“A person’s symptoms are seen as alarm bells of distress and a welcome signal that something is wrong. Rather than try to silence a symptom, five element acupuncture aims to find and treat the root cause. This personal focus fuels the potency of acupuncture treatment and affects an improvement,” says Chong.

“Using fewer needles reflects the traditional purpose of acupuncture, that every human being has the innate ability to self-restore and return to their optimum health, whatever that will be for them in relative terms.”

She may have only used seven needles during my appointment, but they were needles nonetheless. Even after our calming consultation (in which we went through everything from my diet to my relationship with my siblings), getting into the chair was still anxiety-inducing.

The initial anxiety soothed as the initial three needles sat in my skin for around 10 minutes, the nausea settling and the sharpness seeping away from the incision point. But then the most intense needles were placed into my wrist and hand, leaving them in for seconds at a time. Heat rushed to the area immediately and then dispelled the second the needles were removed.

Recovery Clinic: “Why I’m having acupuncture for stress – even though I hate needles”