Bristol is well supplied with complimentary therapists. Despite the costs incurred, increasing numbers of people are seeking alternative methods of maintaining and restoring their health and levels of well being. Even though many alternative practices are provided without any definite claims as to the efficacy of the treatment, people in their numbers are still willing to commit to alternative treatment plans.

It is interesting to note that, within a country that has a free national health system, people are still willing to pay for treatments that often do not make any definite claims about the expected results that can be obtained. It is clear that word of mouth is one of the reasons that complimentary health uptake has been so dramatic. A commendation from a trusted friend is, after all, the most likely thing to sway our opinions.

Acupuncture is one of the most popular alternative treatments being chosen. This ancient art has been practiced for thousands of years in the East, but has only been recently introduced to the West. But, despite only being broadly available in the UK for a matter of decades, it has proven to be exceptionally popular.

As treatments can take up to an hour to perform, and because the client is usually being treated by a dedicated practitioner, the cost of a session can be quite high. This has meant that it has been prohibitively expensive for people within the low income brackets.

Occasionally it is possible to be referred by a GP for acupuncture treatment, the cost of which will be borne by the NHS. But the number of surgeries that offer this service are very few and far between.

Thankfully, a number of acupuncturists in Bristol have hit upon the idea of creating an open plan space where more than one patient can be treated simultaneously. This means that the therapist is able to initiate a treatment and then move on to another client and perform a different treatment, thereby allowing the preceding client the time to take advantage of the work that has been performed without the need for the therapist to sit idly by whilst they wait for the benefits to be reaped. Alternating in this way can considerably cut the cost of treatment provision.

As large proportions of time within a session are normally spent waiting for treatment to take effect, this has previously meant that therapists have been effectively charging the client for the time that they are not providing treatment as well as the time that they are.

The introduction of an open plan treatment space now means that acupuncture in Bristol can be accessed by people who previously could not afford a one to one treatment.