Bellingen’s Community Acupuncture and Shiatsu clinic will begin a special service to treat macular degeneration and other eye problems at the Bellingen CWA hall every Wednesday.
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The community clinic was the first such clinic in regional Australia and has been held at the CWA hall for the last eight years with Bellingen acupuncturist/Chinese medicine herbalist Paul Nebauer and acupuncturist/shiatsu therapist Matt Sincock.
Matt and Paul are able to offer treatment at reduced rates by treating up to six people in succession.
“It’s very similar to acupuncture clinics in China, which are basically big hospital wards with up to 20 beds attended by a team of acupuncture doctors,” Matt said. “What we do is smaller and more intimate, but it has the same friendliness and sense of sharing that makes coming to the clinic a really enjoyable experience.”
Paul has had a keen interest in eye disorders, particularly macular degeneration, for the past 15 years, and recently had an article published in The Lantern, an Australian-based Chinese medicine magazine distributed internationally.
The article described the case histories of two local women, one with a retinal tear and cataracts and the other with advanced “wet” and “dry” macular degeneration, whose conditions both responded very favourably to acupuncture and Chinese herbs.
“One had a retinal tear, which responded within two weeks: I was very surprised and she was very pleased,” Paul said. “The other patient had a long history of wet and dry macular degeneration that had not responded to injections, but she actually regained central vision and improved two lines on the vision chart.”
“The community clinic is the perfect vehicle for treating these conditions, because in general people need at least 10 treatments to get any benefit and doing it in the community clinic keeps the costs down.”
Herbs are provided at cost plus a small mixing fee through the clinic on an individual basis, depending on the particular needs of each person.
The community clinic runs every Wednesday from 9 am to 3pm. Matt can be contacted on 0427 539 382 and Paul on 0456 551 011. Bookings are not essential for acupuncture, but texting in advance can help avoid waiting too long. Paul is happy to email copies of his article entitled “A Tale of Two Orbits” on request.
