An Integrative, Personalised Approach to Your Care
You can learn more about the treatments available by exploring the options below. Practitioner Helen Trill takes an integrative, individualised approach to your care, selecting the most appropriate techniques based on your unique condition or injury following a thorough consultation and assessment.
While acupuncture is often the primary treatment, it is frequently combined with other modalities—such as sports massage, cupping, or electro-acupuncture—particularly for musculoskeletal and pain-related conditions. For other concerns, a gentler approach may be more suitable such as Zen Shiatsu or in many cases, acupuncture alone. Herbal medicine formulas may also be prescribed.
Clients benefit not only from Helen’s extensive acupuncture training, but also from her background as a researcher, her experience across multiple treatment modalities, and her clinical training in both the UK and China. This allows treatments to be informed by traditional wisdom, modern research, and practical clinical experience.
Appointments typically last 40–60 minutes, including consultation and treatment. After your session, Helen will discuss an ongoing treatment plan and offer guidance on self-care to support your progress between appointments. Clients get free access to the 'Jing' self-care App.
If you prefer, you are welcome to request a specific treatment from the list below. With over a decade of clinical experience and a broad skill set, Helen is dedicated to supporting you in feeling more comfortable, balanced, and at ease in your body.
Learn More About Our Treatment Modalities
Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) Acupuncture
A Safe and Effective Approach to Health
More and more people are turning to acupuncture, supported both by personal experience and a growing body of modern research that complements its 3,000-year history of clinical use and refinement. It is widely recognised as a safe and effective treatment for many common health concerns and is now recommended by the NHS for managing several chronic pain conditions. Acupuncture can be especially helpful when symptoms have not fully responded to medication alone.
How Acupuncture Works
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture views the body as an interconnected system, where physical, emotional, and energetic balance supports health. Central to this system is Qi (pronounced “chee”), often described as vital energy, which flows along pathways called meridians. While Western medicine does not use the concept of Qi, many cultures recognise a similar idea of energy. Modern research suggests that meridians may follow water-rich fascia, the connective tissue sheets linking muscles, organs, and nerves, providing pathways for communication throughout the body.
Fascia is piezoelectric, meaning it can generate small electrical currents when stretched or stimulated. This may help explain how acupuncture influences the nervous system, improves circulation, and supports the body’s natural healing and regulatory processes.
Stress, injury, illness, or long-term strain can disrupt the flow of Qi or blood, leading to pain, tension, or other symptoms. Acupuncture uses very fine, sterile needles at specific points to gently stimulate these pathways, encouraging relaxation, self-regulation, and recovery. Where appropriate, electro-acupuncture may be used to provide a mild, continuous stimulation.
Research shows that acupuncture can trigger the release of endorphins and neurotransmitters, helping to reduce pain, calm the nervous system, and improve mood. By combining a systems-based perspective with thousands of years of clinical experience, acupuncture offers a treatment that addresses the body on multiple interconnected levels, with benefits supported by both tradition and modern science.
Benefits of Acupuncture
Acupuncture supports the body’s natural ability to regulate, repair, and rebalance itself. It offers a gentle, holistic approach to health and can be helpful on its own or alongside conventional medical care.
Acupuncture may help to:
- Reduce pain, inflammation, and muscle tension
- Relax muscles and connective tissue
- Improve circulation
- Calm the nervous system and support stress regulation
- Regulate stress hormones such as cortisol
- Trigger the release of endorphins and other natural pain-relieving chemicals
- Support recovery from long-term or complex health conditions
For example, in conditions such as arthritis, acupuncture may help reduce swelling, ease stiffness, and improve mobility. Because acupuncture works with the whole body, treatments are always tailored to your individual symptoms, health history, lifestyle, and goals.
How Acupuncture Can Help You
People seek acupuncture for a wide range of concerns, including:
- Stress, anxiety, and low mood
- Sleep problems and fatigue
- Back, neck, and shoulder pain
- Joint pain and arthritis
- Migraines and headaches
- Fibromyalgia
- Digestive issues such as IBS
- Women’s health concerns, including painful or irregular periods and menopausal symptoms
NICE (the NHS’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) now recommends acupuncture for several chronic pain conditions, including migraines, fibromyalgia, endometriosis-related pain, lower back pain, sciatica, neuropathic pain, and arthritis.
Zen Shiatsu Body Work
Shiatsu is a Japanese therapeutic technique that combines advanced acupressure with energy work. Based on the principles of both Chinese and Japanese medicine, Shiatsu is practiced worldwide and serves as an excellent complement or alternative to acupuncture.
During a Shiatsu session, I mostly use my hands, but may also use my elbows, and knees, along with Qi projection, to target specific acupuncture points along the meridians. The treatment incorporates gentle stretching and rotational movements to stimulate the body’s natural healing and self-regulating functions, promoting overall wellness.
Shiatsu is a great option for individuals who are sensitive to stronger forms of massage or needles, as it is a gentle therapy that remains highly effective. Many patients report feeling significantly more relaxed, experiencing improved sleep, reduced tension, less pain, and a greater sense of overall ease and well-being after a series of treatments.
Herbal Medicine
I also offer prescriptions for high-quality, standardised herbal medicine formulas. These carefully formulated blends, based on well established traditional Chinese medicine formulas but modified to fit our western current day lifestyles, are prescribed following a full consultation and are selected to support your individual constitution and health goals. The supplier we use manufactures these formulas to rigorous quality and safety standards, making them a reliable and effective treatment on their own, or as a complement to acupuncture and other treatments within an integrative care approach.
Sports Massage
Sports massage was originally developed to support athletes with performance, recovery, and injury prevention, particularly in sports involving repetitive movement such as running, cycling, racquet sports, and weight training. These activities can place ongoing strain on muscles, joints, and connective tissues.
Helen often incorporates sports massage techniques within acupuncture treatments, especially for back pain and musculoskeletal injuries. This hands-on approach not only helps relieve tension and pain, but also allows areas of restriction or imbalance to be assessed and treated more effectively with acupuncture or cupping if needed. While sports massage is ideal for active people and athletes, it is equally beneficial for anyone with pain, stiffness, or reduced mobility.
Drawing on her additional training in musculoskeletal assessment, Helen tailors each treatment using a combination of techniques such as deep tissue work, trigger point therapy, myofascial release, stretching, and lymphatic massage.
Sports massage can help to:
- Reduce pain and muscle tension
- Support recovery from injury
- Improve flexibility and range of motion
- Increase circulation and tissue health
- Reduce the risk of future injury
Cupping Therapy
Cupping therapy involves placing glass or plastic cups on the skin and creating gentle suction. This helps to lift and decompress the tissues, encouraging improved circulation and release of tension in the muscles and connective tissue (fascia). While cupping can leave temporary circular marks—similar to bruises—it is not painful, and many people find the sensation deeply relaxing.
The marks indicate areas where circulation has been restricted or tissues have been under strain. By drawing blood to the surface, cupping helps improve oxygen and nutrient delivery to the area, supporting the body’s natural healing processes. Over a course of treatment, these marks typically become lighter and resolve more quickly as tissue health improves.
Cupping is widely used by athletes to aid recovery, reduce muscle tightness, and support performance, but it is equally beneficial for non-athletes. It is commonly used for chronic back and neck pain, arthritis, muscle fatigue, asthma, poor circulation, and general tension or stagnation in the body.
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Bubbling Spring Acupuncture Clinic
9 Allan Avenue, Stanground, Peterborough, PE2 8TP