Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal and Pain 
远不止是针：
如今，大多数人都听说过针灸。然而，您是否意识到，针灸的执业范围涵盖中医，而中医远不止用针这么简单？让我们一起探索这一古老的疗法。
首先，中医诊疗始于诊断。医师会询问许多问题以了解病史，包括消化、食欲、饮食、睡眠习惯、肠道情况、排尿、疼痛、生活方式和压力水平。针灸师还会留意声音的高低、头发的光泽、皮肤的颜色与质地、患者的姿态与情绪，以及任何明显的气味。之后进行脉诊，以判断证型与根本原因。此外，还可能进行其他相关检查，例如触诊。在完成病史采集后，便会确定诊断和治疗方案。
针灸针极为纤细、无菌、几乎无痛且安全。它们当然是治疗方案的核心要素。针被置于身体特定的穴位上，可以是局部取穴（在疼痛部位），也可以是远端取穴（远离疼痛部位）。留针时间为 20 至 40 分钟，大多数人都觉得治疗过程放松而舒缓。
中医主要以草药方剂为主。草药与针灸相辅相成，帮助身体自然恢复平衡与和谐。草药方剂可以来自中成药，也可以由医师为您量身调配。方剂的独特之处在于，其配伍旨在避免某一味药用量过大而损伤身体其他部位。例如，假设要清热。这时方中会有清热的药物（或许通过利尿），同时也会有药物来缓和清热药对其他脏腑可能产生的峻烈作用。因此，方剂总能达到平衡。草药方剂不仅针对症状，也着眼于根本原因。
从中医的角度来看，食物即是药。即使您没有服用草药，您也很可能会得到根据您个人体质量身定制的饮食建议。例如，假设有人腹泻或胃痛，用热敷垫后感觉好转。这种情况可能表明胃中寒气过重，阻碍了消化之火。中医根据食物的寒热属性、季节、颜色以及是否适合您的体质对食物进行分类。寒凉食物包括过多的生蔬菜、冰镇饮料和冰沙。在这种情况下，在饮食中加入生姜等食物会是很好的选择。
拔罐是用小火加热玻璃罐，使其在皮肤上产生吸力。这有助于疏散瘀血和淋巴液的停滞，促进血液循环，缓解僵硬，改善肌肉和组织的血液供应，而且感觉舒适。拔罐后只会留下紫蓝色的圆形印记。
刮痧是使用边缘平整的工具在皮肤上朝同一方向刮拭，通常用于背部等较大面积的部位。刮痧可用于多种不适，尤其是疼痛和僵硬。它有助于消除血瘀，促进氧气和血液的正常流动。刮拭有助于排出代谢废物和毒素，促进体液与营养的循环，改善软组织的微循环。刮痧也可用于面部，以促进健康与美容。
艾灸使用加热的艾草，有多种形式。通常将燃烧的艾草置于身体某一部位上方，以温热该处并促进气血运行。它对痛经和慢性疼痛很有帮助。由于诊室共用以及烟雾的缘故，如今有烟艾灸已较少使用。因此，在 Rainbow Medicine 诊所，我们改用无烟艾条作为替代。
由此可见，针灸的整体诊疗远远不止用针。
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.
