Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Biography

Carina Harkin has 20 years of experience in Clinical Practice. She is the world’s first triple degree Graduate in Complementary Medicine having completed 3x4 year level 8 Bachelor of Health Sciences in Naturopathy (Nutrition and Herbal Medicine), Acupuncture and Homeopathy at Australian College of Natural Medicine and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health at UCC. She has worked as an Acupuncturist in Public Health at Box Hill Hospital, Melbourne Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Unit. Recently, she worked as a Sports Nutritionist and Acupuncturist for The Crocs-an Australian Football League team. 

Abstract

A trial was conducted among patients admitted to the Emergency Department of The Northern Hospital, Epping, Melbourne, Australia to assess the potential of acupuncture to reduce waiting times, reduce pain and satisfy the desire of patients to see complementary medicine within mainstream healthcare. 45 patients were randomly assigned to an acupuncture group (32) and a conventional treatment group (13). Comparison of the physiological parameters following treatment revealed no significant differences between the two groups (table 1). These results demonstrate that acupuncture and conventional treatment are equally effective to reduce pain. However, the acupuncture group received a significantly higher rate of patient satisfaction with the treatment. Author will discuss the methodology, materials used, acupuncture procedures and techniques including what she describes as active puncture points to alleviate acute pain.