Eastern Wisdoms

Why the plural

"Eastern wisdom" gets used as if it were one thing. It is not, and the plural in our name is deliberate.

What began in China travelled — to Korea, to Japan, to Vietnam — and changed at every stop. Japanese practice developed much finer needles and a far gentler technique. Korean practice built its own diagnostic systems. Vietnamese practice absorbed its own plant knowledge. These are related traditions, not copies of one another, and a practitioner trained in one is not automatically trained in the others.

Why that matters when you book

Because "acupuncture" on a sign does not tell you which. If you have had acupuncture before and found it uncomfortable, a different style may be a different experience entirely — the depth, the number of needles and the sensation vary enormously between approaches.

It is a fair question to ask: what style do you practise, and what does a session feel like? A practitioner who can answer that clearly is one worth having.

What travelled well, and what did not

What travelled well is the method: take a long history, look at the person as a whole, treat gently, review. That approach holds up and is the part worth keeping.

What did not travel well is the habit of claiming more than the evidence supports. Every one of these traditions has a modern research record, and in every case it is narrower than the marketing. Being clear about that is not disloyalty to the tradition — it is the condition for being taken seriously.

Herbs are the part that needs most care

The herbal side of these traditions is extensive and it is also where the real risks sit: interactions with prescribed medicines are genuine. Nothing is supplied without a consultation, and no product is recommended on a web page, by phone or by email. That is a rule, not caution.

The medical line

None of this replaces your doctor. Anything new, worsening, or accompanied by weight loss, bleeding, chest pain, breathlessness or a neurological change belongs with a GP first, and you should tell your doctor what else you are doing.

Where we are

141 Longueville Road, Lane Cove NSW, on Sydney's Lower North Shore. Most people come from Lane Cove, Artarmon, Chatswood and Willoughby, and the clinic is a short walk from the bus stops on the main road.

Phone 0410 699 065 to ask a question or to book. Worth mentioning when you ring: what the problem is, and anything you take — that shapes which appointment suits.

We are not an emergency service. For an emergency call 000; for urgent advice at any hour, healthdirect on 1800 022 222.

Still being built

This site is in progress and more will be added. What is here now is accurate, which matters more than being complete.