So now, that I'm an adult...why did I sign myself up for Acupuncture?
Because I have issues. Pain, to be specific and a couple of other things including a slipped disc, guitar thumb (brought on by 40 years of guitar playing, and 30 of those years were played on a 12-string, with extra hand pressure). Also I suffer from occasional bouts depression (even though I hide it well) and the yearly asthma attack. You know, normal shit.
I've recently been able to acquire insurance (through Obamacare) and it allowed our self employed selves- me and my mate- to go get physicals for the first time in about 15 years. .
Actually, I'm really very healthy, with a BP daily reading of about 95/65! After tests for Rhuematiod Arthritis came back negative (yay! but ...wtf? why the pain then?), in the month of May, I decided to eliminate some possible food culprits as the cause.
So I stopped eating dairy, wheat, sugar, soy and alcohol. After 12 days, I had a glass of red wine, and it seems to not be a problem for me. (Thank you, Bacchus :)
Still achey though. Better but the pain still hanging on. Chiropractor has been helping a lot for years. I am not averse to Alternative therapies. After hearing so many good things from others lately about Acupuncture I decided it was worth a shot. (Literally :)
Hey, any medical practice that has survived with a good reputation for 2500 years has to have some merits!
My trusted L.M.T. (Licensed massage therapist) recommended her own Acupuncturist who also happens to live in our area. Kewl! The lady has her Masters in Chinese Medicine. (how wondrous is THAT?) and also, it's from our local New York Chiropractic College, in Seneca Falls.
Live global, buy local. :)
I got myself all scrubbed and tubbed after a leisurely morning. Went and found her office next to the flower shop. It was a busy little health center that I had never noticed its presence before. Talia, my practitioner, was sweet, gregarious and thorough in her questioning. Intake was to take about 1 1/2 hours. I was there 2 hours altogether.
First, the questioning was everything from former hospitalizations, and illnesses, to diet, stress and yes, even how you poop. Me, being the little hippy health guru, told her about myself quite knowledgeably. I even provided to her a copy of my blood work from my family doctor, but also a copy of my Chiropractor's history chart and diagnosis.
She was impressed with that, my daily BP readings, and also my dietary changes. We spoke of everything from remembering dreams to metaphysical causes (emotions or stress) influences. My going through menopause while on birth control pills has done a number on me. You see, I was probably already done with menopause but the pills kept me cycling for a long time after. It was like whipping a dead horse and I had depleted the goodness of the blood that was not supposed to cycle out at that time. It made for my joints, discs and all sorts of blood flow to deplete and dry out! So, hat is why my joints were cracking!
Also why my sadness happens, as it's related to these particular organs. Down and out, like the blood flow. So the emotions coincide.
Fucking amazing.
The organs responsible for some of my ills were definitely affected by the past, and the wee needles (she showed me what they looked like. Sort of a very fine thread needle.) would open up and connect and get things flowing again.
She rubbed areas to be treated with alcohol while talking to me about what was going on inside my metabolism. She guessed at a couple of stressors and previous injuries by intuitive touch.
She said, "Ok, now breathe in.....and out." On the out would come the stick from the needle. Some of them I felt, some I did not feel at all. One stung on the in and the out. It was not what I'd call painful, but merely noted ,or slightly annoying, if anything was felt at all.
Talia put in 30 needles all told. As I laid on my stomach, there were needles in my lower neck, down my spine, over lungs, lower back (the one I believe right ON the slipped disc was the one that stung...and that's understandable, I suppose). There were needles on my hip joints, back of knees, calves, on my bothersome ankle joint. For my guitar hand, she put 5 of them on thumb area.
Then she turned on some music, and left me to lay there and listen to music and relax. The needles did not hurt, but they seemed to trigger some metabolic response. The music changed to the sounds of flowing water and I listened to it and went with the flow of the sound and the flowing out of the bad chi from the trigger points. It really was relaxing. At one point, I think I went into a drop sleep and it was then that I was aware of it as Talia came back in.
One by one she took out the needles, and I only felt that same lower back one on the way out. I raised my head off of the massage pillow and tried to gain my bearings.
If I didn't know better, I'd say I was stoned. (And believe me, I know about these things. :)
Yah, I was definitely out of it a bit, although I tried not to let on, because I figured it was just a response from the treatment. I paid her and got into my car, and went to the grocery store to pick up sweet potatoes, and beets and berries to add more fully to my already good diet...I was still a bit stoned.
It was the strangest feeling. I never knew that this feeling could be part of the experience. I certainly felt relaxed. And guess what? My thumb and back and ankle pain was LESS.
Oh yah, I'm going back next week for another treatment. I want to continue with this for awhile. I feel improved already!
Also, did you know that there is also Acupuncture for Dogs as well? I bet my older, arthritic doggy Monty Joe would also benefit from it.
Onward to my busy summer!
Warwick hills await, and I need to be ready to haul minstrel arse. :)
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