The Lane Cove rooms are at 2 Austin Street, directly opposite the Lane Cove Library and a few metres from Longueville Road. If you are coming from the village it is a walk of two or three minutes, and the parking behind the library is the easiest option in the middle of the day.
Lane Cove sends a particular mix of problems through the door. There are the desk-and-commute necks and low backs from St Leonards and the city, the shoulders and elbows of a suburb that plays a lot of tennis, and the knees and Achilles tendons that come with living on a hillside — the stairs down to Tambourine Bay and the streets off Burns Bay Road are their own kind of training load. Lane Cove also has a lot of people in their thirties and forties carrying small children, which is its own demand on a back.
A first appointment is mostly questions and movement testing: where the pain is, what makes it worse, what it stops you doing, and how it has behaved over weeks rather than days. From there you should leave knowing what is proposed, roughly how long it is expected to take, and what would mean changing the plan.
Worth bringing: any imaging or specialist letters you already have, a list of medications, and the shoes you actually walk or train in. If the pain is new and severe, follows a significant fall, or comes with numbness, weakness, fever or any change in bladder or bowel control, see a doctor first — that is a medical assessment, not a treatment question.
The nearest alternative if Lane Cove does not suit you is the Freshwater side, about 14 kilometres away across the Spit.
Convenient packaging does not settle suitability. Explain your interest, bring your medicine list and ask what is proposed, what its directions say and how it will be reviewed.
Herbal granules are often seen as an easy, tidy way to use Chinese herbal medicine, especially when energy is low or joints ache through the cooler months. A neat bottle and simple directions make the idea appealing. Even so, starting any herbal product is a health decision like any other, and whether it suits you depends on both you and what is in the bottle.
Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, works with granule-form herbal medicine, supplied in labelled containers. When you see her at the Freshwater clinic, start by saying why herbal medicine appeals. Perhaps a friend mentioned it, or you are hoping to feel less run down. Then go through the other products you use, including prescription medicines, pain medicines from the pharmacy, supplements and teas, and bring details of any herbal bottle you already have.
A useful conversation will cover:
A partner or friend with similar aches may offer to share their granules. Their bottle was dispensed for them, after their own assessment, and copying it skips the questions that should come first. Wait until you know why something has been suggested for you and exactly how to take it.
If you decide to go ahead, keep the label, measuring directions and review arrangements together. Tell Christine whenever a medicine changes, and let your pharmacist or maternity team know about the herbal product where relevant. If a new symptom crops up and the cause is unclear, check with the clinic before adjusting the amount.
Sometimes the conversation ends with a bottle on the shelf, and sometimes it ends with a decision to focus on sleep, movement or other habits instead. Either outcome is a reasonable result of asking the question properly.
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