ONCE upon a time, it was mostly women who volunteered to have pins stuck into them on purpose in the name of being healthy. But now men are into it too, and partly thanks to royalty, thinks Eloise Coulson, one of London's top acupuncturists, who is talking me through her client base from her white studio in central London.
"I'd say at least 50 per cent of them are now men, which definitely wasn't the case in student clinic, unless someone's wife or girlfriend sent them along," Coulson says. "Maybe it's things like the King being a real advocate of complementary medicine." She meets me at the Soho branch of Third Space, a fancy gym where running machines are flanked by booklined walls, and the members walk around looking astonishingly composed and groomed while breaking a sweat during the classes taking place on the mezzanine floors.
Tucked away in Coulson's rather more calm corner in the medical department, the acupuncture bed is winking invitingly at me, but first she is running through her consultation and I'm asking her questions about her work and life less ordinary.
Coulson starting work young, leaving Yorkshire for London to become a model at 18. "It was fun, it was typical of the Nineties, but I always took it for what it was," she says. "At the end of the day, I was playing dress-up, not saving the world, so I just saw it as a way of travelling - but with friends and a life outside of it." It turns out that the groundwork for her working in acupuncture was laid long ago, starting with the desire to be a doctor while at school, and she returned to her medical leanings after deciding at 25 to ease off the globetrotting and modelling, instead studying to be an osteopath.
Denne historien er fra May 13, 2024-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 13, 2024-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis