WORKING DAY

My Working Day: Darina Joyce, acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine therapist, runs a busy practice in Galway city

Modern Western medicine cannot explain how acupuncture works, but it has become the world's largest drugless healthcare system.

According to ancient Chinese theory, acupuncture allows Qi to flow to areas where Qi is deficient and away from where it is in excess, regulating and restoring the harmonious energetic balance of the body.

Balance is restored by inserting extremely fine disposable pre-sterilised needles into various points along the meridians to facilitate the flow of energy.

I start my day at 8.30 a.m. when my first appointment comes in and I work through until 4 p.m. without a break, taking a meal replacement shake for lunch so that I can be home early to spend time with my two little girls.

The damp west of Ireland weather means that every day I treat people for arthritic and rheumatic type pains in my clinic in Galway city.

I also get a lot of people coming in with weight problems who can't lose the pounds no matter what they do.

For weight loss, I use the FirstLine Therapy programme which measures a patient's lean body mass, fat mass and basal metabolic rate and works out how many calories that person will burn in an average day. With the results, I can then recommend a personalised dietary plan, nutritional supplements and exercise for weight loss and optimal health.

When I am treating a patient who is in a lot of pain with bad arthritis, I will sometimes cut out the acidic foods in their diet and get them to drink nettle or green tea instead of tea and coffee. I often put them on a nutritional formula called Artex Plus which works well for arthritis and treat them with acupuncture.

One woman who is waiting for a hysterectomy regularly comes into me for treatment for a fibroid which causes her to have very heavy and painful periods. Two days before her period, I treat her with acupuncture and Chinese herbs to help minimise the bleeding and get her through until the next month.

A lot of people come to me with sinus problems which I usually treat with a bit of a head and face massage first to try to take some of the pain away and then with acupuncture.

I always advise these patients to stay away from what Chinese medicine describes as "damp" foods i.e. phlegm-forming foods such as cow's milk, eggs and cheese.

Another regular patient is a body builder who wants to represent Ireland in the forthcoming bodybuilding games so he needs to build bulk, define muscle tone and keep fat to a minimum. I have used allergy testing and FirstLine therapy on him to work out how much protein, carbs and fat he should take in every day.

I am treating another woman for depression and insomnia related to bereavement with a homeopathic remedy for grief combined with a flower formula for panic attacks. This won't take away her grief but it will help to soothe it.

In Chinese medicine, when people suffer a bereavement, they say the sadness affects the lungs and a lot of people who are bereaved tend to come in to me with coughs. If a person suffers a shock, it affects the kidneys which govern the hair and this is why people can turn totally grey in a matter of days.

I never know what's going to come in the door on any given day and I don't decide what treatment or combination of treatments to offer until I have spoken to the patient in detail about what they feel they want and need.

(Interview by Michelle McDonagh)