Are you sick of reading doom and gloom all over the place? And do you think this is, in fact, making you sick?

I was pondering this just now while I was trying to write a blog post on stress and the effects that too much stress can have on our health. You see, I was busy reading up all about how stress impacts the adrenals, the adrenal cortex, cortisol regulation and how messing all that up can lead to all this bad stuff. And I while I was totally absorbed and interested I noticed that I started to feel really bad, I got a headache, felt a bit lethargic and basically just wanted to retreat to my couch with a blanket and a puppy.

That’s when it occurred to me that reading about all this stress was actually making me stressed! Like having all this information at the tips of our fingers can sometimes not be an awesome thing for our health. Knowledge. It’s all great until it starts to mess with your head. Too much of a good thing may not be so great after all.

Have you ever Dr googled your health symptoms and noticed that literally every symptom can take you to a cancer diagnosis? Got a runny nose, it could be cancer. I’m not trying to make cancer funny, because it’s not, my point is that in our quest for all this knowledge we may be creating a whole lot of paranoia along the way. And I’m not sure that’s helping anyone.

So what do we do? Good question. Very good question. And I honestly think it’s the one thing that most people just don’t really have a handle on these days. The shear rate of information getting thrown at us from all directions these days is quite astonishing when you think about it. And I’m playing catch up on this as much as the next person. But there are some things that I find helpful.

Awareness. Identifying what drains my energy is a good place to start for me, like the blog writing today, obviously researching health and wellness is part of my job, but that doesn’t mean I have to go in depth and write about the bad stuff, so changing my mindset is something I really try to work on and hopefully by doing that I am creating a positive blog space for you all to enjoy!

Minimising is key for me. Once you work out what drains you then minimise your exposure. I don’t watch the news, read newspapers or generally get involved in conversations around current affairs, it makes me worried, sad and sometimes angry, so I choose not to expose myself to too much of that sort of thing. Life just feels better for me like that. If I do get exposed to something and start to worry about it, then I do my best to shut down any negativity and paranoia before it takes hold.

Choose the positive. Find ways to expose yourself to more and more positivity. I try to practice gratitude daily which I find helps. Also, Social media, it gets a bad rap a lot of the time but it’s something that I personally find helps me a lot. I choose only to follow brands and people that are uplifting, inspiring and funny. I limit scrolling as much as possible and try not to do it of an evening. On the flip side I know that the socials can be quite draining for some, so it’s all about finding your own awareness around all of this and navigating through this digital age with purpose.

So while I go off and find a couch and puppy to cuddle, hit me up with the things that you do to lift yourself above all the doom and gloom….

This is a question I commonly get asked in the clinic, so there seems to be a lot of confusion over it! Are Acupuncture and Dry Needling one of the same or a totally different treatment approach? We thought we would clear up any confusion for you!

Acupuncture uses Traditional Chinese Medicine principles to address both systematic internal conditions as well as musculoskeletal conditions. It uses thin flexible needles that are inserted into specific points on the body, either locally or distally, along energetic channels using a variety of techniques and needle stimulation. Acupuncturists use appropriate diagnostic techniques and point selection to resolve obstruction to the flow of qi and blood in the channels, balance and harmonise yin and yang and treat the underlying cause of a condition or disease which then benefits a person’s overall health and wellness.

A qualified Acupuncture practitioner has completed a four-year Bachelor of Health Science degree which includes a minimum of 500 hours of hands on clinical experience plus biomedical anatomy and physiology knowledge. They are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (APHRA), just like your GP, and adhere to strict industry standards, guidelines and code of ethics.

A treatment using Dry needling involves using a thin flexible needle, similar to acupuncture, and inserted into a myofascial trigger point to achieve a localised twitch response which aims to release muscular tension and pain in that area.

The Benefits of dry needling is that if preformed correctly it can quickly and effectively relieve acute muscular spasm by resetting the muscle fibers, reduce pain and improve mobility.

Dry needling can be preformed by your Acupuncturist as part of your overall treatment however can also be performed by Practitioners such as a physiotherapist, osteopath, musculoskeletal therapist or massage therapist. It is usually an adjunct to their core treatment modality and qualifications are generally obtained in a post graduate short course and the practice is not regulated by any governing body.

So basically apart from using the same kind of needle, Acupuncture and Dry Needling are totally different treatments, are used for very different reasons and require varied qualifications for the practitioner.

It is important when seeking treatment of any modality to check on your therapists qualification and experience in their field, but also to ask questions to make sure that the treatment you are getting is suitable for your needs.