How they treat

The general goal of all Acupuncturists is the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health and the prevention of illness. Traditional Oriental Medicine defines perfect health as a state of balance. It views all illness, disease and even subclinical lack of wellness as being due to imbalance. The key to effective treatment is to identify the most important imbalance(s) and take action to resolve them.

Needles come in a wide range of thicknesses, lengths and materials. The most common needles in use today are made of stainless steel. They are typically factory sterilised and for single use. Gold and silver needles are also in common use in some styles of Acupuncture. They are used on precise Acupuncture points to facilitate the flow of Qi along Meridian pathways.

Moxibustion shares equal status with needling in terms of its therapeutic significance. As with needling, there are many different techniques of moxibustion and many different grades of moxa. Moxa is applied directly on Acupuncture points in everything from tiny rice grain sized pieces to larger thumb sized cones. Moxa is also commonly applied indirectly by burning cherry-sized balls affixed to the tops of needles (the warming needle technique).

Fluoroscopy The Blackberry Clinic is a leader in the field of spinal treatment and is the only multidisciplinary clinic of its kind in the UK to have two C-arm fluoroscopy theatres. Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique commonly used by our physicians to obtain real-time static and moving images of the internal structures of a patient through the use of a fluoroscope. In its simplest form, a fluoroscope consists of an X-ray source and fluorescent screen between which a patient is placed. However, modern fluoroscopes couple the screen to an image intensifier allowing the images to be recorded and played on a monitor.

Roseanne Fernandez

Our physicians always use low dose rates during fluoroscopic procedures, the length of a typical procedure in the Blackberry Clinic results in only a minimal radiation dose.

We have used the C-arm fluoroscope at the Blackberry Clinic to assess the pattern of movement in the lumbar and cervical spine to analyse levels of possible instability leading to back and neck pain. The information gathered is often used to direct spinal injections to the right place in the safest and most effective manner. The injections are also carried out under direct guidance using one of our C-arm fluoroscopes. This innovative technique has been used here on many Olympic rowers and international footballers.