About

Find out about Sandra Brett and her passion for acupuncture and healing.

Hi, I’m Sandra Brett.

My reason for practicing Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and Natural Healthcare is the passion and gratitude I experience each day, helping people, by treating their symptoms of ill health and assisting their recovery from a wide range of conditions to achieving their own optimal health and wellbeing.

My personal experience with acupuncture and nutrition led me to pursue this as a second career .

I am passionate about helping clients achieve optimal health through a holistic integrative approach. My expertise in acupuncture spans over 12 years, managing a busy practice in Galway where I worked along with the renowned Aine Delaney Lic. Acupuncturist RGN in the Crane Clinic. This experience, combined with my knowledge of Western medicine as a Registered General and Critical Care Nurse for over 15 years, allows me to provide comprehensive treatment plans that address the root cause of your health concerns. I am dedicated in providing compassionate and confidential care and committed to staying up to date with the latest research and techniques in acupuncture, always looking for new ways to improve client outcomes.

I have always been interested in people and fascinated by the overall functioning of the human body encompassing the Physical, Mental, and Emotional elements. Driven by a need to understand the tremendous self-healing capacity and regeneration after injuries and disease, led me to begin my career by initially studying General Nursing in Sligo then furthering my education and experience in Critical Care Nursing in Sligo, Sydney, London and eventually Galway University hospital ICU for over fifteen years.

I also had an interest in pharmacology and diversified my career by working for a large pharmaceutical company, managing the northwest region of Ireland. My role was to educate General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, and Pharmacists on our pharmaceutical products .

As long as I can remember, I have been passionate about working with people in a healing capacity. I began with studying Naturopathic Nutrition to educate myself and others on the importance of food as a type of natural medicine.

I then discovered the benefits of Chinese medicine and Acupuncture in the aftermath of a road traffic accident. I first tried acupuncture to relieve some of my symptoms from my neck injury and debilitating migraines. I achieved fast relief, and within weeks I returned to optimal health. I was so impressed and curious about Acupuncture, an eastern medical system, that I decided to study Acupuncture and Chinese medicine as a more comprehensive holistic medical system. It gave me a much-enhanced understanding of the human body by looking at overall heath from an Eastern and Western perspective combined.

I love what I do, and I am grateful to be able to share my knowledge, experience, and expertise to help clients to resolve symptoms of acute and chronic illnesses and restore clients to optimal health. My goal is to improve the health and quality of life in the community, and to share the benefits of Acupuncture with as many as possible.

I am a member of the Acupuncture Council of Ireland, and I am also a registered general nurse with An Bord Altranais.

I relocated to Strandhill which I now call home, between the mountain and the sea, with my husband and our two girls. I enjoy exploring and running through the beautiful landscape. I also love yoga, Qi gong and, most of all, I love being part of an amazing welcoming community.

I treat all conditions listed by World Health Organisation as recommended for Acupuncture.

I have worked with the Simon Community in Galway to deliver Acupuncture treatment to some of their clients working with symptoms of addiction, trauma in some cases with profound results.

Training in Nanjing, China

In 2013, I had a great opportunity to complete a course in Clinical Practice in Acupuncture and Children’s Acupuncture at the China Nanjing International Acupuncture Training Centre.

I studied a post graduate programme in Nanjing University, split between Clinical Practice and observation in a main hospital under the renowned Dr. Wang.

The experience and knowledge gained from this course is invaluable to my practice. My clinical experience included outpatient appointments for a variety of medical conditions e.g. from hypertension to inpatient appointments including Acute Stroke Acupuncture programmes delivering daily acupuncture to post stroke patients while observing improvements in their symptoms within days and weeks.

Completing this has furthered my clinical skills and helped me deliver quicker and exceptionally effective results.

I have particular interest and vast experience in many conditions including:

Personally, I believe Migraine can be one of the most severe, debilitating, frightening types of pain to experience. They can cause a major negative impact to one’s quality of life. Migraine is one of the most common disabling neurological disorders, characterized by recurrent episodes of moderate to severe headaches, accompanied by emotional and cognitive symptoms. The cause of migraine is complex and related to genetic, environmental, and endogenous factors. Approximately 10% of the population suffer from migraine. Thankfully, acupuncture has been shown to be an effective treatment for Migraine and Headaches superior to medication in some randomised controlled trials with much less side effects.

A Randomized Clinical Trial on Acupuncture Versus Best Medical Therapy from the University of Bologna, Italy 2021 was done, comparing acupuncture with the more appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis. Data suggested that Acupuncture could be adopted as migraine prophylaxis and seem to be slightly superior to pharmacological treatment in compliance and rate of adverse events. This data suggested that acupuncture could show a prolonged benefit also after Acupuncture session suspension.

One randomized controlled trial on 160 women with migraine, compared acupuncture with flunarizine (medication to treat migraine) over 6 months and found that frequency of attacks and use of symptomatic drugs significantly decreased during treatment in both groups, with a lower migraine frequency after 2 and 4 months in the acupuncture group than in the pharmacological one.

I have a deep understanding of this condition/ disease/ diagnosis from my time working as a nurse. I was invited to deliver a presentation on The Benefits of Acupuncture in treating symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis to Consultant Neurologists and Neuro Clinical Nurse Specialists in Galway as part of their continual professional development (CPD).

I have given talks on the benefits of Acupuncture to the Parkinsons association Galway.

I have treated this condition on multiple occasions, with multiple clients. I have studied this syndrome in depth and have learned significant insights into the treatment of it.

I have a special interest and clinical expertise in Depression, Anxiety, Low mood, Mood swings, Trauma and bereavement working in collaboration with GPs when necessary.

Stress Incontinence, Endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS, painful periods, heavy periods menorrhagia.

Hot flushes, Insomnia, mood swings, low mood, lack of motivation, lack of confidence, fatigue, and brain fog.

All types including Neck, shoulder, knee, and back pain.

Sandra Brett – Education

  • Registered General Nurse, St. Angela’s College, and Sligo General Hospital, 1998.
  • ENB 100 Intensive Care, at Thames Valley University, London, 2002.
  • Pharmaceutical Representative for pharmaceutical company managing North West of Ireland, 2002-2005.
  • Certificate with merit in Naturopathic Nutrition in 2006. (Six-month course with the Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Dublin).
  • Diploma in ‘Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’ a three-year programme – Dr. Vincent Carroll at the Lansdowne College of Acupuncture,. 2007- 2010.
  • Certificate in ‘Clinical Medicine’ – Dr. Vincent Carroll at the Lansdowne College of Acupuncture in 2010.
  • Postgraduate Certificate Clinical practice in Acupuncture and Children’s Paediatric Acupuncture at the China Nanjing International Acupuncture Training Centre, 2013
  • Certificate in Tuina Massage for babies and children, 2011
  • Cosmetic Acupuncture in 2011.
  • 1 day seminar with world renowned Giovanni Macciocia in Acupuncture and patent Herbal medicine Dublin.
  • Weekend course in Pregnancy with Claudia Citkovitz, Nov 2019.
  • Acupuncture and Acupressure for Perinatal Care.