Welcoming Archna Patel to Health Med.

Women’s health specialist Archna Patel has joined Health Med.’s industry-leading faculty to deliver eLearning courses:

Acupuncture for Female Health eLearning course.

We are excited to introduce you to Archna Patel, the newest member of Health Med.’s industry-leading faculty. She has joined the team to deliver a specialist course: Acupuncture for Female Health course, designed to combine her experience, with comprehensive research to enrich practitioners.

 

 

Many acupuncturists in the UK will know Archna through her award-winning clinic based in London. Or through her prolific content writing for the acupuncture industry.

In this article Archna leads you through her transition from medical laboratory scientist to award-winning acupuncturist. Discover how she will be using her experience and knowledge to deliver several courses in endocrinology and women’s health. To support the growth of practitioners with the latest research and her wealth of experience.

Archna’s Journey to Acupuncture and Female Health Specialist

I studied medical laboratory sciences at university, specialising in haematology and, with predictable logic, entered the real world of work in the Haematology Department at St Thomas’ Hospital.

But my move into the world of acupuncture came a few years later, after the birth of my son.

When he was 5 months old, he was diagnosed with asthma. Now, infant asthma isn’t all that uncommon, it can be very mild, and it often disappears completely later in life as a child’s lungs develop and function more efficiently.

Unfortunately, my son’s asthma was neither mild nor temporary. But it was manageable – at least at first.

All we could do was follow the medical advice, give him the Ventolin and steroid-based inhalers and resolve to try to strike a balance between him living as normal a life as possible without exerting himself to the point where his asthma became too debilitating.

However, his immune system was so weak it was impossible to keep him free from attacks. Some were so severe that he had to be nebulised and given oral steroids in hospital. He was prone to coughs and colds that would trigger more attacks.

Over time the asthma became progressively worse and my healthy, chubby baby boy became increasingly emaciated and introverted. At the same time, he became less and less interested in going out with his friends and playing football.

Even too much laughter could trigger a serious attack.

This cycle continued until he was almost 8 years old. That year had been a particularly bad one that had seen him being given a course of antibiotics a month just to help him fight off an infection.

 

Every mothers worst nightmare

One day – a day I remember as though it were only yesterday – the situation became critical.

A mother’s instincts are pretty accurate when it comes to raising a healthy child, but your parental instincts become even more highly attuned after years of looking after a small asthmatic child. You get to recognise the signs of an oncoming attack and you get a feel for how serious – or not – it’s going to be.

On this occasion I knew deep in my heart that a severe attack was on its way and so I took my son to our local GP as a preventative step.

I wasn’t able to see his regular doctor and instead we saw a locum who told me that my worrying was making him worse and that I should just take him home, give him his medication and stop fretting.

Inevitably, in situations like that, you don’t question the expert opinion, do you? Instead, you begin to question your maternal instincts and your parenting skills. Was I just fussing over nothing? Obsessively worrying? Was I the one who was making him so sick?

When we got home, I put my son on the sofa, gave him his medication as the doctor had told me and switched on the TV to give him something other than his asthma to focus on.

I went back to check on him 15 minutes later, I found him limp on the sofa and completely unable to lift his head to look at me.

Unless you’ve been in that situation, I’m not sure it’s possible to imagine the complete sense of terror you experience as a parent when you’re suddenly faced with the very real possibility that the child you have raised and loved so unconditionally is about to die.

 

Instinct

Instinctively I knew  that there was no time to wait for an ambulance and that I had to get him to hospital as fast as I could. Distraught as I was, I scooped him up and rushed him to A&E.

The A&E doctor told me that had I bought my son in 5 minutes later it would have been too late to save him.

I will always be forever grateful to the medical doctors who saved his life, but what the experience also taught me was that clinical medicine couldn’t make him better.

 

Epiphany

Now that I recognised every future attack could kill him, I began a desperate search for another solution.

Friends had previously recommended a range of alternative and complementary treatments. All of which I had dismissed as being nonsense or just a little too ‘woo-woo’.

But that trip to A&E had stripped away any prejudice I might have had. Now I was willing to try absolutely anything within reason.

 

I took my son to see an acupuncturist.

 

The rest, of course, is history. The fact I’m here, writing this as an acupuncturist, means you already know how the story ends.

My son is still here. He’s healthy. He enjoys life. And he’s the rock in my life.

Acupuncture made an immediate difference to my son’s life – one that was tangible, that I could see. It wasn’t an overnight cure! – His treatment continued for a good deal of time. But the improvement in his asthma and general health was steady and obvious.

It started with small things – he smiled a lot more, he was happier, more talkative, less introverted. His eyes were brighter and his complexion improved.

After that we began to notice that his asthmatic episodes had lessened in frequency and intensity. He no longer needed antibiotics and he was less dependent on his inhalers.

 

Where my son is now

Today, many years on from the night I almost lost him. He no longer uses inhalers! He has not had an asthma attack and has only needed antibiotics twice! both times for issues unrelated to his asthma.

The impact of acupuncture on his life soon had me asking questions. The biggest one being how sticking a few needles in my son could have such an impact on his health?

Understandably it didn’t take long or very much research to convince me to study acupuncture. Even though at first it was purely academic: I wanted to understand how this ancient form of medicine worked; and how it achieved results that western medical treatments couldn’t.

What I learned about this holistic and totally encompassing form of medicine. Together with the amazing impact it has had on my son’s life, meant I soon felt I had to use this new knowledge to help others.

 

Studying Acupuncture

I trained at the prestigious College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, graduating in 2001.

I have been in private practice for 20 years now. Helping many patients with menstrual-related conditions. Such as: Premenstrual Syndrome, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, dysmenorrhea (painful periods), amenorrhea (no periods) and menorrhagia (heavy periods).

I’ve also treated Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, fertility issues and obstetric conditions such as Hypermesis (nausea and vomiting) and recurrent miscarriage.

 

 

Over the course of my work in private practice. I have seen patients with simple conditions who experience mild symptoms, to those with severe and chronic symptoms resulting from complex pathologies.

The outcomes have mostly been very positive! With some patients experiencing a reversal in their symptoms. Others getting to the stage where the quality of their lives have been greatly improved.

I’m always hungry to learn more about what I do. So, I’ve always regularly used continuing professional development (CPD) to enhance and extend my learning and skills. Some of these courses include: paediatric acupuncture, women’s health, female and male fertility and cosmetic acupuncture.

 

Clinic and Affiliate Healthcare Boards

I’m a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) where I am also a sitting committee member, the Acupuncture Fertility Network (AFN), the British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) and the British Fertility Society(BFS).

And my clinic ‘The Acupuncturists’ has won several awards, including London’s Best Boutique Acupuncture Clinic in 2019, Best Acupuncture Clinic 2020, and Best London Complementary Health and Wellbeing Practice 2020.

 

My reasons for joining the faculty at Health Med. Training Solutions

I’m delighted to be joining the Health Med. Training Solutions faculty so that I can continue to repay my personal debt to acupuncture! and help others with an interest in healing to follow and meet their own ambition.

I have a particular passion for helping patients with women’s health conditions. However, I wholeheartedly believe that to be effective in practice. It is essential to have in-depth knowledge of women’s endocrine system from both a biomedical and traditional acupuncture aspect.

The opportunity to be part of a growing faculty with more than 250 years of experience! Boasting innovators who are as passionate as I am about the growth and development of healthcare professionals! This was an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.

 

Health Med.’s Vision

Health Med. is a company leading the way in collaborative learning, to deliver the highest quality material across all healthcare disciplines. The courses it offers are expertly designed to elevate learner engagement and information retention through visual storytelling.

That aligns perfectly with my own belief that the more specialised knowledge we have the better able we are to treat patients effectively.

I’m also am a huge advocate of integrative medicine. Which I believe has to be the future of truly effective medical care. As healthcare practitioners we need to communicate and collaborate with our biomedical counterparts! to understand how each of us works to help our patients.

Understanding the strengths of both biomedical and other forms of medicine to deliver the best patient outcomes is essential. I know that this is at the heart of what Health Med. is looking to achieve.

 

Endocrinology & Women’s Health Acupuncture eCourses

I’m very excited about the fact that the Endocrinology & Women’s Health Acupuncture course I will be heading will offer healthcare practitioners specialising in female health the opportunity to offer exceptional care to their patients.

Keep an eye out for my practical masterclasses (training days) as a follow-on to the comprehensive eLearning courses., and if you’d like to learn more about Endocrinology and Women’s Health Acupuncture eLearning course for continuing professional development (CPD), please take a look at the course details for further information.