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.
You do not have to wait until treatment is over to ask something that affects your comfort or choices. A short list of questions makes any acupuncture session easier.
Can I ask to stop partway through? What happens if I feel light-headed? Does my period, or a possible pregnancy, change anything? Many people sit on questions like these until after treatment, worried about interrupting. Yet questions that affect your comfort or decisions are exactly the ones worth raising before and during an appointment.
Jotting down a few questions on your phone before you arrive at the Freshwater clinic makes them easier to remember once you are on the table. When you see Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, also mention any changes since your previous visit, such as:
You can ask to stop at any time. If you start to feel faint, sweaty or nauseous, say so straight away; Christine can remove needles, change your position and look after you. If a position puts strain on your neck or lower back, ask for a pillow or a different arrangement.
Rather than assuming a set schedule applies to everyone, ask how treatment frequency will be decided for you. Your work hours, budget and how you respond are all reasonable factors to include in that conversation.
It helps to tell apart the symptom and the result you want. You might bring a stiff lower back but care most about lifting your toddler or sitting through a work meeting comfortably. Other useful aims include understanding the problem better or recognising when further assessment is needed. Check when progress will be looked at and what might cause the plan to shift.
An appointment where questions flow freely tends to feel calmer for everyone. Your curiosity is welcome, and asking is simply part of taking an active role in your own care.
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