A person's energy is distributed through twelve energy pathways. Each pathway is associated with an organ and for each organ there are a variety of patterns of energy imbalance - these are called syndromes. When diagnosing, your practitioner will look for the syndrome which reflects your constitutional type as well as the one which underlies your specific complaint. Syndromes are recognised by a combination of signs and symptoms.

Examples of 'signs' are facial colour, sound in the voice, distribution of heat and cold, typical emotional state, pulse and tongue. Pulse and tongue diagnosis are two special diagnostic techniques unique to Oriental medicine.

'Symptoms' are your complaints and also the descriptions of how your body is functioning: for instance how you sleep, the quality of your appetite, the dryness of your skin or whether you feel the cold.

Treatment is the process of re-establishing the energy balance. With acupuncture, this is done in two ways. One is the insertion of fine, stainless steel needles into acupuncture points, either stimulating or reducing the flow of energy in a specific pathway. The other is the application of warmth to the acupuncture point. These methods are often used in combination. With herbs, the practitioner determines a mixture of substances that will strengthen depleted organs and/or clear out what are called pathogenic factors that are inhibiting the free functioning of the person. As the balance improves, health improves.

Your initial visit will last for up to two hours. Your practitioner will gather information on your symptoms and your treatment to date; your medical and family history; your systems or functions (e.g. sleep, appetite, digestion, etc); and your physical condition, such as the distribution of body heat and the condition of the skin.

Subsequent visits take roughly 30 or 45 minutes. Generally you will come weekly to begin with, possibly more frequently if your condition is acute. As you improve, you come less frequently. The speed of improvement varies more according to the person than the label of the complaint.