A new clinic offering acupuncture, Pilates and various other forms of holistic care opened in a North East town this week.

Claire Thornton, 35, who trained in Thai massage in the US and Asia, said she was excited to bring Healing Flow Clinic to The Green in Norton after it opened on Monday (October 9).

She said she first started operating with Healing Flow in 2017 out of a small room on the town's High Street.

She said she was pleased to be a part of Norton's community which has many woman-led businesses - and cited The Green Florist, The Sewing Studio, and Blackwells as those she was happy to be joining.

Read more: Woman in hospital after Broadwell Road, Middlesbrough crash

The Northern Echo:

Ms Thornton said: "In my late teens and early 20s, I did a lot of travelling. I worked in America and went to South East Asia, I trained there in Thai massage.

"I was working on a yoga retreat there and met a lady who did acupuncture, I came back to England to do my degree in Chinese medicine, and from there, it just exploded.

"We specialise in acupuncture treatments for muscular tension, and depression, people come to us for grief.

"We're just a safe space and an alternative to any Western medicine as well. We're just to be a community more than anything.

Read more: Fusión Mexicana opens in Darlington Market to rave reviews

The Northern Echo:

"Instead of taking paracetamol for your ongoing headaches, you can come and see us, and we can see if it's more stress-related or pressure in the neck. It's an alternative.

"It's a nice complement, a different route on how you can treat yourself."

Ms Thornton stressed it is not a strict replacement for traditional medicine, and serves as another method to help people.

She said the Stockton clinic also offers acupuncture to support those undergoing IVF and claimed this is 'helpful' for those undergoing the process. 

She said this is supported by other treatments such as massage, reflexology, and other methods.

Other treatments the clinic offers include pregnancy massage, sports massage, non-surgical facelifts, and body contouring.

The Northern Echo:

Read next:

Get more news, politics and entertainment coverage from The Northern Echo with a subscription. Click here.

The Northern Echo:

The clinic also hosts a yoga studio on the floor below which works in tandem with the holistic treatments offered, and will host classes running throughout the day between 8am and 7:15pm.

The business will be open from 10am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday.

The clinic has taken over the building which used to house Good Taste, and coincidentally, the owner of the previous store and her daughter were the clinic's first clients.