The anchor of our clinic. Hair-thin, sterile, single-use needles placed along meridian lines mapped by two thousand years of Chinese physicians — verified on your pulse and tongue the morning you walk in.
Acupuncture, in the classical Chinese sense, is neither a trick of endorphins nor a gentle placebo. It is a system of palpation, pattern recognition, and precise needle placement that was already mature when the Huangdi Neijing was compiled two millennia ago. At Synergy Meridian Clinic we practise it the way Dr. Evelyn Chua was trained to in Nanjing — slowly, with a stethoscope in one hand and a notebook in the other, and without any pretence that a single session can undo a decade of jeepney posture.
Every visit begins with diagnosis, not with needling. Dr. Chua or one of our senior physicians reads the six pulses at each wrist, examines the tongue under the west-facing daylight, and asks about sleep, bowel habits, menstrual cycle, and the particular weather-day on which the pain first started. Only then does point selection begin. We keep a working map of more than 360 classical points; a typical treatment uses 30 or so needles drawn from that map — chosen for their location on specific meridians, their traditional action, and the way each one feels under the fingertip on the day of treatment. A point that was correct last Tuesday may be quiet today. The body is a moving text.
Modern filiform needles are finer than a human hair — between 0.20 and 0.30 millimetres — drawn from surgical-grade stainless steel, individually sealed in sterile packets, used once, then disposed of in biohazard sharps containers. Most patients describe the sensation as a dull warmth spreading from the point, the classical deqi arrival of qi. It is rarely painful; many patients fall asleep mid-session while the ceiling fan turns slowly overhead.
We draw a firm line between acupuncture as a medical intervention and acupuncture as wellness décor. If you are here for a frozen shoulder, sciatica radiating along a specific branch of the sacral plexus, cervical spondylosis aggravated by screen work, or post-stroke weakness down one side of the body, we will build a protocol — not a vibe. Our broader approach to joint and pain care runs through this room first; many patients layer dry fire cupping on top when the upper back asks for it, or go deeper into internal patterning with a herbal consultation.
You check in at our fourth-floor reception in Perfecto Building. Warm water or roasted barley tea is offered. The physician takes your pulse at both wrists — twelve positions, three depths each — before any paperwork begins.
A fifteen-minute dialogue: when the pain began, what worsens it, how you sleep, how you digest, your commute, your desk setup. Pattern diagnosis in TCM is built from exactly these small details.
The tongue is examined under daylight. From pulse and tongue we build a written pattern diagnosis and prescribe eight to sixteen points for today's session.
You lie on a padded table, usually prone first then supine. Each needle is taken fresh from a sealed sterile packet. Insertion is swift; retention is twenty to thirty minutes. Most patients drift into the half-sleep we call the acupuncture trance.
Selected needles are rotated or lifted to deepen the arrival of qi. A heat lamp or a strip of moxa may be positioned over a cold-patterned knee or lower back. You rest in silence.
The physician writes notes on your paper chart, discusses how you may feel that evening (drowsy is normal; soreness is rare), and sets the next visit in three, five, or seven days.
Every first visit includes a full TCM consultation. Follow-ups are shorter but equally thorough on pulse reading and point selection.
"The superior physician treats what is already present in the tongue and the pulse, and listens for what the patient has not yet named."— Paraphrase of the Huangdi Neijing, Su Wen, Chapter 2
Rarely. The needles are finer than a strand of hair. You may feel a small warmth, heaviness, or tingle at the point of arrival — the classical deqi — but it is not pain. Most patients doze off during retention.
Always. Each needle is drawn from its individually sealed, factory-sterilised packet at the moment of use, then dropped into a biohazard sharps container. We never reuse a needle and never reshape or re-sterilise one in-clinic.
For an acute flare, two to four sessions often suffice. For chronic patterns such as cervical spondylosis or longstanding knee osteoarthritis, we generally recommend the six-session Meridian Series with a re-assessment at session three. We explain the reasoning in our notes on chronic joint pain.
During pregnancy many points are adjusted or avoided; we do accept pregnant patients for specific indications. For patients on warfarin, aspirin, or DOACs we use the finest gauges and avoid deep insertions. Tell your physician about every medication at intake.
Loose clothing that can roll up past the knee and elbow. We provide clean draping gowns for upper-body or back work. No jewellery on the area being needled.
We do not book acupuncture without first meeting you. The initial visit is as much about listening as it is about needling — it sets the rhythm for everything that follows.
Book a first visit