Lydia Howarth

About Lydia

Lydia practises in Ealing and has lived in the borough for more than 20 years. Lydia practices Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture and, by addressing the root cause of the condition, can both help alleviate specific symptoms as well as improve general well-being. Acupuncture is a safe, natural, drug-free treatment which is often a route for a return to fuller life and something that patients then persuade their friends and relatives to try.

Lydia graduated with BSc (Honours) from the University of Westminster in Chinese Medicine : Acupuncture. The course comprehensively covered not only Chinese Medicine but also a substantial training in western medical science. Lydia is a member of British Acupuncture Council (BAcC). Therefore she is governed by their codes of conduct, safe practice and requirements for Continuing Professional Development.

Lydia has both a post-graduate Diploma in Gynaecology, Fertility & Obstetrics and also a post-graduate Diploma in Paediatric acupuncture from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (CICM) in Reading. Lydia is an accredited practitioner for Anxiety UK and has also practised at the Mulberry centre, a cancer care charity which is based on the site of West Middlesex Hospital.

Lydia’s youngest son was born early and was very poorly. After lifesaving surgery immediately after he was born and a prolonged period in intensive care, Lydia brought home a very fragile and chronically ill baby. It was in trying to improve his health that Lydia came across acupuncture. In short the NHS had saved her son’s life but his quality of life was very poor. Acupuncture, over many years, has been able to address this. He now enjoys life to the full – his favourite activities being trampolining, swimming and rock climbing. The profound effect that acupuncture had on her son meant that Lydia decided to change her career - from being a social worker to acupuncturist - with the intent of helping others to find improved health.

About the BAcC

The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), has a membership of nearly 3,000 professionally qualified acupuncturists. It is the UK’s largest professional body for the practice of acupuncture. BAcC members practise a traditional, holistic style of acupuncture diagnosis and treatment based on a system developed and refined over 2,000 years. To achieve BAcC membership, practitioners must first undertake extensive training in traditional acupuncture (minimum three years full-time or part-time equivalent), which includes physiology, anatomy and other biomedical sciences appropriate to the practice of acupuncture.

Since February 2013, patients and the public have been able to choose an acupuncturist belonging to a register vetted and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care. The British Acupuncture Council's (BAcC) register has been accredited under a new scheme set up by the Department of Health and administered by an independent body which is accountable to Parliament. Acupuncturists on the BAcC’s register are able to display the Accredited Voluntary Register quality mark, a sign that they belong to a register which meets the Professional Standards Authority’s robust standards.