume that these hollow and dense tubes are also significant. In making their anatomical atlases, the Handynasty anatomists therefore created detailed maps not just of the main pathways through the body followed by the neurovascular bundles (the meridians), but also of the places where these structures changed in some way. This change could be where a bundle split apart, where blood vessels branched or came together, or where the blood vessels ended. The beginning and end points of the vessels had already been flagged as a particular point of interest, and one of the specific pieces of information that dissection of the criminal was intended to reveal. All of these internal landmarks were marked and named, and later became what we now know as acupuncture points.

How meridians gave rise to

points

The Han dynasty is famous for its scientific discoveries. Once physicians had observed and named the anatomy of the body – meridians and points – the next step in the scientific method would be to create hypotheses about the significance of the structures they had identified as being of interest, and test them.

As already mentioned, the control and management of water flow through the landscape was of huge significance at the time, and an understanding of how to manage fluid flow was very highly developed. Water supplies could be managed using locks, sluice gates, canals, wells and other engineered structures. (Solomon, Water: The Epic struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization

Within the Yellow Emperor’s Classic there are many analogies drawn between flow in the body and water flow across the land, for instance the five ‘command (shu 輸) points’, found on each meridian between the fingers and the elbow or toes and knee, which are called well, spring, stream, river and sea. These shu points are some of the earliest ones named in the early acupuncture literature. What they all

View of the vessels of the plantar and dorsal surfaces of the foot

have in common are that they are found in areas of the body where the insertion of a needle has the potential to interact directly with the underlying structures because they are close to the surface. By comparison there are relatively few points in the big muscles of the thigh and the upper arm.

On the left you can see a dissection of a foot in two views. The image of the underside (sole or plantar surface) of the foot has been made into an illustration, while the image of the top (dorsum) of the foot is just a photograph. The posterior and anterior tibial arteries are labelled in each case. The posterior tibial artery runs along the plantar surface of the foot, and the anterior tibial artery runs over the dorsum of the foot. The two arteries join to form an anastomosis between the first and second metatarsals, rather like a loop. The points found over this significant anatomical landmark are LIV 3 tai chong on the dorsum of the foot, and KID 1 yong quan on the sole (also labelled).

As mentioned above, the dissection record talked about the significance of finding the end points of the blood vessels. In many cases the vessels form what are known as terminal arteries, that is they become smaller and smaller until they come to an end at the extremities and on the head. The anatomical structure shown above by contrast, this loop where the two major vessels travelling along the front and back surfaces of the leg meet, has a remarkably different character. The same anatomical loop is also found in the hand, at LI 4 he gu on the dorsum, and P 9 zhong chong on the palm. Where the anterior tibial artery in the leg goes over the dorsum of the foot to LIV 3, the radial artery in the arm passes around the back of the wrist onto the dorsum of the hand before piercing through to the palm in between the first and second metacarpals. The ulnar artery in this instance is the pair or homologous structure of the posterior tibial artery.

Having found this unique configuration of major blood vessels in the limbs, it is

logical to believe that they might have some equally unique properties, and that their similarity could make them function well together. Controlling or managing the flow of fluid at the end point of the loop could have the potential to enable an acupuncturist to bring balance to the two long vessels that connect at that point. This could theoretically then achieve a global effect through controlling the flow in the vessels through using these specific places (LIV 3 and LI 4). Clinical experience of needling these points absolutely substantiates this theory, and what is now known as the Four Gates treatment is one of the most frequently used methods to reduce stress, that is harmonise flow of qi and blood throughout the body.

In conclusion

As this example has shown, understanding the anatomical basis and historical context of meridians and points can enhance our understanding of what we do in clinic. The physiological mechanisms for how we think this works are culturally contextual. Han-era science was predicated on an understanding of five element theory. Modern scientific understandings of physiology are very different, but the anatomy on which our understanding of the body relies is unchanged. As acupuncturists and patients, we may have our own theories or preferences for explaining the physiology of our treatments, but what this research shows is that the original development of acupuncture was firmly rooted in the science of the time.

The dissection record talked about the significance of finding the end points of the blood vessels

Community acupuncture is the future

Joe Jennings

Member: Oxford

This article is about my experience as a community clinic practitioner and the business I have made from it – but I also wanted to respond in part to the piece about multibeds written by Tess Lugos in the last issue of Acu. (late summer 2022, page 8).

Firstly, it was great to hear of Wellpoint Acupuncture’s unique set-up and I hugely respect them and their model. Especially impressive is that they have managed to open and maintain what is, to my knowledge, the only private full-time community clinic in the UK.

That said, I disagree with the notion that community acupuncture is hard or that the best way to start a community clinic is by immediately setting up five days a week. My experience has been quite the opposite and I do worry that those two ideas may put other practitioners off community acupuncture all together.

How I got started

We all know acupuncture is a bit great and I imagine most of us have spent our career trying to help as many people as we can. That is why I opened a community clinic seven years ago. It was the best decision of my career. I love the buzz of treating four people an hour and working with a much wider range of people and conditions than I see in my one-to-one clinic. It took me a little while to come to community clinics. I knew they existed but I’d never been to one, so I did some research. Turns out there are over 50 across the UK all operating in their own unique way to suit the community they serve and the practitioners that run them.

For mine, I wanted to create one as streamlined as possible, to treat as many people as I could, to make it as affordable as possible for patients whilst still giving me a decent living wage. From the beginning I integrated an intake form and spreadsheet into my booking system, so I would need less time with each patient. I started with six people an hour. That was silly. I quickly went to five and then, for me at least and the way I practise, to a much more comfortable four.

I’m lucky that where I’m based, in Oxfordshire, acupuncture is already quite accepted and appreciated as a treatment: A community acupuncture clinic charging a much more affordable flat rate of £15 a session straightaway became pretty packed. (Over the years I’ve changed it to a sliding scale model of £19-35.) I began with an afternoon session and grew as and when I could, trialling the best times and locations to operate, without stretching myself financially or energetically.

Before long I was treating on average 16 people a day twice a week. From that alone I was earning almost £25k a year. And so, these are the myths I’d like to dispel around community clinics:

Myth one: Community acupuncture is really hard work.

Reality: Community clinics are busier, but how is that not a good thing? Practitioners who do it love it – we wouldn’t continue year on year if we didn’t, plus we get to help more people.

Myth two: Community acupuncture doesn’t add up, it is more of a charitable service.

Reality: Community clinics can pay well. I earn more on an hourly basis

than I do with my one-to-one patients and the majority of my income is from my community clinic work.

In fact, I would recommend to every practitioner – especially recent graduates new to the profession – that they consider trying life in a community clinic, either by joining an existing community clinic like mine or starting your own. It is a fantastic way to gain experience and confidence in treating.

Advantages

• With a patient you know you can help but it's hard to know how long a positive outcome might take, the lower cost means they are more able to come for more sessions and you are under less pressure to find a quick fix.

• Less of a financial risk if someone cancels as it represents less of a percentage of that day's income.

• You are likely to see more people from a wider range of backgrounds and conditions, helping to hone your skills.

• Going at a faster pace means you will have to lean into tongue and pulse diagnosis, again helping hone your skills.

• Start-up costs and overheads are generally lower, reducing barriers to entry.

• Community clinics help build your reputation in the local area and generally improve your one-to-one business if you have one.

More importantly perhaps, I strongly believe that community clinics are the future. When NHS integration comes, it will surely be in the form of community clinics. So, if you want to work within the NHS, getting some community clinic experience under your belt could be a good place to start.

Our model

Since starting my first clinic I have built up a team of practitioners spread over a wider area. All are committed to helping as many people as possible using the community model.

From the data we collected we saw that most patients were coming to the clinic from the local area as opposed to travelling in. Because of this we decided to take our clinic to different communities, making the service accessible to more people. We now operate in five community centres across Oxfordshire and beyond, and we have plans to open more.

Each clinic started with half a day and all are now running for at least one full day a week. Of course, we can only expand as and when we are able – and where demand has been low we’ve had to shift location. But our model is flexible enough to allow for that.

What I also like about this model is that we can pay all of our practitioners well – which means that more practitioners, especially newer graduates, stay in the profession.

Looking forward

My long-term aim has always been to make acupuncture as accessible to as many people as possible. Increasing the number of community clinics out there is a great step towards that. But as I hinted above, NHS integration is my ultimate goal. That’s why I have also developed YourClinic, a more streamlined booking and data collection system. YourClinic has a website set up so that anyone can sign up and use it for their clinic(s). As well as online booking for patients, it provides practitioners with a built-in booking system and easy access to patient notes. Crucially it also includes an integrated and automated NHSrecognised MYMOP® form for improved data collection.

Widespread use of YourClinic should help build a dataset that the NHS will recognise, leading to an evidence base that will help us to knock on that door as loudly as we can. That door is beginning to budge, especially with the new NICE guidelines and the change in commissioning within the NHS. The more of us using YourClinic, the more data we will have and the louder we can shout 〉 yourclinic.care

Finally, I’d like to give a shout out to

the Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics (ACMAC), who support community clinics around the UK. They are the go-to place for resources: regular workshops on setting up community clinics, a mentorship scheme, and they’re also in the process of setting up a list of clinics where students and practitioners can observe 〉 acmac.net

From spring 2023 we will be starting a free one-day-a-week intern scheme for new graduates, giving them additional confidence as well as experience of treating in a community clinic. We will also assist them in setting up their own community clinic, if they would like to.

If you would like to know more about anything you’ve read here, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you.

Joe Jennings 〉

joe@holistic-health.org.uk 〉 holistic-health.org.uk/low-costacupuncture

Each clinic started with half a day and all are now running for at least one full day a week

Just my point KID 3

Peter Firebrace

BAcC Fellow: Denmark

Treating patients on the verge of death is an honour and a privilege, somewhat akin to being present at a birth. One is an appearance, the other a disappearance, one a cause for celebration, the other a time for grieving, but both are transitions of the deepest kind and touch our shared humanity at the deepest level. All of us take the same journey, no matter how long or short the life, how welllived or sadly mismanaged. It is the kidneys that hold the key to life and death, root of all the organs and source of the yinyang union that is life – and when that yinyang union is weakened, loosened and finally untied, there is no more integrative ability to hold together and death is inevitable and often a merciful release. It is here that we find an important role for KID 3.

So crucial in enhancing the fertility of a woman and the potency of a man, KID 3 is also ‘a friend at the end’ in those pre-death days, rooting the yin and sustaining the yang when both are depleted, when good rest is hard to find and the power to move is ebbing away. Emaciated, dry in the mouth, but unable to hold a cup to their lips themselves, hands and feet cold despite being covered, half in this world and half on their journey out, KID 3 can help to nourish the yin while warming the yang, bringing a reconnection in those final weeks and days that can make the ending more comfortable.

We find KID 3 inside the ankle, a mountain stream, a Great Torrent tai xi 太 溪on the narrow ravine-like enclave between the Achilles tendon and the medial malleolus.a Pure, refreshing and reviving, it is part of a cluster of kidney points in the area with prominent water images from the Bubbling Spring yong quan 湧 泉 of KID 1, the Water Spring shui quan 水 泉of KID 5, the Shining Sea zhao hai 照 海of KID 6 and the Returning Current fu liu 復 溜of KID 7. It is firmly set between the body landscape images of the fire point KID 2 Blazing Valley ran gu 然 谷 and the water point of KID 10 Valley of Yin yin gu 陰 谷

Yu 俞 stream and yuan 原 source point, KID 3 is part of the series of Great tai 太, yuan 原 source points of LIV 3 Great Rushing tai chong 太 衝 and SP 3 Great White tai bai 太 白 on the foot and in resonance with the hand yuan 原 source points of LU 9 Great Abyss tai yuan 太 淵, P 7 Big Mound da ling 大 陵 and HT 7 Spirit Gate shen men 神 門 above. Like LU 9, KID 3 is found where the artery can be palpated, giving access to the vitality that wells up from deep within the body and giving a particular link to the heart. As tu 土 earth point it brings stability and nourishment, uniting the pre-heavenly and postheavenly qualities of kidneys and spleen, for example in its use in early morning diarrhoea.

Not surprisingly, KID 3 is a wonderful point for problems of ageing, such

as low back and knee pain, tiredness and exhaustion, frequent urination, loose teeth, memory loss and lack of motivation. Many of these are directly related to a decline in kidney qi and KID 3 is therefore very useful in lumbar pain, for example with BL 40 Middle of the Bend wei zhong 委 中 and local lower back points. It is helpful in problems of the bones and marrow, such as brittle bones, for example with GB 39 Severed Bone jue gu 絕 骨 and BL 11 Big Shuttle da zhu 大 杼. Remember it for problems of the brain and loss of memory, for example with HT 7 Spirit Gate shen men 神 門, DU 4 Gate of Destiny, ming men 命 門, DU 20 One Hundred Meetings bai hui 百 會 and DU 16 Wind Storehouse feng fu 鳳 府, while ensuring a nourishing diet and regular meals. With deep-acting points such as KID 3 and appropriate advice on how to nurture life yang sheng 養 生, many of the pains, restrictions and inconveniences that are taken as ‘normal’ with advancing years can be reduced, postponed or even eliminated altogether.

Where the kidneys are concerned, we have to go right back to their deep resonance with winter, cold, darkness and silence, qualities which in our culture are often associated with death. But it is only death of the yang, of doing, not of being, death of the outer, while storing and restoring the inner, the yin. We could note here that the colour for the kidneys and water is not, as in most western charts, a cheery blue, but black, the blackness of night, the blackness of the depths of the sea, the blackness of the Daoist robe, the black ink of calligraphy, stark and strong against the white rice paper. Yes, it is the blackness of the tomb, the final resting place, but in the burial of every single seed within the dark earth, it is also the protective covering of the womb, without which there is no new growth, no return of new life.

In pathology it is the dark rings under the eyes that indicate exhausted kidneys, but it is also the jet-black hair that displays the strength and vitality of the jing 精 essence when the kidneys are strong. It is the power of yin to receive, to keep, to store and to preserve. Just as the stillness of sleep

recharges the body, this connection with the deepest yin recharges the being so you have jing 精essence in spades and a couple of aces up your sleeve for when the going gets tough. That is when the kidneys are tested and when KID 3, in many ways the pre-eminent kidney point, can be a wonderful support.

In the Huangding Yellow Court inner alchemy tradition, the kidneys are represented as a dark deer xuanlu with two heads. Like the two-headed Roman god Janus, who gave us January at the start of the year, one head looks forward while the other looks back. One looks ahead with determination zhi 志 to the future, while the other looks back in memory zhi 志at the past. Like the deer, we need to be creatures of heightened awareness to make our own way through life’s dangerous forest. Truly learning from the past helps us to determine future action, without blindly repeating the past, so that we can indeed move forward. In medicine the deer’s horns are used as tonics for kidney yang, but it is perhaps the deer’s sensitivity that we need to cultivate, since traditionally they alone can find the anti-ageing reishi ‘mushroom of immortality’, ganoderma lucidum, ling zhi 靈 芝, also an important kidney tonic and the most famous of all medicinal mushrooms.

Like such giants as ST 36, LU 9, HT 7 and LIV 3, KID 3 is a very wideranging point that treats a multitude of symptoms and patterns and it cannot be done justice in a short article. For me it is an essential point in an increasingly kidney-challenging world! The stronger our kidneys, the more resilient and independent we are, the more we can lead our own lives, rather than be led. Align the kidneys with the heart and the natural good health and vitality of jing shen 精 神is yours. KID 3 Great Torrent tai xi 太 溪 is a key point in this process.

Xuanlü, the two-headed dark deer is a symbol of the kidneys in the Yellow Court internal alchemy system. One head looks forward to the future, while the other looks back at the past.

Journey To The West: an acupuncture documentary

A new ground-breaking documentary tracing Chinese medicine’s journey to the UK is currently on its festival run and now available for screenings. Just a few weeks ago Jonquil Westwood Pinto caught up with writer and producer Sibyl Coldham to learn more about the project and how it came about

JWP: Tell me a bit about yourself and how you got into the world of Chinese medicine (CM)

SC: I qualified as a secondary school teacher in Australia in the mid 1970s, and after a few years travelling, settled in London with Tony Brewer, one of the founders of the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine – a mouthful of a name, but the ‘TCM’ was important. They’d all been to China and were bowled over by the clinical experience they gained there. They wanted to set up a college here that got as close as possible to replicating that experience. And, oddly, that’s where I came in. They knew their acupuncture, but they didn't know much about learning and teaching. I grew fascinated with the double complexity of teaching something that came from a different culture. I joined the course so that I could use the topics and problems in the syllabus to frame thinking about how people learn. And so I became a teacher-educator, and that has been my role ever since.

JWP: The film was funded by the TCM Development Trust – what is that and how did you get involved?

SC: The Trust was a fund set up by the London School of Acupuncture (LSA). The School was a not-for-profit company, and so we needed the fund to house our profits. In 1997 the LSA school joined the University of

Westminster, and so the University funded research projects, conferences and other staff development. We had funds, but were struggling to see how we could use them to make a difference for CM.

JWP: How did the idea for the film come about?

SC: When I became a trustee we were struggling as to how best to use the funds. And also, over the years we – my fellow trustees and I – had seen how difficult it is to do anything impactful, and we were looking around for a different kind of project. We also needed a partner who could actually take on a project and see it through.

That’s where the idea for a film came from. My niece, Zoe, who is a filmmaker was amazed by the really powerful stories coming out, but also about the sea of prejudice in the UK that washed around the edges of anything to do with acupuncture. She was struck by the difference from how things work in Australia, where in her experience acupuncture was a normal part of healthcare. Her enthusiasm and different perspective really brought home to us the need to capture our stories of those early days and what it had been like in the 1980s and ‘90s.

JWP: It’s such a complicated story – how did you work out the script?

SC: I began with drafting out the aspects of the profession that we needed to

present – early years in the UK; the impact of courses in China in the 1970s and ‘80s; attempts to unify and establish as a medical profession. We wanted to include the story of how and why courses moved into or aligned with degreelevel education, as well as the issues in research and the setbacks and prejudice that came along the way. Our aim was to juxtapose these stories with explaining key ideas in the CM medical model, so that one might build openness to understanding the other and vice versa. As you can see, we wanted the credibility of the people we filmed to speak to the credibility of the medical model.

JWP: How did you decide on who to interview?

SC: We looked for people who could tell these stories, and who could also cross over more than one aspect of the story so that we would be able to weave the narrative together. We wanted people who had led the way in developing professional, educational and research structures across time. But we also wanted to include the diversity that the profession encompasses now – both in terms of its membership and in the ways they practise and the different settings.

Jasmine Uddin was the obvious choice to talk about the struggle for statutory regulation, having led the way for that whole journey. We wanted Felicity Moir to talk about education as she has been involved from the early days and has been such a key person in taking

acupuncture education forward, both in terms of establishing a practice-led curriculum but also for her work in developing the professional standards and accreditation.

We had hoped to include Hugh MacPherson to lead the research part of the story but sadly that was not possible. But we do have Mark Bovey, who was the BAcC’s research manager for many years, and to provide balance as well as a western medical perspective on the issues of researching CM, we have Mike Cummings from the British Medical Acupuncture Association (BMAS). He has also been involved in some of the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) decisions and so he was helpful in explaining their approvals process.

And finally, we have Volker Scheid who, as well as being a medical anthropologist and CM herbalist, is one of the very few CM practitioners to have headed up a CM research centre in a UK university.

Interwoven with these key people we have four practitioners who work in diverse settings and take different approaches in their work – Yizhen Jia; Dominique Joire, who until recently was director of the Gateway Clinic; Simon Robey; and Rayrose Raymond.

JWP: How did you come up with the name?

SC: Journey To The West is a Chinese classic, about a monk and his companions who go to India (the West

from their point of view) to bring back Buddhist texts to China. The Chinese did this again in the early 1900s when they felt the West was more powerful with its scientific knowledge. They sent people to study. And, partly as a result of this self-imposed westernisation, they themselves changed and codified CM to align more readily with western medicine and invented TCM. Alongside this there is the journey of westerners going to China and bringing back various versions of acupuncture, then modifying and adapting them to the needs of this culture. Finally there is the latent prejudice that anything on a journey to the West in our current times has to carry. All in all, it seemed to capture everything we wanted.

JWP: In the film, you touch on some of the negative attitudes within UK culture towards CM simply because it is foreign and Chinese. Can you tell us why you wanted to include this?

SC: We needed to get into that space if we were to take the audience with us in understanding CM on its own terms. Prejudice is a mechanism that everyone is aware of – so we felt we could use it as a bridge into the idea that taking a different starting point (such as qi) is inevitably going to build a different model. And if you have a different model, maybe you then need to evidence it in a different way. We wanted to give a different context to the dismissiveness of those parts of the science community who will only accept one form of

evidence – randomised controlled trials (RCTs). But the other reason for bringing it in was to challenge some of the blatant untruths that are circulated about CM’s use of endangered species, and conspiracy theories about the Chinese government. Volker is brilliant on both these points in the film.

JWP: How do you think the BAcC and UK acupuncturists in general should respond (if at all) to these public perceptions?

SC: I worked with acupuncturists in academic environments for 40 years, and I have seen how vitriolic and damaging the prejudice from some parts of the science community has been. Many people see this as a contributing factor in some of the university-based course closures. I can understand that this makes people hesitant to get into a debate, but I also think it shows what’s at stake if you don’t. There is always a way to challenge, and there is also always safety in numbers, so you need to build alliances across communities and national boundaries. The cornerstone of western scientific research is supposedly to be sure that you are comparing like with like, and that if you have a placebo, that it is inert – but these are two areas that the RCTs fall down on. I also think you need to build allies within areas of medicine that you know acupuncture works for, and to work towards widening insight into CM’s understanding of health and illness on your own terms.

Left: Jasmine Uddin was the obvious choice to talk about statutory regulation Right: Simon Robey talks about his practice

JWP: You mentioned that courses within universities have been closed down. With the backdrop of wider crises in the university sector and NHS (funding gaps etc), what is the way forward in working with these institutions?

SC: As Felicity says in the film, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Personally, I think it is vital for the profession that there are university-based courses. The private colleges do a great job at training the next generation, and yes, some of these are connected to universities. But they can’t offer all the resources of a university, not least of which is the wider academic community, staff development and networking that goes with it. We need to have the professional development structures of master’s and PhD courses to have any chance of building the kind of research and research centres for CM that do the kinds of research that we want. Any of you who have tried to do a PhD will know how difficult it is when your academic community has no understanding of your main focus. I’m sure universities will look again soon at CM courses. They will be different, but this is a tremendously important route for building alliances.

JWP: What was the biggest challenge in making the film

SC: The editing process – this was the director’s responsibility rather than mine, but the challenge was to allow her to make her own film, at the same time as

finding the line that would set out the complexity of the medical model and the other issues facing the profession in a way that would be engaging and approachable for audiences. Decisions as to what was important often depended on knowing the history and the context that the interviewee was talking from. There were also challenges in recognising new directions that emerged over the time of making the film.

We were ready to start interviewing in March 2020, in that first week of lockdown. But the delays also meant that new storylines gather strength. For example, we were able to include some of the response to Covid and the recent NICE decision to approve acupuncture for chronic pain.

JWP: What are you hoping the film will achieve?

SC: To open minds to the possibility of a different and equally valid way of understanding how our bodies work, in health and illness.

Within the profession, we hope to inspire the next generation to keep working towards CM achieving its rightful place in our healthcare, which necessarily will depend on a wider understanding of its underlying principles and insights.

JWP: What are your next steps with the film? How can we see it?

SC: The film is currently running the festival circuit and we hope to be able

to announce some more screening opportunities in the new year. In November, we screened at the North East International Film Festival, Newcastle and the Essex DocFest which were both fabulous events. We are also in the process of securing distribution which would allow the film to be viewed by a larger and international audience. You can keep track of upcoming festival screening opportunities via the website and our social channels 〉 www.journeytothewestdocumentary.com www.instagram.com/ journeytothewest_documentary/

JWP: What can BAcC members do to help promote the film?

SC: We want you all to watch the trailer and talk it up. Share the website and Instagram account with your friends and patients. Ask them all to watch the trailer, to send it on to their friends and networks, and, of course, to go along and see the film when it comes to a cinema nearby.

Above: Felicity Moir has been involved in education from the early days and has been a key person in taking it forwards

Send us your stories

Since joining the BAcC last May, Caroline Hedges has been focused on getting to know the way we work and our PR ups and downs. With the help of two examples from member Sandy Sandaver, here she explains how you can turn your patient notes into promotional gold

Caroline Hedges Communications Manager

From holding a variety of opento-all members coffee and comms events, I’ve found that social media seems to be the area that many of you find challenging when it comes to promoting your work. The good news is that case stories – tales told simply from your patient notes – offer a wealth of engaging content that can be turned into articles, testimonials and much more.

Both press and public adore stories with a good human interest angle. You, our members, have a wealth of information you can use to produce good quality, engaging content – items that can help shape the narrative about the benefits of East Asian medicine to a variety of audiences. And it doesn’t mean you have to undertake a fullscale research project – it’s all there in your treatment notes, if you tell the story simply.

Below you will find two fibromyalgia examples to inspire you, kindly supplied by Sandy Sandaver, who practises at Hay Acupuncture Clinic in Hereford.

Nora, a 62-year-old woman, diagnosed with fibromyalgia in September 2019

When Nora (not her real name) started acupuncture in February 2021, she was taking Gabapentin 300 mg, three times daily for pain, plus Paracetamol as required. She also took Sertraline 100 mg daily for anxiety.

Nora’s case history showed she had developed fatigue and pain in her legs from both knees down and in both arms in 2016. She also noticed her joints would ache at different times. She had all the signs of having had a stroke, with symptoms down the left side of her body but, a brain scan ruled this out and stress was given as the likely cause.

‘Everything went downhill from there,’ she said.

When Nora first presented for acupuncture, she had brain fog – she said they call it ‘fibro fog’ and was having trouble sleeping. ‘I don’t like being ill and I don’t like letting people down because I’ve been ill,’ she said. She also noted her intestines felt knotted.

A traditional diagnosis was carried out and six treatments were administered over a course of six weeks. Nora then took a break from

acupuncture before continuing to go once a month for tune-up treatments.

By the third session, Nora’s energy improved vastly, and she felt 80 per cent better. Both her and her husband have been amazed at treatment results. She no longer takes Gabapentin and now takes only Sertraline for anxiety every other day.

Sarah, a female patient with fibromyalgia and a history of migraines

Sarah (not her real name) was also suffering with gall stones, IBS, PMT and painful periods when she arrived for traditional acupuncture.

By her third treatment she was feeling better and the gall stone pain had stopped. Her stomach was also feeling better. By the fourth treatment, Sarah’s normally heavy period had become lighter and she felt stronger and more assertive.

Her migraines are rarer now and she either takes a pill or massages acupoint LI 4 to alleviate and nip the migraine in the bud.

She is feeling stronger. The fibromyalgia is much less of an issue as she is not getting pain anymore and can function well ‘like a human’. The IBS has also really improved.

I love both these examples as they show short and clearly structured stories. They make the point and educate the reader about a variety of conditions that acupuncture can be helpful for. The inclusion of a personal quote in Nora’s account also really brings it to life.

If you’d like to try writing something similar, remember that we’re here to help. You could either follow the examples above or I can give you a steer with a more structured template. Over time, we would like to collect a bank of case stories that you can use to promote your practice – and as our website develops, we’ll create a dedicated space to house them for everyone to access.

If you have a story you would like to share, just get in touch by email and I’ll be happy to guide you through the process.

Caroline Hedges 〉 comms.manager@acupuncture.org.uk

WebWatch

A seasonal pick of online choices to steer you through the winter darkness and beyond as the year begins to turn

Enlightenment 〉 youtu.be/PgYO3VB6ubo Out of the darkness emerges the light. Not strictly acupuncture related but this documentary by Anthony Chene offers a useful reminder about the power of intention. A feel-good film to share with your patients in the dark depths of the year.

Dark Sky Discovery 〉 darkskydiscovery.org.uk

Where is your best local place to see the stars? Dark Sky Discovery lists the UK's internationally certified Dark Sky Places (DSPs), where you can get away from urban light pollution to immerse yourself in the darkness of the night sky and gaze at the galaxies.

The Power of Knowing Your Dark Side 〉 youtu.be/rgLQWutNxKc

Written by Eternalised, this ten-minute video short from After Skool reviews Carl Jung's belief in embracing our shadow. To quote the man himself: ‘There is no light without shadow and no psychic wholeness without imperfection. To round itself out, life calls, not for perfection but completeness...'

Dark Matter: Women Witnessing 〉 darkmatterwomenwitnessing.com/ Dark Matter publishes writing and artwork created in response to an age of massive species loss and ecological collapse. A home for dreams, visions, and communications with the non-human world – especially those with messages for how we might begin to heal our broken relationship to the earth.

Healthline: nyctophobia 〉 healthline.com/health/nyctophobia Being afraid of the dark often starts in childhood and is viewed as a normal part of development. But nyctophobia is something more – an extreme fear of night or darkness that can cause intense symptoms of anxiety and depression and affect daily life and sleep patterns. This article from Healthline takes you through the signs and symptoms and possible solutions.

The Dark Mountain Project 〉 dark-mountain.net

A rooted and branching network of creative activity, centred on the Dark Mountain journal – looking for other stories, ones that can help us make sense of a time of disruption and uncertainty.

Why not share your online favourite resources with other members by sending a link to WebWatch via editor@acupuncture.org.uk

Working together to combat infertility

was pleased to see that one of the stands offered DNA fragmentation testing – an additional diagnostic test recommended for anyone trying to conceive who has had repeated implantation failure and/ or miscarriages. This procedure checks the DNA, the building blocks to create a baby, which are impacted by smoking, drinking alcohol, stress, age, drugs, diet and heat. Results show the level of damage that for many can simply be improved by incorporating lifestyle and dietary adjustments.

I have a keen interest in acupuncture and IVF and I love to watch the evidence base for the benefits of acupuncture with fertility evolving. My dissertation at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (CICM) in Reading was an investigation into the use of acupuncture before and after embryo transfer – a comparison between the Paulus protocol and individualised treatments.

Throughout my time in practice, I have discovered that female partners regularly come in for acupuncture, whilst their partners will rarely attend treatments; there is still a feeling that the onus is on the woman. The feedback I receive from patients is that the male is often told by professionals that even if the sperm morphology results are under four per cent, then it is seen as ok, as the clinic can offer intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In my opinion, this discourages men from making health and lifestyle changes that can impact the health and development of an embryo, baby and child. If just 4 per cent is considered ‘normal’, what about the other 96 per cent?

On 10 September this year I attended the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM) Fertility Fair – I was invited to share a stall with a friend and colleague who is a fertility massage therapist.

On looking around the fair, I

My college dissertation also explored the leeway of time either side of the embryo transfer. Many patients have read about the Paulus protocol and can get very worried if they do not receive treatment within a certain timescale. There are so many time constraints and stresses around IVF that I personally believe driving across a city or town at rush hour will simply add more pressure. How amazing would it be to have an in-house acupuncturist who can work with patients for at least three months to prepare both parents and offer treatment before and after embryo transfer?

Patients deserve the whole treatment package: nutrition, vitamins, lifestyle advice, meditation and most importantly support through a very emotive and difficult time. We are social animals and collaboration between health professionals is key for an integrated approach in fertility clinics when treating infertility issues.

We live in an era where more than ever, individuals and businesses need to be competitive to survive. Competition can obscure what really matters. I believe that all fertility clinics need to collaborate, and that by emphasising the connection between like-minded professionals with a shared purpose, we can unlock a new source of motivation and a more powerful kind of teamwork. My vision is for every fertility clinic to have its own acupuncturist, nutritionist, massage therapist, in person counsellor and online/in person support group.

Patients receive little support in this area – but if and when we collaborate and work together, we can promote better patient outcomes and create the most inspiring team of all.

Susan Martin Member: Bristol

Cycling Home in Winter

All’s grim pallor, browns and greys, wires and branches drip; cypress and holm oak stand, soaked, holly and ivy gleam.

Lane edges amuck with tyre-crushed leaf mush, verge mud, shredded bits of windfall sticks; in no bird song, dark rain.

Dominic Harbinson Member: Kent

Dominic Harbinson lives at the edge of a village in Kent. He’s been writing on and off for 40 years and still has a lot of fun trying to catch poems, shaping prose or distractedly sifting through a locker full of notes from time spent living in Australia, Brazil, India, Massachusetts, Thailand, Tokyo and China. He and his wife, Pippa Sequeira, run a thriving clinic in central Canterbury.

Stormy Outlook

The story behind the painting

This dazzle of sunshine reflecting off the sea at Holkham, Norfolk was captured on my smartphone when out walking. Within five minutes the scene was obliterated by the oncoming storm. The digital image was forgotten until rediscovered about a year later.

I had been toying with the idea of submitting a ‘qi painting’ to the Royal Academy (RA) Summer Exhibition. Looking for inspiration, I happened to notice this dramatic scene, with three days to go before the submission deadline! My intention was to work with the qi of the five element colours, particularly the ‘mystical black’ corresponding to the water element.

The concept of mystical black has shamanic origins embedded deep within the Chinese qigong wisdom traditions. The five element qigong form from the Mount Emei ‘sage’ lineage, for example, seeks to co-mingle the fire of heaven (yang) with the mystical black located in the lower dan tian (yin) – effectively creating an alchemical fusion of qi between the elements of fire and water.

I set to work confronted by a blank canvas with a solitary pencil line to indicate where the horizon was, not knowing where this would lead. I used the ‘alla prima’ method to recreate the elemental power of the original scene in paint, adopting rapid and spontaneous brushstrokes to allow the images to emerge. The finished artwork entitled ‘Stormy Outlook’ was subsequently exhibited at the RA Summer Exhibition in 2022.

Low Member: Norfolk

Chris

Artwork with artist at the RA Summer Exhibition

Earth Medicine: a natural health centre in a refugee camp

Houri Alavi

When Sohrab checked us through security, the sound of our light-hearted chit chat and the soft Afghani music was abruptly disrupted by a distressed man running towards our car shouting ‘Fire, fire!’ It took a few moments to register what was going on.

Dark smoke was raising from a container. By the time the fire engines arrived, one container had already burnt down, with a second and third on their way to being irreversibly damaged. Fortunately, no one was physically hurt. Two of the tenants – a mother and her son – had been off site, dealing with legal paperwork, while one of her two daughters had been interpreting and the other was elsewhere on site.

Within minutes, our destination, Earth Medicine’s onsite container clinic, became the refuge of a shock-stricken community, as people gathered for safety, crying. Presumably not just for this fire, but for other losses too.

Earth Medicine Physical Rehabilitation is a local charity serving the needs of the migrant population of the camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. You may remember reading Sarah Budd’s account in Acu. this spring of her initial volunteering work with the charity in January 2022. It was that article which inspired me to contact Sarah to see if and how I could apply to join the

volunteering team. Before long, we were discussing possible dates to go, to fit in with other volunteers.

One of the many appealing features of this project is that through teaming up with other charities, such as Acupuncture Sans Frontières (ASF) and Homeopaths Without Borders (HWB), they can offer a running programme of volunteers, so both patients and volunteers are assured of some continuity of care.

Getting to know the ropes

In preparation for the work, I completed trauma training with ASF, as well as reviewing NADA and Battlefield Acupuncture protocols, both online and with colleagues locally. My previous teaching experience with migrants here in the UK was beneficial; many of the children I used to teach would have come through camps such as this, and sharing a common language proved invaluable in making connections and gaining trust. Though this is not a necessity as there is often access to interpreters. Additionally, I did some fundraising for the project. I also continued developing the positive relationship Sarah had started with Scarboroughs Acupuncture Supplies, who kindly donated much equipment as well offering us huge discounts. We are so grateful to them, and to all the family and friends who made donations.

Life on the camp is at best extremely harsh physically, mentally and emotionally. The unimaginable suffering that people have endured long before leaving their mother countries and the treacherous journeys they have undertaken, all have long-term traumatising effects even before their arrival. It is not their choice to leave their homes, to make the journey and arrive in such a place. Some are there for months, others for years, often witnessing and undergoing compounding hardships to those they have escaped.

Since Sarah’s first visit Earth Medicine now offer two sites for treatments. One is a beautiful, converted house in the centre of town, about 15 minutes’ drive from the camp. Surrounded my lemon, pomegranate and walnut trees, and a vibrant vegetable garden, the house has been converted into a clinic with wheelchair access and three treatment rooms. There’s a shower, kitchen and dining area where patients can eat a homemade meal, perhaps their first in a long while. Patients are driven from the camp to the clinic and spend a long morning there, receiving treatment and eating heartily. It’s a peaceful, lush and nourishing environment after the harsh dusty terrain of the camp.

The newer on-site container clinic offers ease of access and is a hub of activity with treatments, advice, and a dispensary for homeopathic and nutritional remedies. It was only just operational when we arrived, with the hope of adding additional containers to create more space for treatments close to the camp.

Samira

One of my first sessions was with Samira, with whom I shared a language. She lay on the couch, sobbing throughout. She’d already had a couple of months’ worth of acupuncture and physiotherapy for the broken and badly reconstructed shoulder she’d sustained through domestic violence. A child bride, she brought up her stepchildren and had two of her own before her husband physically threw her and his sons out to accommodate his new bride.

Samira made her way to neighbouring Iran as the regime in Afghanistan would not support a single female parent. There, she worked illegally as a domestic worker, until the authorities caught up with her and her sons and threatened to deport them. On they went to the next neighbouring country, Turkey, where she had ‘cheap’ surgery for her shoulder

Inspired by reading about Sarah Budd’s volunteering work with Earth Medicine, Houri Alavi decided to join her in September on her return trip to Lesbos, Greece

Member: East Sussex

and subsequently paid traffickers to bring them to Greece. Before embarking onto the dingy, the traffickers told her there wasn’t enough room for her older 15-year-old son and that he would have to follow in a different boat. I later understood this practice is common and is called ‘misplacement’.

Months of despair followed – Samira not knowing when, if and how her teenage son would make it and unable to contact him directly as neither had mobiles. By the time I saw her, after two failed attempts and several nights and days of living wild in woods with no food, he had finally made his way across the sea to a different camp in another part of Greece. But now with no papers – they all got lost at sea –Samira had to convince the authorities that they were related and it could take months for them to be reunited. She said that her only way of release was running in the camp – in full flight mode, she would spend hours running, and often screaming, until the camp security would stop her for disturbance. She said she couldn’t stop herself. All she wants is her son back, to be safe, to work and support her family.

Through previous treatments with Earth Medicine she had regained sensation and mobility in her arm and was now pain-free. Through the sobs, she expressed deep gratitude to the practitioners who had saved her from losing the use of her arm and given her the possibility of getting work on the camp. She was cleaning, in return for vouchers which she could trade in for food and clothing. Committed to a better future, Samira did not return for much needed treatment during my time there, for fear of losing her vouchers.

Keemia

Keemia was 28 years old and had been at the camp for two months. Her constant

headaches prevented her from sleeping, and her sleep deprivation affected much else. The main source of her headaches was spondylosis of her spine, which she first noticed three years ago and was now affecting her walking. She started a series of daily treatments, a combination of acupuncture and physiotherapy. Within a week her headaches had shifted to being occasional and light, and then dissipated by themselves. Her spine was better organised and she was doing the daily exercises the physio had given her. Her eyes looked lighter; she was smiling. She said the treatments – 12 in total –had transformed her life.

There are many, many more stories like those of Samira and Keemia, and sadly there will continue to be, as governments fail to provide safer routes for people escaping persecution. In a system where asylum seekers are seen as beneficiaries, rather than as individuals with agency and power to make decisions over their futures, a traditional approach is not enough.

Adapting to treatment

The work is both hard and most rewarding. Practical and professional decisions must often be made rapidly, in such different contexts to our usual stable clinical environments. Flexibility of mind and approaches to practice are definite assets.

Treatment dosage was a topic of much discussion – are daily treatments too much for those severely traumatised and depleted? How well would two modalities

sit together in one day? Should acupuncture be given on the same day as homeopathy? (We decided not.) Such conversations about healing and our different medicines were often had with our physio and homeopath colleagues, each of us learning from the other as we negotiated the time, space and resources available to us, as well as what best suited each patient in that moment. While outcomes were positive, the length of time those benefits held were much more variable than for treatments given at home. Good sleep and nutrition are the cornerstones of health and any enduring benefits of treatment – but in this context both are placed in perpetual jeopardy by the strains of life past and present, together with turbulent living conditions in the camp. Compliance with advice is even less predictable, as are no shows.

The importance of making and holding space, the importance of virtue and harmony in the individual, social, political and cosmic body, becomes an even more essential aspect in cultivating medical efficacy. The work reminded me once again of how much east Asian medicine has to offer the world, and with that in mind, I hope to return and encourage anyone reading this to consider volunteering.

You can find out more about volunteering with Earth Medicine here 〉 theearthmedicine.com/become-avolunteer

REVIEW

Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine: Wang Ju-Yi's Lectures on Channel Therapeutics first struck me as having one of the driest and least interesting titles I could think of – in fact it almost stopped me buying it. However, after almost a decade of ownership I would instead call it 'The Book Most Important To Save in a Fire’. It is, in my opinion, one of the most important books ever written in the English language on acupuncture practice and I am still reading and learning from it today.

As well as being dry the title is also a bit misleading. 'Applied Channel Theory' suggests a book delving into a niche of acupuncture theory. Instead this is a book that goes into all aspects of acupuncture practice – starting at qi, moving into the channels, the six divisions – and only then applies this to the practice of acupuncture. Wang Ju-Yi's style of acupuncture relied heavily on channel palpation and it is this that makes up the core raison d'etre of the book: however, this book also contains everything within it a novice would need to start understanding the theory and practice of acupuncture... and, to do it well!

The writing of the book is worth understanding. Professor Wang Ju-Yi was a renowned acupuncturist in China with over 50 years’ experience and who lectured at the Beijing University – but he spoke not a word of English. For his work to reach an English audience he needed a translator, and this was done studiously and faithfully over almost a decade by Jason Robertson, the co-author. For this Jason Robertson truly deserves the gratitude of the English-speaking acupuncture community.

The book can essentially be divided into three parts, although not actually laid out in this way. The first part explains the physiology of qi, channels and the six divisions. The explanations given here are simply the best I have ever read on this subject. They are so

profound and clear that they completely revolutionised my understanding of acupuncture practice.

As a rule Wang Ju-Yi anchors his understanding within the classics while bringing this into a modern perspective. He is aware that what we are trying to understand is the body and not the classics and that the classics exist as a guide, albeit one of extreme importance. In fact, when Wang Ju-Yi first discovered the channels could be palpated and used clinically to diagnose illness he kept quiet about it – his colleagues in 1950s China simply would not accept any practice not rooted in the classics. It was only on finding mention of it in the Divine Pivot that he was bold enough to expound his findings to his colleagues.

That said, the book is not without its flaws, primarily borne (in my opinion) from the fact that the co-authorship makes it a translation of Wang JuYi's work as well as his language. But although some explanations of the concepts are clumsy and can make for difficult reading, this is forgivable given the ambition and scope of the book. Furthermore, I should add that I find all books I read on acupuncture (as well as medicine?!) seem to suffer from this to some extent.

The true beauty in Wang Ju-Yi’s book lies in its slightly rough-hewn nature borne from the fact that it emerged from a living breathing clinic, rather than dry academic study. Robertson’s energy and determination to understand Wang Ju-Yi's medical genius is truly that of a worthy student. As such the book is littered with clinical gems which will enrich your practice, such as Wang Ju-Yi's use of point pairs and his exposition of the process of needling itself.

It would be lovely to provide more examples of how brilliant this book is, but if you are curious then you simply have to buy it and start reading. The likelihood is that over the next few years and decades the great insights within

this book will be clarified further, and the clinical insights absorbed into general practice and accepted as rote – then the Applied Channel Theory may no longer be as revolutionary as it is now. But until that time this work absolutely has to be on your bookshelf, just as it sits on mine – to read, peruse, reference, or in the catastrophic event of a fire, to save.

Dan Keown Acupuncturist: Kent

The book is littered with clinical gems such as Wang Ju-Yi's use of point pairs

Yang deficiency or symptom of modern life?

With a focus on seasonal affective disorder, Anthony Sigrist explains why he thinks we’re missing the point with our individual approach to matters of mental health

Anthony Sigrist

Member: Cambridgeshire

Of all the spiritual, life affirming, existential philosophies that exist, I find the theory of yin and yang to be the most exquisite. Described succinctly by the great Giovanni Maciocia as ‘simple, yet very profound’ I find its lessons to be endless. In my practice and in my life it has become an indispensable anchor for me as I rationalise, analyse, reflect and discuss all aspects of life.

There have been times when I’ve wondered if this attachment to my earliest lessons in TCM was simply laziness. Then I step back and look at the frenetic pace of life around me, and I realise that the theory of yin and yang still has so much to give – not least in shedding some light on a global health ‘problem’ that shows little sign of improving, in spite of monumental shifts in societal understanding over the last five years. I’m talking about mental health, a subject central to my professional and personal journey for the last 15 years.

When I first entered the acupuncture profession as a student in 2010, I was very much in the midst of significant mental health struggles – a part of my story that started a few years previously at the point of diagnosis. In what I now understand to be fairly common practice, my struggles were framed as a regular chemical imbalance that could be rectified, in part, with drugs. At the time, I found a great deal of comfort in this straightforward practical explanation that I could understand and address with a chemical intervention.

Unfortunately, what I had been told not only turned out to be a gross oversimplification but may also have been inaccurate. The scientific credibility and provenance of the serotonin theory so commonly cited as the cause of mental ill health has been the source of much debate in recent months. And while it’s not a can of worms I wish to open myself, I do want to acknowledge the debate and highlight the importance of questioning and challenging its scientific integrity.

In the main I consider the current focus to be a distraction from what I believe to be the bigger picture in the conversation. Whether or not mental illness is linked to a chemical imbalance, the harder question to answer is one of cause or effect – and for acupuncturists this is the nub of the argument because our holistic approach centres around the root of illness, not just the branch.

Reading the signs

On my own journey I have travelled through biology, psychology and sociology. After years of recovery, researching, teaching

and philosophising over the complexity of emotional suffering, I have come to understand that emotional health is a constantly evolving interplay between the individual and their environment. Multiple unique factors shape us as individuals, such as trauma, socioeconomic group, gender, race and parenting – all influencing but not predetermining how we may respond emotionally to challenges.

Yet while this biopsychosocial model is a useful template for identifying possible vulnerability, it still leans towards explaining a disorder at the level of the individual. However, the sheer numbers of people struggling with mental health issues –conservatively estimated at a quarter of the adult population annually – would suggest to me that the investigative net needs to be cast a little wider. When swathes of our population become unwell surely we should stop looking at the people themselves and look more closely at their environment?

In his book Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created Our Mental Health Crisis, Dr James Davies discusses the proliferation of mental health diagnosis in the UK since the shift in economic ideology under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Antidepressants are currently prescribed to 8.3 million adults living in the UK. Davies presents strong arguments, supported by evidence, to suggest that some (not all) of this growth can be attributed to a medicalisation of normal suffering in the face of abnormal or unreasonable pressures that keep the commercial machine rolling.

I find this argument compelling. One of the enduring dilemmas I faced during the early days of clinical practice was how to support people who developed poor mental health because of situations they were engineering or tolerating themselves through misheld, socially conditioned beliefs: Typically, people in toxic working environments that they couldn’t or wouldn’t leave because of high levels of debt, often incurred as a result of excessive consumerism; poor relationships; lack of

sleep and rest because of long hours and relentless, unrealistic deadlines. Sure, acupuncture could provide some respite, perhaps improve their capacity to cope –but what my patients really needed was a re-evaluation. Unfortunately for most, the relentless nature of modern life makes the cost of addressing the root causes of their problems just too great. It is easier to paper over the cracks and simply endure.

As an example of the potential medicalisation of normal suffering, I would like to examine a condition that in my opinion can often be reframed as a simple conflict in the balance of yin and yang caused by a failure to follow the natural order – seasonal affective disorder or SAD.

SAD example

Sometimes referred to as winter depression, SAD is best known for a seasonal presentation of symptoms as daylight hours shorten through autumn and winter. What really captures my interest about this specific disorder is the interplay between the symptoms, the hypothesised causes, and the development of now conventional treatment.

The condition was first named and described in the 1980s by Professor Norman E Rosenthal, a psychiatrist who observed the annual presentation of depressive symptoms in his patients and decided to investigate further. Rosenthal discovered that the prevalence of SAD increased the further people lived from the equator – he therefore hypothesised that a lack of environmental light was a key risk factor in its development.

SAD sits within the ‘depressive mood disorders’ category. As with all mental ill health its intensity is best considered on a continuum. Many of us will resonate with a seasonal dip in mood but to be considered a diagnosable disorder, the symptoms would be more severe, prolonged and encroach on normal life. I have met people who become bed bound as they fall into a deep and profound depression from where simple tasks become a monumental effort. Whilst lack of environmental light is cited as the primary cause of SAD, other predispositions such as gender, family history and stress are also said to increase risk.

One of the most well-known (and unique) ways to treat SAD is through light therapy. Depending on circumstances and severity of symptoms, such treatment can vary in intensity from recommending more natural exposure during daylight hours to a therapeutic approach of direct focused light therapy from a so-called SAD lamp. This scientifically led approach varies between products and manufacturers but essentially consists of sitting 16 to 24 inches from a lamp with a minimum output of 2,000 lux while allowing the light to fall on your eyes directly for 20-30 minutes.

How light therapy benefits us is unclear. Like most if not all mental health conditions there is no shortage of hypotheses, many of which centre on biological or hormonal changes such as adjustment of circadian rhythm or concentrations of hormones. They are however theories and exact mechanisms are unknown.

As a depressive mood disorder, SAD shares many common features with other depressive conditions such as persistent low mood and loss of pleasure or interest in everyday activities. Notably however, it has three key symptoms that are often early onset:

• feeling lethargic and sleepy during the day

• sleeping for longer than normal

• craving carbohydrates and weight gain

Analysing SAD from a yin yang perspective we can see that all of these symptoms are very yin in nature. Slowness, lethargy and sleepiness are all indicative of a yang deficiency, so much so that we could be forgiven for moving straight into a remedial treatment plan that focuses on patient goals of energy and mood boosting. Conventional treatment through light therapy floods the patient with yang energy and in doing so restores the balance.

But to my mind this is a very simple way of looking at the problem. When we broaden the analysis and look beyond the individual to the environment in which their vulnerability increases – winter – the symptoms paint a different picture.

A wider sickness

When I see sleepiness, carb loading and winter in one sentence I don’t think disease, I think hibernation. Moving further from the equator, the change in daylight hours becomes part of a natural, seasonal cycle that follows a transition from the yang qualities of summer to the yin qualities of winter. Most animals that are vulnerable to such environmental changes will adapt, either physically, behaviourally or both – hibernation for many a key survival technique.

And it’s not just hibernation. Nature also follows a pattern of change.

Birds migrate, trees enter dormancy, breeding and growth slows. It seems to me then that the human shift into a more lethargic, yin dominant state aligns perfectly with the external environment. The problem is that we tend not to move into this state because the world we’ve created does not allow us to.

We manipulate our environment to fabricate the yang qualities in which we are most productive so that we can plough on regardless. Manufactured heat to maintain a comfortable body temperature, manufactured light so that darkness doesn’t hinder our productivity, alarm clocks so that we can rise before the sun. And when our bodies protest?

We even attempt to manufacture our own internal chemical environment, in this case by flooding it with yang in the shape of 2,000+ lux of white light for 20 minutes a day.

I would argue that SAD is only a disorder because we frame it as such. If society accepted, tolerated and accommodated a need in winter for more sleep, less movement and, in the early stages at least, extra carbohydrates, the incidence of reported SAD would drop dramatically.

The pattern of disharmony between ourselves and our environments can be seen across the whole spectrum of emotional suffering. Quite simply, the developed and developing world that most of us inhabit places disproportionate value on the yang aspects of life, so that is where we turn our focus. Conventional models of ‘success’ are wrapped around what we have achieved and accumulated. Key performance indicators, economic growth, sporting endeavours climbing the career ladders. People boast about how little they rest or sleep because they are admired more for not needing to. Moving, doing, achieving.

Negligible value is placed on the yin aspects of life. Resting, sleeping, being. In fact we often denigrate with insults those who do seek more balance. Lazy, unambitious, weird. It seems to me that the social world we have created utterly disregards the natural world in which it sits. We have developed a 24-hour always-on culture that is perpetuating monumental levels of societal stress by isolating us from the natural environment to which we belong. Quite simply, conditions of our own making

have dehumanised us.

And the implications for our health of all this stress do not stop at emotional wellbeing. In his latest book The Myth of Normal, renowned author and physician Dr Gabor Maté catalogues the increasing evidence of an alarming relationship between stress and a host of life-changing health problems like cancer and autoimmune diseases.

How we can help

Of course, when considering our clinical approach to emotional problems we are presented with a problem – because in spite of its appeal as a holistically applied natural modality, acupuncture is nevertheless designed to address a disharmony within the individual.

Yet I have argued here that the problem does not routinely reside within the individual but within their environment. The imbalance of yin and yang arises within us individually because meeting even our basic needs is built around social rules that render us unable or unwilling to surrender to what our bodies tell us is the natural order of things.

How then can we prevail in a society that demands this consistently frenetic pace? As with so much of what I teach and observe, I have no easy answers. Even those who hear the call will struggle to follow their hearts in a society that lays out such a demanding and unwavering path. Living in full harmony with the seasons is not easily achieved in our society.

We can however embrace the small wins – look for balance where it exists, resist the unrealistic, adapt where we can, and encourage ourselves and others to listen to our bodies and try to follow what we need instead of what the world tells us is worth something.

The pattern of disharmony can be seen across the whole spectrum of emotional suffering

On reflection

This year’s AGM was held in person for the first time since 2019. It took place in the early evening of Friday 16 September, after the close of the ARRC symposium and on the eve of the BAcC conference at Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire.

Over 30 BAcC members managed to make it to the venue, together with all bar one of the Governing Board (GB) and a number of staff. In addition, for members who were unable to be physically present, online access was also provided – perhaps one of the more positive legacies of the pandemic.

Pia Huber

BAcC/GB Chair

It was lovely to be able to announce the award of two new fellowships at the start of the AGM. Sarah Budd and Phil RoseNeil had been nominated and approved as this year’s fellows, in recognition of their substantial work for the acupuncture profession and for the BAcC. Rebecca Avern was also there in person to be presented with her fellowship, awarded in 2021.

The usual AGM business matters followed with reports from the chair, the CEO and the treasurer – it is worth reading the Annual Review to find details and more updates on the BAcC’s work supporting us members 〉 link

Two highlights of the year 2021 mentioned at the AGM were the launch of a new five-year strategy (2021-26) and the transition to a new website, now fully linked to an updated membership database (CRM) capable of capturing increased data to better understand membership demands. Indeed, a recurring question at the AGM of previous years and posed again at this year’s AGM asked for more information on membership movements.

In the past it has been impossible to answer in any detail recurring questions from members regarding membership movements, due to the limited data capacity of the old software. So this year, thanks to the new CRM system, it was very satisfying to be able to give some reliable numbers for the membership make-up – and it will be very useful to start seeing good and reliable statistics for future years. For more on this see 〉 https://acupuncture.org.uk/news/ growing-the-membership/ Overall, although the BAcC has experienced a slight drop in membership numbers from pre-Covid times, more recent trends show stabilisation if not a slight upward trend, with a number of lapsed members now rejoining. We have also started conducting exit interviews, in order to monitor the reasons for members leaving. This will help the

BAcC to address any issues arising and hopefully lead to healthy rates of satisfaction and support for all members. Regarding our five-year strategy, one important aim is to increase professional recognition of members and of acupuncture. You are probably already aware that in support of this aim, a new Professional Recognition Working Group (PRWG) was set up in 2021, chaired by member Susan Evans and including members from all four nations of the UK. This group is building on the work started during the Covid pandemic, when the BAcC’s negotiations with local governments ensured that members were able to legally open their clinics to patients. The PRWG also links with the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), the body which supports the BAcC’s standing as a voluntary register and looks after patient safety, marking BAcC members out as safe and highly skilled professionals.

One important question raised at the AGM concerned the new integrated care systems (ICSs) and whether the BAcC was supporting members taking part in these. The BAcC has indeed been approached by a GP surgery based in Gloucestershire and was involved in coordinating the setting up of an acupuncture service for them. It is hoped that this can serve as a model for further similar collaborations to be set up and supported.

Other questions asked about: possible classification of BAcC members as allied health professionals; a re-establishment of the previous forum on the new website; representation of the BAcC at other relevant conferences, including the Integrated Personalised Medicine Conference which was organised by the College of Medicine in June 2022; the levels of success of the BAcC’s ‘Let’s talk about…’ series; future public relations actions; the support members receive during a complaints procedure.

Overall, the discussion was lively and interesting, and all of us on the GB were delighted to see the engagement and interest shown by members present. This spirit was taken further in the conference session ‘Members meet the GB’, where GB members answered delegates’ questions around the work done during meetings etc.

Now that we have been able to shake off the shadow of Covid to a great extent, it is wonderful to talk about the future again, and to start following through many of the activities we had to set aside during the last couple of years. Like many of you, I wish that we were able to move more quickly. However, we do have a wonderful staff team, as well

Member and chair of the BAcC and Governing Board, Pia Huber, offers her insider view on current matters of organisational business and governance

as very good, robust discussions in our committees and the GB, all of which allows us to build our organisation in a thoughtful and stable manner. For these things I am very grateful.

Most of all, it remains my desire to take in the views of all members and stakeholders so that we can establish how and where to invest most wisely for the best possible future standing of our profession.

Do you have a fellow in mind for 2023?

Conditions for nomination are flexible by design to allow for the greatest range of nominees. There are however two key criteria:

• each nominee must have been a BAcC member for at least ten years and have an exemplary membership history • nominations must be made by two BAcC members and supported by at least 500 words identifying the value of the nominee’s contribution to the acupuncture profession and/or to the BAcC

All nominations are looked at by the BAcC’s Nominations Committee to decide whether all criteria are met. A fellowship is then offered to each individual nominee and if accepted, they are invited to receive their award at the annual conference.

All fellows are listed on the BAcC website and are entitled to use the designate letters FBAcC

Pia Huber 〉

p.huber@acupuncture.org.uk

Three cheers for three new fellows

Every year a call goes out to all members inviting them to send in nominations for fellowship awards. BAcC fellowships are given as recognition of a member’s exceptional services to acupuncture and/or to the Council. Conference this year celebrated the achievements of three new fellows: Sarah Budd, Rebecca Avern and Phil Rose-Neil.

Sarah Budd

Sarah writes: I am truly delighted to be given a fellowship by the BAcC. I am just very sorry I could not be at the conference to receive it in person. I was nominated by two other fellows, Felicity Moir and Beverley de Valois, both of whom I have admired for a very long time – so it was a great honour, and I am grateful to Felicity for collecting my certificate on my behalf and to Beverley for filming the presentation and very heartwarming speech by Pia.

I like to think some of my work as an acupuncturist, particularly in the NHS, brought some very positive and significant attention to our profession and to the BAcC. To have this recognised by the awarding of a fellowship means a lot to me. Thank you.

Rebecca Avern

Rebecca writes: I was thrilled and surprised in equal measure when I was contacted by the BAcC, back in 2021, to say I had been nominated and selected to be a fellow. I was even more thrilled when I was able to attend the first in-person conference since Covid to be able to accept my award in person in September.

It means an enormous amount to me for the BAcC to acknowledge both my contribution to supporting practitioners who treat children and, most importantly, paediatric acupuncture in general. Being together again at the conference this year reaffirmed for me what an amazing community we are, full of an enormously diverse range of skills and talents. I feel proud to be part of such a group and fully believe that, together, we can help make acupuncture accessible to many more children and teenagers.

A heartfelt thank you to my nominees, the selection committee and to all my colleagues.

Phil Rose-Neil

Phil writes: Being awarded a fellowship was an incredible experience. I am almost incapable of expressing my appreciation to my proposers and seconder, and to the nomination committee. I feel an enormous amount of respect and my most sincere and humble thanks. It is certainly a great motivator to continue to dedicate the time and effort to our most worthy profession.

For people that know me, you will be aware that acupuncture runs in my veins. I am glad to have and to contribute in any way possible to the continuation and legacy of both our noble profession and the familial legacy left by father.

In the dark years that we have lived through and the potential hardships of the future, I believe we become ever increasingly important. We must galvanise, build unity and do our best to work toward the strategic ambitions that the BAcC aims to achieve – in order to maximise not only our ability to thrive but also to help society in the best way we can.

Having attended the conference it was also so nice to reconnect friends and colleagues and an opportunity to meet and make new friends.

Having been given a fellowship I now find myself amongst truly wonderful and inspiring company. I really very much appreciate the support given to me over the years of many people who deserve a great deal of credit for the tireless work done both openly and behind the scenes.

Many thanks again for the fellowship.

Meeting Points

How was it for you at BAcC conference 2022?

Helen Gibb

Learning & Events Manager

REVIEW

First and foremost, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all those who attended the conference weekend. It was wonderful to see our members coming together to experience the buzz of a live event once again.

Thank you also to our wonderful speakers for their time and to our sponsors for their support, without whom these events would simply not be possible.

Lastly, my special thanks go to my colleagues at the BAcC for their hard work and enthusiasm in making the whole event come together. The weekend went by in a bit of a blur for me, as I was pulled from pillar to post, so it’s been lovely to read the following reviews and reflect on what was a momentous and celebratory weekend for us all.

Susan Evans Member: County Londonderry

How wonderful it was to be back at an in-person conference, my first since joining the Governing Board (GB) back in 2019. As such, I had some linked responsibilities including attending the annual general meeting (AGM) and introducing some of our interesting speakers over the weekend.

I was also delighted to join in the ‘Meet the Board’ session on Saturday lunchtime – certainly an inspired idea and we had a great time with those who attended. Amongst other things, we were asked just what we do on the GB – a great question that I definitely couldn’t have answered before joining the Board. One member even came just to thank us for our work during the pandemic when everything was thrown up in the air. It was such a relaxed enjoyable meeting and I’d like to thank everyone who came along.

One of the things I love about conference is touching base with something that is new to me – great ideas for CPD. My training is in five element and TCM, so a talk about stems and branches proved very enlightening. I also attended some of the open discussion sessions and found the conversations honest and diverse – it made me proud to be a member of our fabulous organisation.

I fully admit to dancing the night away on Saturday evening – always a highlight for me, meeting old and making new friends on the dance floor. And what a fabulous band we had! Then Sunday morning saw me hosting a meditation session – a privilege shared with other members taking time to relax and spend some quiet time together.

As ever, I found conversations around tea and meal breaks just as important as attending formal sessions. Thanks to all our organisers, sponsors and speakers for making this year’s conference one to remember.

Sarah Waterfall Student Member: #istudyacupuncture

As a student of The Acupuncture Academy (TAA) just starting the second year of training, this was my first BAcC conference. It certainly acted as an introduction to the wider acupuncture

community; it was interesting to meet people from other acupuncture disciplines and hear their views and approaches to common scenarios we all face.

I can’t pretend I wasn’t more than a bit daunted to find myself sitting at a table with BAcC and other prominent acupuncture organisation stakeholders during one of the open discussion sessions, but it was useful to hear some of the considerations practitioners face once in business – and the theme that came up time and time again was ‘evidence base’.

My own motivation for wanting to train as an acupuncturist came from living in China for five years, where naturally I saw Chinese medicine at the forefront of healthcare, rather than something people turned to in desperation when all else had failed. The doctors there were doctors, regardless of whether they were TCM or western trained. For this reason, when Yair Maimon said in his keynote speech ‘we are physicians’, it certainly struck a chord. Although currently I can’t say #idoacupuncture, #istudyacupuncture works for me!

Sandro Graca Lecturer & Researcher

Along with the muchanticipated opportunity of seeing colleagues face to face again, the 2022 BAcC conference and the ARRC symposium provided three days of important lectures and discussions.

Robin Sunley stood out with his detailed presentations based on his experience of working as an acupuncturist in the NHS, inspiring everyone with his vision for research at James Cook University Hospital cardiothoracic surgery department. Beverley de Valois also highlighted the importance of being involved in research along with working as part of an integrative, multidisciplinary team, as she showcased her work in the oncology field, which included a precious evaluation of 15 years of NADA service data for breast cancer related hot flushes.

Both Robin and Beverley lead by example showing us how research literacy and our consequent involvement plays a crucial role in the development of our profession. The final discussion group provided a platform for community run project Evidence Based Acupuncture

(EBA) – to share valuable advice and guidance to inform a strategy for working collectively towards a deeper understanding and dissemination of acupuncture’s evidence base.

Without doubt, the lectures and discussions over the whole weekend planted many seeds that will continue to blossom and ensure a bright future for acupuncture.

Lucia

Misikova

BAcC Membership Engagement Officer

I have been a keen visitor of yoga shows and wellbeing festivals in the past but I’ve never thought of going to a conference – this was my first one ever. It was especially exciting to be there as a member of BAcC staff, helping to make the event run smoothly.

I was delighted to find myself covering microphone runner duties in three incredibly inspiring talks. One of them even made me go through my bookshelves a week later to find my copy of the Web That Has No Weaver and finally start reading it. Another talk completely blew me away with testimonials of people who resolved their long-term PTSD thanks to acupuncture treatments.

Over the weekend I had time to speak with many delegates – practitioners, students, teachers – as well as speakers and exhibitors. There was something valuable for me to learn from all of them, and I was also happy to be able to provide information and answer membership related questions. It was also great to sit in on discussion sessions and witness the passion our practitioners have for their profession, to learn about some of the challenges they face, and to hear about developments in the world of acupuncture.

Seeing people in person and putting faces to some of the names I remembered from email conversations was great, and it was especially heartwarming to meet a few members whose membership application I have processed only weeks prior to the conference. Then there was the gala dinner, a lovely less formal opportunity to mingle with real people and learn more about their journeys as acupuncturists. And of course, we danced the night away!

I definitely walked away from my first BAcC conference with a good few suggestions and new ideas on how to improve our current membership offering.

Lincoln College celebrates milestone Fanyi Meng

Senior Lecturer: Lincoln College

a book on acupuncture assisting IVF; Jason Tsai and Fanyi Meng, who have chapters in a popular book introducing complementary medicine; Martin Dean, a leading figure and well known in the field of acupuncture and infertility. Fanyi Meng, has also produced two textbooks: Chinese Medicine Theory and Chinese Medicine Diagnosis.

WELCOME

CITY COLLEGE OF ACUPUNCTURE

Michelle Mary Abdel Fattah

Cassie Bali

Devout Basu

Sara Buttanshaw

Renee Claire Charlton

Eloise Marie Coulson

Melanie Jayne Hall Cullis

Yafeng Ding

Laura Foster

Saskia Cornwallis Hawkins Wickens

Katie Mary Jackson

Kerry Helen Jenkins Nicole Sunghan Kim

Sarah Louise Fitzgerald

Kate Levinson

Qingru Ma

Sanja (Sanya) Molloy

Carmen Morataya de Rodriguez

Frances Margaret Norbury

Sophie (Soph) Nurse

Marie Protat

This year at Lincoln College (LC) we are celebrating ten years of our popular BSc (Hons) acupuncture degree.

Since its launch a decade ago, our degree course has become one of the leading programmes in the UK. We have achieved high student survey results, as well as setting the bar for practice in teaching initiatives, including: student-led seminars, preclinical training of skills, and early engagement of clinical observation and practice.

The course is validated by the Open University and delivered via blended learning. Students join the theoretical lessons online and attend skills and clinical training on campus in the heart of Lincoln’s city centre – ensuring they have both the theory and practical skills to hit the ground running after graduation.

The blended learning approach is welcomed by our predominantly adult/mature learners as it reduces the time and cost of travelling, giving students the flexibility of looking after their family commitments or continuing their jobs part time. For Lincoln College this delivery method has proved to be just the right solution, and of course, during the pandemic our students were not majorly affected thanks to the online teaching being already in place.

In the 20 years since the initial inception of our programme, our teaching team have made great contributions to the acupuncture field. They include: Paul Frank, who has published a paper on ME/CFS in the Journal of Chinese Medicine; Lianne Aquilina, who has published

It is great to know that we are contributing to the profession with our knowledge, and having our work published increases our credibility as professionals. Research such as this is essential in maintaining the quality and reputation of the education that we provide.

As well as publishing their own work, our teaching staff also help many students in publishing their student research. Responding to the pandemic and its aftermath, Fanyi and LC graduate Kerry Webster were among the three authors of a book on Post-Covid Syndrome and Traditional Chinese Medicine Management – a great example of how we are working and publishing together.

We are proud to say that our graduates have since gone on to become independent acupuncturists in the UK and Ireland, as well as Australia, Canada, USA, Kenya, Oman, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Germany, Mongolia, and Vietnam.

Jasmin Reif

Marina Rigopoulou

Georgia (Julie) Vrachni

Kerry Anne Rutherford Haruko Sair

Vanessa Rubio Senabre

Natacha Claude Song

Tina Margaret Surman

Vivien Wei Tang

NORTHERN COLLEGE OF ACUPUNCTURE

Irena Lenc Heather Reade Nicola Wint

COLLEGE OF INTEGRATED CHINESE MEDICINE

Laura Brinton

Fiona Bruce

Erica Chen

Colin Clayton Chiara D’Acunto Patel

Stacy Davis Anna Foster Karolina Kafadar

Sara Lacey Joanne Lenny Meng Li

Congratulations to the following graduate practitioners who are now eligible to register as BAcC members.

THE ACUPUNCTURE ACADEMY

Beverley Boother

Rachael Brookes

Ana Canela Robles

Tim Cummins

Mona Dhadra

Helen Fitch-Hunter

Sarah Gebreyes

Sasha Godfrey

Annie Griffiths

Darren Haines

Jennifer (Jenny) Hope

Rachel Jackson

Jessica Leyland

Catherine Lucas

Manya Michailidis

Marie-Ange Mignot

Paula Price

LINCOLN COLLEGE

Rich Bills

Megan Kelly

Brooke Castledine

Charlie Coyle

Michael Kistner

Eva Xiao

INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF ORIENTAL MEDICINE

Paul Holden

Samantha Howard

Beverly Lenoble

To apply for admission to the BAcC, please give details of your graduation to the membership team by emailing membership@acupuncture.org.uk or by phoning 020 8735 1209.

We very much look forward to welcoming you into membership and supporting you throughout your acupuncture career.

Cause for ICOM celebration

On Friday 30 September the International College of Oriental Medicine had double cause to celebrate – 50 years of teaching acupuncture together with a bunch of shiny new graduates. Happy Birthday ICOM and congratulations all round!

What a lovely day and evening we spent, celebrating our 50th birthday! Around 90 members of our alumni along with their guests and two former Principals Penny Kharroubi and Sam Patel,

All braved the rain to get together with old friends in the familiar surroundings of Van Buren House.

We enjoyed delicious canapés, nostalgic photos and articles, had fun with AcuDarts and watched a video documenting the college history.

Yellow Room was transformed into a cosy setting to listen to fantastic live music while tea and cake was served in the marquee.

Later on in the proceedings we were joined by Joan Duveen via Zoom and Elio toasted ICOM’s 50 years and the future of the college. Then we cut the magnificent cake.

Jayne Martin-Kaye

Pippa Loynes

Monica McDonnell

Sandra Muzinich

Amanda Robinson

Megan Ruff

Anita Salahi

Dan Sawyer

Clark Stevens

Katy Stokes Grace Trant Kerry Wood

Regional round-up What's on

See also member website 〉 Community 〉 Regional groups 〉 What's on near you

Could you spare some time to volunteer with Exeter Acupunture for Refugees? Robin Costello

Member: Devon

Devon & Cornwall

In November, nine of us enjoyed a lively presentation by Sarah, Patti, Jude and Helen on the Exeter Acupuncture for Refugees (EAR) initiative. This wonderful project was borne out of local members' enthusiastic reception to Sarah's springtime talk to our group, on her work with refugees in Lesvos. This time, her photos weren't of Afghan refugees being treated in Greece. Instead they depicted acupuncture being given to refugees and settlers in our very own Devon. Doesn't that speak volumes for the usefulness of regional group meetings, and their benefits to people unknown to us in the spring, and who were then living thousands of miles away?

EAR has now found a permanent base, with a room that can accommodate some of the large families the team sees. They still though need volunteer acupuncturists to help deliver their Saturday morning sessions. Thanks to a recent World Medicine grant, your travel expenses and parking fees would be reimbursed.

Please contact Patti O'Brien at pattiob@me.com or Sarah Budd at sarahbuddbell@me.com if you would

like to offer some time.

If Plymouth is closer for you, Richard Lamb is establishing a similar initiative there, so he would appreciate volunteer practitioners too. You can contact Richard at richard@richard-lamb.co.uk

After this part of the evening, we batted around a few other topics, then adjourned for refreshments. As one member put it, ‘What a lovely atmosphere there was’. Thank you everyone.

Robin Costello 〉 01392 424276 〉 ancotello@yahoo.co.uk

REGIONAL GROUPS

SOMERSET

Saturday 4 March 2023, 9.30am-5pm, £80 〉 Alan Hext – Five Elements in Practice: An Opportunity for Clinical Reconsideration 〉 Nine Springs Natural Health Centre, 70 Hendford, Yeovil BA20 1UR

How can we rediscover yin/yang, the five elements and the twelve officials as keys to understanding the root needs of those who come to us seeking treatment? How can we serve our patients whilst also nourishing our own health?

Going beyond the commonly phrased ‘brand name’ of Five Element Acupuncture used to describe the teachings of JR Worsley, Alan will give practical insights into the clinical application that addresses the root needs of the patient.

Alan Hext has practised traditional acupuncture since 1979 in Cambridge and Dorset. He taught over many decades at the Colleges that JR Worsley founded in UK and USA. A visiting lecturer at the NCA and a clinical supervisor with TAA, Alan’s understanding has been enriched through the insights of Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee in lectures and study groups since 1982.

NB To help Alan meet the needs of those wishing to work clinically with the five elements, before 1 February 2023 please send questions and issues you would like to raise or explore to Alan 〉 a.n.hext@gmail.com

ALL MEMBERS WELCOME

Please contact Carol before 1 February 2023 for details of how to book your place Carol Wayne 〉 carolwayne@hotmail.com

Online access to this year's conference presentations

Recordings of this year’s conference sessions will be restricted to view for the next 12 months, with free open access given to delegates only.

If you were unable to attend and would like earlier access to the recordings, we are planning to offer individual passes starting from just £5.

Per video, per day and full weekend packages will be available. Please keep an eye on enews for all details.

Parsnip hummus

Rev Deb Connor

Member: Merseyside

Come the time of winter feasting this hummus is great for using up leftover parsnips, lemon roasted sprouts and cranberry sauce. Warm in temperature with sweet and pungent flavours, parsnips are perfect for winter. Parsnips enter the lung, stomach, spleen and liver channels and are known for resolving damp, which they do together with the neutral sweet chickpeas. Now add the benefits of heat and dampclearing cranberry powder and you have a festive hummus that’s ideal for rebalancing any seasonal overindulgence!

Ingredients

2 large parsnips

A few sprigs of rosemary 240 g cooked chickpeas

1 Tbsp tahini

Juice of half a lemon

1 large pinch Himalayan pink salt Black pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 Tbsps garlic infused olive oil, plus extra for roasting

1 Tbsp cranberry powder

200C/400F/gas mark 6

Method

Peel and chop the parsnips into chunks and place in a roasting tin.

Conference 2023... are you free?

We’re pleased to announce that next year’s BAcC conference will run from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 September – so get the dates in your diaries now!

As well as giving you a great chance to network and connect with fellow practitioners, conference weekend offers many valuable hours of CPD.

Our preparations for next year are already underway, so look out in enews for more details to come, as and when available.

In the meantime, if you have any speaker suggestions or would like to put yourself forward, please just send an email to Helen Gibb at the address below.

events@acupuncture.org.uk

Add the rosemary, drizzle with garlic infused oil and roast for 40 minutes.

Combine the chickpeas, tahini, cooked parsnips, crushed garlic, oil, seasonings, cranberry powder and lemon juice. Whizz in a food processor or with a hand blender until super smooth, creamy and velvety. Drizzle in a little water if necessary.

Swirl the hummus into a bowl, top with small sprigs of rosemary and finish with a sprinkle of cranberry powder and sesame seeds (optional).

Serve with lemon roasted sprouts (see Acu. autumn 2022, page 27) and a large dollop of cranberry sauce.

Helen Gibb

Much

Tao Te Ching V

speech leads inevitably to silence Better to hold fast to the void

The classic of difficulties

Guiltiest pleasure

Superman on television and movies

Favourite song lyric

‘Over-thinking, over-analysing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind’

Lateralus by Tool

Desert island disc

Right now I cannot get enough of Red Clay by Freddie Hubbard or Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin

Desert island film Planet Of The Apes (the original)

Desert island book The Way Of Wyrd by Brian Bates or Ling Shu

If you weren’t an acupuncturist what would you be doing?

A children’s picture book illustrator

Superpower of choice Flying or telekinesis

A one-way ticket to… Celtic Britain to find out what it was really like What do you see when you turn out the light?

Darkness… ha ha… the moon is always beautiful at night especially if it’s reflecting on the sea Favourite proverb A frog in the well cannot discuss the ocean Chiang Tzu

One bed or multibed? One bed

What’s your animal? A raven

What has life taught you? To not focus on destination, just enjoy the journey Tell us a joke

I tried to catch fog yesterday… mist James Woodward

Member: Kent

Of the thought process behind his illustration opposite James Woodward writes: The void is darkness with the potential for the space to be filled. Stillness and meditation allows for this emptiness. With a background in art, design and graphics, he has been illustrating aspects of Chinese medicine since graduating from City College of Acupuncture. His goal is to bring Chinese medicine to the mainstream and to help students grasp the essence of TCM.

BACC OFFICE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

1 Jennifer Norton 020 8735 1206 j.norton@acupuncture.org.uk

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

2 Caroline Hedges 020 8735 1216 c.hedges@acupuncture.org.uk

FINANCE MANAGER

3 Juliana Zipperlin 020 8735 1201 j.zipperlin@acupuncture.org.uk

LEARNING & EVENTS MANAGER

4 Helen Gibb 020 8735 1222 h.gibb@acupuncture.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT OFFICER

5 Lucia Misikova 020 8735 1209 l.misikova@acupuncture.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP MANAGER

6 Stephen Rainbird 020 8735 1208 s.rainbird@acupuncture.org.uk

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

7 Shadda Draey 020 8735 1207 s.draey@acupuncture.org.uk

POLICY & RESEARCH MANAGER

8 Ian Appleyard 020 8735 1203 i.appleyard@acupuncture.org.uk

PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OFFICER

9 Caroline Jones 020 8735 1213 c.jones@acupuncture.org.uk

PUBLICATIONS MANAGER

10 Ann Gordon 020 8735 1204 a.gordon@acupuncture.org.uk

SAFE PRACTICE OFFICER

11 Hannah Bowie-Carlin 020 8735 1226 h.bowie-carlin@acupuncture.org.uk

SYSTEMS & OPERATIONS MANAGER

12 Gloria Jean-Baptiste Flament 020 8735 1217 gloria.jbf@acupuncture.org.uk

It's the end of an Acu.

JOB VACANCIES

The City College of Acupuncture runs the only BAAB accredited acupuncture programme in London.

CCA Acupuncture Programme Leader

We are looking to recruit a new part time Programme Leader to oversee the running and expansion of our Acupuncture and Tui Na programmes. The successful applicant would shadow the existing Programme Leader for six months, taking over this role in full at the start of the 2023 24 academic year. Once in place, they would be working 2 to 3 days per week either onsite at the college in central London or from home.

Responsibilities would include scheduling the programmes, liaising with the External Examiners and running the twice yearly Assessment Boards, running and attending the College open days, growing our programmes and CPD offerings, and overseeing the general day to day smooth running of the Acupuncture course.

A background in both Acupuncture and Education is essential. A suitable candidate could possibly also teach on the programme.

The salary for the initial training period would be £35,000 increasing to £40,000 p/a on a pro rata basis when taking over the role in full CCA Western Medical Sciences Teacher and Module Coordinator

The City College of Acupuncture is looking to expand its Western Medical Sciences (WMS) teaching team. We are looking for someone to take over the running of the two WMS modules on our programme alongside our existing team.

The successful applicant would need to have a detailed knowledge of human physiology and pathology, and experience at teaching these subjects at degree level. Knowledge of Acupuncture would be preferable but is not essential. This post will start in March 2023. This post is run on a self employed basis. As well as a daily rate, there are also fees for running the modules, setting and marking essays and exams

For more information or to apply for any of the above vacancies, please submit a covering letter and a copy of your CV to: Paul Johnson pjohnson@citycollege.ac.uk

Tel: 020 7253 1133

Address: University House, 55 East Road, London, N1 6AH www.citycollegeofacupuncture.com

An Acupuncture Career at Sea

Embark on a life-changing journey

Online courses

Excellence in acupuncture education

One year courses

We offer a series of one year postgraduate courses to qualified acupuncturists. Each year we teach diploma courses in:

Tuina Paediatrics Gynaecology, fertility & obstetrics

NEW! Chinese nutrition & yangsheng

To find out more scan the QR code to the right, or head to our website by clicking here

CPD events

We pride ourselves on our excellent variety of CPD events & courses. Our reputation means we often co-host events, both online and at the college, with highly regarded and specialised practitioners in the industry, such as:

Rebecca Avern - Paediatrics

Philip Weeks - Master Tung

Stephen Lee - Electroacupuncture

And many more...

To see all of our upcoming CPD events, scan the QR code to the left or head to our website by clicking here

Be in the know...

Receive our newsletter to keep up to date with CPD & course updates, vacancies and news by scanning the QR code to the right, or by clicking here

MSc/PGDip in Chinese Herbal Medicine

Our well-established herbs course is now totally online for class and clinic - so even more achievable than ever for busy practitioners!

After two years you can add herbs to your practice

Learn from the UK’s most experienced herbal medicine tutors

Live online teaching on Sundays

Lively forums keep you in touch with your cohort

Post graduate loans available for the 3-year MSc Need flexibility in your learning? Our online masters’ courses have been re-modelled to allow you to take modules at a pace that suits you.

*MSc in Advanced Acupuncture Practice & *MSc in Acupuncture Research

Access the learning material at times that suit you

Build the modules gradually – or study over 3 years

Each module helps enhance your clinical practice 4 Study with a global cohort of like-minded practitioners 4 Postgraduate loans available * subject to validation

Certificate in Chinese Medicine Nutrition

As we all know good nutrition is a cornerstone of good health! This totally online course is being developed for to give you the knowledge you need to incorporate nutritional advice into your practice and improve your patient outcomes.

4 Access the learning material at times that suit you 4 Learn about traditional Chinese Medicine and the effect of foods and recipes 4 Explore the TCM perspective on intestinal dysbiosis, food allergy and sensitivity 4 Learn techniques to help your patients to make dietary changes 4 Engage with online forums and join regular video conference catch ups with your fellow students

VACANCY OPPORTUNITY

Module Leader for the module “Advanced Acupuncture Skills and Complex Cases” on our online *MSc in Advanced Acupuncture Practice course for practitioners. We are looking for an experienced acupuncture practitioner interested in a range of approaches to diagnosis and treatment. This will be a home-based flexible role.

FIND OUT MORE AND APPLY AT: www.nca.ac.uk/vacancies

@cicmcollege

fb.com/cicmcollege admin@cicm.org.uk acupuncturecollege.org.uk

Find out more, register your interest and book an online Q&A event at: www.nca.ac.uk or call us on 01904 343305

endorsement of the British Acupuncture Council.

MENTORING/SUPERVISION

The following practitioners have all completed Postgraduate training in mentoring/supervision specifically for acupuncturists and are in ongoing supervision with senior members of the network.

Contact your nearest practitioner to join a group, or for individual sessions

Argyll, West Coast of Scotland

Emma Vaughan 01546 606611

Birmingham Holly Timmermans 07790 205797

Birmingham & Hereford Lucy Fox 07941 413805

Bristol & North Somerset

Charlotte Brydon-Smith 07900 814100

Jackie Pamment 07789 905390

Cambridge

Frankie Luckock 07717 285248

Glasgow

Francesca Howell 07895 108473

Hertfordshire

Kate Henley 07887 565174

Gail Lazarus 07946 231075

Helen Thomas 07790 363867

Hertfordshire/ St Albans Sarah Barnard 07968 140516

Herefordshire & Welsh Borders

Sandy Sandaver 01497 821625

Ireland Susan Evans 07966 885894

Lancashire Cathy Chapman 01524 67707

Leamington Spa & the Midlands Debbie Collins 07960 040985

Leicestershire & East Midlands Cath Esworthy 07549 928472

London Shelley Berlinski 07903 824150

Kim Chan 07947 361021

London cont. Mina Haeri 07957 726072

Pia Huber 07719 987933

Natalie Rose Johnson 07444 919040

Angelika Strixner 07791 516733

Vera Wong 07966 538828

London & Brighton Sarah Matheson 07808 633643

Manchester/Cheshire/ Lancashire Joshua Enkin 0161 434 0195

Mid & West Norfolk Kate Stewart 07899 953806

North Yorkshire Julie Williams 07512 304444

Reading Magda Koc 0118 996 8574

Somerset & Dorset Jane Robinson 01935 422488

South West England Sally Blades 07896 369885

Surrey Susan Adams 07799 638577

Watford Mary Hurley 01923 240793

West Yorkshire Caitlin Allen 07971 927675

Caroline Haigh 07754 198764

Naomi Swain 07725 842979

Stacey Chapman 07910 468850 Isobel Cosgrove 07791 581608

Oxford Sue Pennington 01865 776759

Wiltshire Kay Hay 07882 793528

Sarah Collison 07940 585133

Oxfordshire & Berkshire Frances Turner 07510 710245

Yorkshire Dales & Cumbria Judith Blair 07553 266452

“ As practitioners we offer our patients guidance, support and encouragement –it seems a good idea to offer it to ourselves” Isobel Cosgrove

www.mentoringsupervision.org

Dan Bensky (US)

Naava Carman (GB)

Zanyu Chen (GB)

Peter Deadman (GB)

Beverley de Valois (GB)

Eileen Han (US)

David Hartmann (AU)

Goro Hasegawa (JP)

Dominique Hertzer (DE)

Huang Huang (CN)

Dan Keown (GB)

Lily Lai (GB)

Yair Maimon (IL)

Jason Robertson (CN)

Yan Schroen (NL)

Gali Stoffman (IL)

Paul Unschuld (DE)

Tianjun Wang (GB)

Hui Zhang (DK)

Aaron Zizov (IL)