I practice Western Medical Acupuncture, not Tradition Eastern, and as such you may notice some differences if you are used to the traditional approach.  This is more to do with diagnosis and point selection, but technique is very similar between the 2 modalities.

As a primary contact health professional, my job is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my patents and so I may well ask questions and look at things that prevent a wider issue being missed than you may be expecting.  This is why I ask you to bering any other medical information you have that may be pertinent to you as a patient.

MUSCULOSKELETAL
What I have found with musculoskeletal acupuncture is that we get the best results if we can get rid of physical disruptions first and then use the acupuncture to reduce pain and inflammation when the physical block has gone.  On some occasions I know that acupuncture first can be the best option, notably in certain shoulder conditions.  With this in mind, you may well find I suggest that some manual therapy in the acupuncture journey is sensible, though this is entirely up to you and is based in what I have found to be the most effective way of treating a given condition.

IVF / FERTILITY / WOMENS HEALTH
With IVF support and fertility acupuncture, the goal is always to support you along your fertility journey and the ultimate aim is for sleepless nights and dirty nappies.  I work closely with many of the local fertility clinics and may sometimes refer you out for specialist tests that can radically, if positive, improve the chances of conception through IVF.  Acupuncture takes a supportive role in fertility and has been shown to have some really positive benefits with women health generally and IVF outcomes, it is not the be all and end all, though it can be a tremendously helpful role.

WHY AM I INVOLVED WITH FERTILITY?
My wife and I struggled with fertility for about 5 years before we found an acupuncturist who could help and a friendly reflexologist I worked with me loaned me a book by Dr Alan Beer called "Is your body baby friendly".  This book is a deeply involved medical text book but through reading it I realised that there was a strong chance that our problem was not "getting pregnant", but was more likely "not killing the embryo" before it even implanted (therefore not even showing +ve pregnancy tests).  Requesting a natural killer cell blood test from a local fertility centre showed a 500% normal natural killer cell activity and then a simple round of low dose steroids in our next IVF cycle and bam, we now have boy girl twins.  Tiring but worth every moment of the journey.  Our goal is to get in there early and really help people prevent some of the angst that can accompany inhibited fertility.  I do not use or like the word infertility as it suggest hopelessness.  I called my acupuncture business Hope on purpose.  That is what this is all about.  Hope for tomorrow.

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu