How much will treatment cost?
- Mobile acupuncture sessions are £50 and last for 60 minutes.
- Mobile Cupping session (30 mins) £45
- Our online guided acupressure sessions are £20, and last 30-45 mins.
Due to Covid, all treatments may be subject to change.
Can I claim acupuncture treatment through my health insurance?
For a list of insurance companies that recognise ATCM and BAF registered acupuncturists please click here. If you have health insurance with a company not listed here, it might still be worth giving them a call and asking what their criteria are for claiming acupuncture treatment.
Why do you charge more than average for your acupuncture sessions?
Simply put, we charge more, because you get more…
- Acupuncture standards vary massively across the UK as there is no regulation. This means that technically you do not need to pass an accredited course in order to set up as an acupuncturist. Some acupuncture courses are weekend courses, or online. Neither do you need to register with a professional body. Emma is highly qualified in acupuncture with a BSc (Hons) in Acupuncture, PGDip in Biomedical Science, and is a voluntary member of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ATCM) and the British Acupuncture Federation (BAF). You can be assured of the standard of practice, and that your practitioner is accountable.
- We are committed to providing holistic treatment while remaining informed by conventional medical literature and research with a focus on evidence-based acupuncture.
How many sessions will I need?
Acupuncture has a cumulative effect, so we always recommend at least 3 sessions before deciding whether or not it is working for you. From experience, f you have 5 regular sessions and see no improvement at all, acupuncture may not be the best therapy for you.
Everyone is an individual and it takes the body time to adjust naturally, and initiate the healing process. The goal is to encourage the body to return to health naturally and for the long-term, acupuncture isn’t a quick fix if you want lasting results.
The average number of sessions my clients have is 6, but some clients see improvement in one session, and others are up to their 100th session and counting, because they see the benefit of using acupuncture in maintaining health and making sure any issues that arise get seen to quickly.
You might see quick results if:
- You have a healthy diet and lifestyle
- You have only recently become ill
- You have a recent injury
You might need more sessions if:
- You have a poor diet and lifestyle e.g. no exercise
- Your work or home environment is stressful
- You’ve suffered with your health for many years
- Your ill health has progressed into more serious health concerns
- You ignored an injury hoping it would get better on its own while continuing as normal, and now the area doesn’t function properly eg. You fell off a ladder and landed on your back. You carried on lifting things and going about as normal, taking painkillers. Now the pain is chronic, your back is stiff, and you don’t want to be taking painkillers for the rest of your life.
- You can’t keep up with regular weekly sessions
- You find it hard to implement any diet or lifestyle changes we recommend
Even though you may fall into the ‘treatment may take longer’ category, it doesn’t mean acupuncture isn’t worth trying. Although you might see quicker results if you have an acute injury and get it seen to right away, if you’re suffering from chronic ill health, acupuncture might give you the boost you need to cope with stress in your life, and the motivation to improve your diet and lifestyle and improve your health in general. 90% of my clients fall into this category, as did I when I first started having acupuncture sessions. You might feel like there’s nothing else that can be done for you in conventional medicine, or you’ve tried everything and you’re at your wit's end. If that is you – I’ve been there – and acupuncture is definitely worth a go. But you’ll only see if it can help you if you commit to at least 3-5 sessions.
What does a session involve?
A typical session starts with us talking about your current health, medical history, and all the things you’d like help with. We’ll also ask you some questions so we can plan the right treatment for you. We will take your pulses and look at your tongue to help us diagnose. Then we’ll move onto treatment. Based on your health issues and preference, we might begin with Chinese massage (TuiNa) or cupping, to relax the body before needling. You’ll have at least 30 minutes with needles in, and possibly moxibustion during the acupuncture treatment too.
When and why would we use moxibustion during your acupuncture session?
Moxibustion is the burning of mugwort (moxa), a beneficial herb, to physically warm the points. In the days before hot water bottles, using something that burns would have been the best way to warm yourself. Moxa burns without a flame, looks similar to a cigar, and smokes like incense. We use moxibustion to warm up specific points if someone is feeling the cold, or has very low energy. It has a distinctive smell (I personally love it) so we use it with the client’s permission only!
What’s involved in a session for fertility acupuncture?
If you’re looking for help with fertility, or acupuncture during fertility treatments, the session will be very similar to a typical one described above and may include TuiNa, cupping, and/or moxibustion. For female fertility, we recommend at least 3 months of treatment before you plan to try for a baby or go through fertility treatments. This is because menstrual cycles are a month long, and as we’ll be working on optimising the cycle, giving us 3 cycles to make improvements is, from experience, the least amount of time it usually takes. Your body is being encouraged to adjust a cycle that takes 28 days so it does take some time to make positive, long-term changes in your reproductive health. Also having lots of sex is tiring! For a few months, we need to use that energy to balance any internal issues you may have and give your body a break.
As with all sessions, each one is individualised based on traditional Chinese medicine principles. Each session is carefully planned around your cycle. We ask lots of questions about your cycle that you may not have been asked before such as the presence of clots in your menstrual blood, and the colour of your menstrual blood. This gives us an in-depth holistic view of your reproductive health.
Again, acupuncture for fertility isn’t a quick fix as a lot of the work lies in preparing the body for pregnancy – which isn’t something one session of acupuncture can achieve. Prepare the soil before you plant the seed! Saying that, we happily provide acupuncture treatments on the day before, day of, and day after embryo transfers for clients who have been having acupuncture with us in preparation.