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.
Gua sha tools come in stone, metal and other materials. The material matters far less than gentle pressure, the right area and a clear purpose suited to your skin.
Jade, rose quartz, stainless steel, horn: gua sha tools are sold in many materials and price ranges, often in gift boxes that look lovely on a bathroom shelf. If a stiff neck from long days at the desk has you thinking about a home routine, the choice of tool can seem like the big decision. It is actually one of the smaller ones.
A polished edge says nothing about how much pressure is safe, which areas suit scraping, or whether gua sha fits what you hope to achieve. A premium material does not, by itself, deliver a better clinical result. Technique, gentleness and suitability matter far more.
Before starting a routine, ask Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, at the Freshwater clinic what would be appropriate for your skin and circumstances. Useful points to mention include:
Christine can suggest how light the pressure should be, which areas to leave alone, and how to tell when to stop. Clear, simple instructions are worth more than an elaborate routine copied from a video.
Pay attention to how the skin feels in the following days. Ongoing tenderness, irritation or unusual bruising are worth reporting before you scrape again. Tools and techniques should be chosen for your circumstances, not to match a photograph of the colour you think you should see. Christine can then help you decide whether to continue, adjust, or try something different.
If you already own a beautiful tool, there is no need to replace it. Bring it along to your appointment, ask how to use it gently, and let your skin and comfort, rather than the label, guide how it fits into your week.
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