Finding alternative and complementary therapies and treatments in the City of Subiaco has never been easier.
The presentation of specific ailments – a fever or sudden abdominal pain – warrants an immediate appointment with your local GP. You just can’t argue with modern medicine and its effectiveness. But in the pursuit of ridding yourself of non-life threatening aches and pains, exhaustion, and digestive issues, the doors are open to a whole range of remedies outside of the pharmaceutical. Alternative medicine isn’t a replacement for science-based treatments, but exploring the benefits of complementary therapies in tandem can lead to breakthroughs that aren’t always possible with medicine alone.
Acupuncture
Where Western medicine tends to look at and treat the body in mechanical terms, Eastern medicine sees it as an ecosystem, a delicate balance of mind, body and spirit. Any upset in the equilibrium throws the body off, manifesting in a range of physical symptoms. Chinese medicine falls back on the ancient practice of acupuncture — inserting hair-width needles into precise points on the body — to restore that harmony and rid ailments as wide-ranging as muscle soreness and chronic pain to food sensitivities and reproductive issues.
Benjamin O’Brien of The Natural Medicine and Nutrition Clinic (8/232 Churchill Avenue, Subiaco) has studied and practised acupuncture for more than 13 years, often pairing his treatment with a prescribed dose of brewed Chinese herbal medicine (in which he holds a Master’s degree) for optimal results. The needling stimulates the central and peripheral nervous systems to release pain-relieving endorphins and enkephalins. At the same time, the herbal teas assist in transporting oxygen-rich blood around the body so it can repair itself.
At B & Q Acupuncture (104/9 Salvado Road, Subiaco), owners and practitioners Dr Benny (Lingxin) Yang and Dr Queenie (Yanshan) Wu (above), also offer more therapies than their name suggests. Alongside acupuncture, they often recommend ‘channel scrubbing’ — or ‘gua sha’ — which increases blood flow to the joints and muscles through repeated skin scraping using a flat-edged massage tool. It’s essentially a larger version of the heart-shaped facial tool that they drag across the back, arms, legs, and glutes in a downward motion to reduce pain and inflammation.
Myofascial cupping
There’s no one hard and fast way to reduce muscle pain. Acupuncture, gua sha and massage all have their place. So, too, does ‘cupping’. Both B & Q Acupuncture and Embody Health offer their clients this popular soft tissue therapy. Myofascial cupping unbundles tight muscles and soft connective tissue by creating a vacuum-like suction beneath a small cup. It pulls the skin upwards, reddening it as blood and toxins draw to the surface. All the suction and blood movement causes what appears to be ‘bruising’, which, though it might look painful, is painless. Within a week or two of treatment, they’ll have faded away.
To work deeper into those stubborn knots and sore spots, combine Embody Health’s cupping treatment with remedial massage. Relaxation is a side effect of this kind of massage, not the intent. Its core purpose is to treat deep tissues by releasing trigger points and manipulating and stretching the muscles and joints.
Shunhua Massage (Subiaco Square, Shop 15, Station Street) also offers cupping as well as a sensational ion detox foot bath and deep tissue massage that will leave you making this a regular spot for fixing all those knots and tangles in your neck and lower back.
Low and non-physical therapies
Embody Health’s completely non-invasive reiki sessions are on the opposite end of the scale. The practice owner, Caroline Oakes, uses gentle hand movements above the body – not touching the body – to guide the movement of healthy energy to reinvigorate and heal. Though non-physical, the profoundly spiritual Japanese practice is said to reduce stress, promote better sleep, and help correct negative mood patterns.
Somewhere between the spiritual and physical sits kinesiology therapy, where Oakes uses muscle monitoring to give insight into someone’s overall physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. It has its roots in chiropractic and kinesiology (the study of the body’s movement), also pulling in elements of Chinese medicine.
Looking within
Fundamentally, good health starts from within. But eating a balanced and considered diet is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. For more than 40 years, Subiaco Naturopath Clinic (136 Rokeby Road, Subiaco) has been using herbal medicine and holistic nutrition to promote health and healing from within. Tinctures and herbal concoctions are common prescriptions to supplement nutritional plans, but where this clinic differs from many others is in its open-arm acceptance of modern medicine. Rather than shunning science, the on-site naturopaths work closely with their compounding pharmacist to develop a treatment plan unique to you and your concerns.
