Steve Bailey Acupuncture CPD Courses

Refresh, refine and advance your clinical acupuncture skills with this focused Acupuncture and Cupping CPD Update, combining flexible online learning with an intensive one-day practical workshop.

Designed for physiotherapists and clinicians who already have acupuncture or dry needling training, this CPD programme focuses on the practical application of medical acupuncture and dry cupping therapy for common musculoskeletal and pain presentations.

The course combines current evidence with clinical reasoning, point selection and hands-on practice, helping you move beyond simply following standard treatment protocols and make more informed decisions about which points and techniques to use, why you are using them and how treatment should be adapted to the individual patient.

What Will the Acupuncture CPD Update Cover?

The programme focuses on four commonly encountered clinical presentations:

Neck and Shoulder Pain

Explore local, segmental and distal approaches to treating neck and shoulder disorders. Practical sessions will allow you to refine point location, needle placement and treatment techniques. You will discover how to combine acupuncture and cupping therapy to improve active joint ROM of the neck and shoulder. 

Acupuncture for the management of headaches

Headaches are common disabling disorders that affect a large proportion of the population daily. Acupuncture is an effective treatment modality for the management of headaches and has been found to be equal to or better than medication. The acupuncture CPD update will allow you to understand the patterns of headaches and headache classifications in accordance with national guidelines. A critical understanding of the current evidence to support the use of acupuncture for tension-type headaches and migraine prophylaxis will be discussed before building your understanding of how to formulate an acupuncture treatment plan based on headache patterns.

Acupuncture for acute and chronic lower back pain

Lower back pain is the leading cause of years lived with disability and remains a significant global public health concern. 

Review acupuncture approaches for managing acute and persistent lower back pain, with emphasis on clinical reasoning, appropriate point selection and integrating acupuncture with your wider physiotherapy management programme.

Tennis Elbow / Lateral Elbow Pain

Review practical acupuncture strategies for lateral elbow pain, including local and distal point selection, needling techniques and adapting treatment according to the patient's clinical presentation and response.

Introducing Dry Cupping Therapy

The 2027 CPD update introduces the clinical application of dry cupping therapy within musculoskeletal physiotherapy.

You will explore:

• Principles and physiological effects of dry cupping
• Equipment selection
• Safe application and contraindications
• Medium and stronger suction techniques
• Treatment dosage
• Application to myofascial and musculoskeletal presentations
• Combining dry cupping with medical acupuncture
• Practical application for shoulder and lower back disorders

The aim is not simply to teach a cupping technique, but to help you understand when cupping may be appropriate, how much treatment to apply and how it can complement acupuncture and other physiotherapy interventions.

Flexible Online Learning Before the Workshop

Your training begins before the practical day.

The self-directed online learning programme provides the theoretical and evidence-informed foundation for the workshop and can be completed at your own pace, at a time and location convenient to you.

The online material explores the principles and evidence underpinning acupuncture and cupping for the conditions covered during the practical workshop.

Completing the theoretical component beforehand means that more of the face-to-face day can be devoted to clinical application, point location, needling, cupping and practical treatment planning.

Continued Access to Your Learning

Your learning does not finish when the practical workshop ends.

Following the CPD update, you will retain access to the online training materials, allowing you to revisit the course whenever you need a refresher or want to review a particular treatment approach.

A Practical, Clinically Focused Workshop

The face-to-face workshop is designed to translate theory into everyday clinical practice.

Rather than spending the day sitting through lectures, the emphasis will be on developing and refining your practical skills.

During the workshop, you will practise:

• Accurate acupuncture point location
• Safe and effective needling
• Refining needle angle and technique
• Local, segmental and distal point selection
• Selecting points according to the clinical presentation
• Dry cupping application and suction techniques
• Combining acupuncture and cupping
• Developing appropriate treatment strategies
• Modifying treatment according to patient response

The aim is to help you return to clinic with greater confidence in your point selection, needling technique and clinical reasoning.

What Will You Gain From the Course?

By the end of the Acupuncture and Cupping CPD Update, you should be better able to:

• Apply current clinical reasoning to acupuncture point selection.
• Improve the accuracy and confidence of your acupuncture point location.
• Refine your needling techniques for common musculoskeletal presentations.
• Select appropriate local, segmental and distal acupuncture points.
• Apply dry cupping safely within musculoskeletal practice.
• Select an appropriate level of cupping suction and treatment dosage.
• Combine acupuncture and cupping where clinically appropriate.
• Develop treatment strategies for lower back, neck, shoulder and lateral elbow pain.
• Apply acupuncture approaches to selected headache presentations.
• Reassess patient response and adapt subsequent treatments appropriately.
• Integrate acupuncture and cupping alongside your existing physiotherapy treatment and rehabilitation strategies.