I moved to the Highlands from London 20 years ago to enjoy a healthier lifestyle, lots of hill walking, cycling and organic gardening as well as to bring up my daughters in a more natural environment. I can see a few patients and then climb the mountain behind my house, cycle into the wilderness, swim in the river or pick some organic vegetables from my garden.

This is a picture of my treatment room at home, it has a lovely view into my rather wild garden and down the glen, where I live. It is not the most practical place to have a clinic, out in the sticks, 7 miles from the nearest town and the roads can be icy in the winter, however, many patients choose to see me here as it is so quiet and peaceful, the only distruption may be baaing sheep and occasionally roaring deer, there are no parking problems and appointments are very relaxed, I can see people at odd times if they are desperate for treatment and work to suit my time and my patients’.  I also have clinics in two nearby towns  of Inverness and Dingwall, where I can enjoy the company of other therapists and offer more accessible treatment opportunities. But it is the room at home that has all my certificates,  the things I brought back from China, all my most treasured books, charts and a big medicine cabinet full of Chinese herbs.

Having a clinic at home used to be more disruptive to family life, having to ask my daughters to be quiet and endlessly tidying up, but now that they are older and often not at home this is no longer a problem. I do still get into a bit of a cleaning frenzy just before clients come, but I only make sure the bit they walk through and their bathroom is kept as clean and as tidy as I can.

I must admit that social media, blogging etc. is not my strong point. I love reading and learning more about my patient’s conditions and have just started blogging on my new mobile friendly website, hopefully I will keep this up, but I do find constant Facebook posts about other people’s businesses very annoying and would not like to inflict that on my patients, so a happy medium will have to be found. Finding a a reasonably priced mobile system for card payment that I can use at all my practices has so far alluded me, they are all so expensive, one practice has no mobile signal and another has slow wifi , so  finding a good solution is hard!

I have never regretted moving up here form London, I know if I had stayed I would have busier clinics and would also be teaching, however I have opted for lifestyle over work and have overall been happy with that choice. I go to London to visit regularly and catch up with courses, old acupuncture friends etc, I love it for about 3 days and then am desperate to leave. I could not go back to that crazy, overcrowded life, but take my hat off to those who have stayed and made the best of it.

The Guardian Saturday 8th October 2016 “Scientists have uncovered the first evidence that ovaries may be able to grow new eggs in adulthood.

If confirmed, the discovery would over-turn the accepted view that women are born with a fixed number of eggs and that the body has no capacity to increase this supply.

Until now this has been the main constraint on the female reproductive lifespan. The findings, if replicated, would raise the the prospect of new treatments to allow older women to conceive and for infertility problems in younger women.”

Could this be where natural treatments like acupuncture, herbal medicine, reflexology, carefully chosen diet and supplements could help? Have we got it all wrong that once your eggs are used up that is it or that if your egg quality is poor you have no chance. Books such as “ It starts with the egg: How the science of egg quality can help you get pregnant and prevent miscarriage” by Rebecca Fett may really be true and egg quality and number could be improved and increased naturally. Hopefully there will be more research soon and more answers for all those desperate couples wanting to have children. Read the article, read the book and see what you think.