James was a man of ample girth, a big bloke with a headache and neck pain to match. One look at his tongue (very red with a thick phlegmy coat) was enough to tell me he was subject to large doses of anger and irritability. His headaches were pretty well constant and a heavy smoking habit wasn’t exactly making a positive contribution to his health. The first treatment I gave him was straight acupuncture. He walked out free of pain (and with a dumbfounded look on his face). Ten weeks later he came back, saying he’d had no headaches or neck pain for three days after the treatment, but they had both gradually returned to intense levels. This time I repeated the acupuncture treatment and added a sliding cup guasha. This technique disperses inflammation in the back, moving fluids and thereby draining the metabolic waste products which accumulate in the tissues. Two weeks later, James came back for another go. He’d been feeling brilliant for the past fortnight; his persistent anger had dissolved and he wasn’t smoking as much! Oh ... and no more headaches either!