Therapies

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient form of medicine documented over 2000 years old. It involves the insertion of fine solid needles at specific points on the body to restore balance and stimulate the body's natural healing processes. Esther uses acupuncture to address a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, stress, and hormonal imbalances, while also promoting overall wellness and energy flow. Esther is trained in both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Five Element Acupuncture.

The Aster Method

The Aster Method is my own approach, developed over years of clinical practice. It combines acupuncture with body-based somatic techniques, addressing both the presenting complaint and the physical patterns of tension and alertness that tend to accompany long-standing symptoms.

The somatic element is used within treatment rather than as a separate therapy. I use the approach particularly with anxiety, stress-related presentations and persistent sleep disturbance.

Conditions

Pain Management

Acupuncture is most established in the treatment of pain. NICE guidance recommends acupuncture for chronic primary pain, and for the prophylactic treatment of migraine and tension-type headache.

I treat musculoskeletal and chronic pain presentations, including back and neck pain, joint pain and headache.

Where you are under the care of a GP, physiotherapist or pain clinic, I will work alongside them.

Chronic Illness Management

Living with a long-term condition involves more than the condition itself: disrupted sleep, fatigue, the cumulative effect of managing appointments and medication, and the loss of things that were previously straightforward.

I see patients with a range of long-term conditions, usually alongside ongoing medical care rather than instead of it. Acupuncture is directed at the daily burden of living with pain or discomfort, and at the symptoms that tend to receive least attention within a busy clinical pathway.

Sessions are unhurried, and treatment is planned around your current circumstances, including any fluctuation in your condition and the demands of your existing treatment. I work alongside your GP, consultant or specialist nurses.

Interstitial Cystitis and Bladder Pain

Patients presenting with chronic bladder pain have commonly experienced a prolonged diagnostic process, including repeated courses of antibiotics for culture-negative symptoms, and considerable disruption to sleep, work and daily activity.

This is my principal area of specialism. I have worked with interstitial cystitis and chronic bladder pain for Seventeen years, have published in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, and presented at the British Acupuncture Council conference with consultant urologist Steve Foley.

Treatment combines acupuncture with dietary therapy, given the established relationship between diet and bladder symptoms, and is coordinated with any urology or pain clinic input you are receiving.

Insomnia Relief

Persistent poor sleep affects concentration, mood, appetite and pain threshold, and tends to become self-sustaining: the difficulty of sleeping becomes its own source of anxiety about sleeping.

I see patients whose sleep has been disturbed over a long period, frequently alongside pain, stress or hormonal change rather than in isolation. Sleep disturbance of this kind is commonly accompanied by a persistent state of physical alertness, and my approach combines acupuncture with somatic techniques directed at that state, the same combination I use in treating anxiety. Alongside this I consider the circumstances surrounding sleep: daily routine, diet, timing, and the physical patterns of tension that interfere with sleep.

Anxiety

Anxiety is often physical before it is anything else: disturbed sleep, a persistently raised heart rate, tension held in the body, digestive issues, and difficulty settling even when there is nothing immediately wrong.

My approach combines acupuncture with somatic techniques directed at the nervous system, developed over years of clinical practice into a defined protocol. Somatic work addresses the body's habitual patterns of holding and response, and is used alongside needling rather than as a separate treatment.

Sessions are unhurried and confidential, and treatment is planned around your circumstances. Where you are receiving support from a GP, therapist or psychiatrist, I will work alongside them.

Digestive Disorders

Digestive complaints frequently affect diet, daily routine, work and social activity, and are often tolerated for long periods before patients seek help.

Chinese medicine treats digestion as central to overall health rather than as an isolated system. This holistic model combines acupuncture with dietary therapy, which in digestive presentations are closely related. Where you are under the care of a GP or gastroenterologist, I will work alongside them.

Food and Nutrition

Chinese medicine has taken food seriously for two thousand years not as a bolt-on to treatment but as part of it. My training covers dietary therapy alongside acupuncture, and I use both.

MENOPAUSE AND PERIMENOPAUSE

The perimenopausal transition can last several years, and its effects are rarely confined to one part of life. Many women manage significant changes in sleep, energy, temperature regulation and mood while continuing to work and run a household.

I offer consultations for women during this stage. Treatment is planned individually rather than following a fixed protocol, and dietary and lifestyle considerations are addressed alongside acupuncture where appropriate.

Fertility Support

I see individuals and couples at all stages of trying to conceive: those trying without medical assistance, those undergoing IVF or IUI, and those considering their options following unsuccessful treatment.

Treatment is planned around your individual circumstances and, where relevant, timed to your cycle or clinical treatment schedule. I am glad to work alongside your fertility clinic.

What I provide is sustained, individually planned care through a demanding process.