Alternative Options

March 2004: GCN

by Rachel Armstrong

As anyone who suffers from insomnia knows, the minute you tell someone about your condition they’ll have some weird, wonderful and useless cure.  Well, I’ve tried them all, including meditation relaxation and inebriation with varying levels of short term success.  Acupuncture, I was assured, is different.  It gets to the heart of the problem and unblocks the energy flows that are keeping me up at night.

Acupuncture was first discovered as a result of arrow wounds suffered by soldiers on the battlefields of ancient China. Sometimes a soldier with an arrowhead embedded in his leg or arm would report the sudden disappearance of long-standing symptoms in other parts of his body, such as headaches or digestive disorders. Since then, it’s become the main medicinal practice in China – people use it to treat almost every ailment there – and it’s now a firm fixture on the alternative therapy scene across the globe.

Dave Shipsey, who runs Dan-Tien, a complimentary health studio in Dublin’s Christchurch, must be one of the greatest men I have ever met. If his chilled out demeanour is anything to go by, acupuncture is the way forward for stress heads like me.

He started my session by very thoroughly going through my medical history and asking such delightful questions as the colour of my pee.  Then he asked me to stick out my tongue.  Every part of your body has a corresponding point on your tongue so, along with my medical history, Dave could determine the areas that needed work.  Then he took my pulse with three fingers, each pressing at a different time, as if my arm was a trumpet.  He continued to scribble things down and nod sagely.  Then he talked me through what parts of my body he thought I might be having problems with and advised me on foods to avoid and so on. All this and I hadn’t even seen an arrowhead yet.

When it was time for me to get up on the bench, Dave explained that I was to get Abdominal Acupuncture (he is Ireland’s only practitioner of Abdominal Acupuncture) which is a very ancient, micro form of acupuncture that was almost totally lost following China’s cultural revolution.  It is very gentle and there is little sensation.  It is powerful in its action and is particularly useful for stubborn conditions.

As Dave put each needle into my skin he spoke to me explaining what each should do, what sensation I should feel and how long it would last.  Then a heat lamp went on over my torso, classical music in my ears and I was left to my own devices.  Lying there, I was aware of the needles in my body but they didn’t hurt in the slightest and I drifted off to sleep.

Dave advises that people get a few sessions of acupuncture, the number depending on the condition being treated, to really feel the effects.  As Dan-Tien is VHI and BUPA approved, this shouldn’t cost the earth.  My sleep patterns improved immediately, though.  I’m not as angst ridden at bedtime anymore and the tossing and turning has at least temporarily abated. My girlfiriend now swears by acupuncture and she’s sending me back for more.

• Feb 2008:The Sunday Business Post: Nothing Twee about these Treatments
  
  
• March 2004: GCN: Alternative Options
  
  
• February 2004: Garda Review: Speaking In Tongues
  
  
• November 2003: The Sunday Business Post: Getting the Point
  
  
• August 2003: Irish Tatler: Mother And Baby: Aches & Pains
  
  
• June 2003: Ireland on Sunday: Body & Soul: In at the sharp end
  
  
• November 2002: The Sunday Business Post: Just A Little Needlework