try acupuncture

Today morning, I consulted with a Korean acupuncturist who came highly recommended by my mother. I elaborated on my chronic knee pain and current state of health. Soon after, treatment commenced.
Upon the insertion of each needle, I experienced a slightly painful sensation. That was about it. I didn’t slip into a sudden state of calm or gain mental clarity or anything of the sort. I felt nothing, in fact. The only thing I recall feeling while the needles were inserted was a curious sensation in my stomach or lower abdomen. Anyhow, some hot item was placed on my stomach and the acupuncturist left to attend to others. I made the mistake of flexing my right leg while the needles were in. The pain that ensued was indescribable; it wasn’t pain per se but rather, an unusual feeling of discomfort. It felt like my muscle had been shortened and had lost its ability to stretch and retract. It felt quite horrible. Needless to say, I stopped moving my leg altogether after that incident. I had needles inserted in my hand as well and following the removal of all the needles, the area where the needles were inserted had become rather sensitive to touch. It was bruised and swollen and remains as such 12 hours after treatment. This first session was a letdown, I didn’t feel anything, nothing noteworthy. All I have to show for it is multiple red bumps and a painful right hand. My knees still hurt, my legs hurt and the headache I had before and during the acupuncture has shown no signs of abating. I was told to return on Friday which I will be doing and I do hope that this session will yield some results.

_{(This is a re-post from August 12 because I deleted the entry! Ooops! But I would like to go back.)}

How I did it: I looked into acupuncture several weeks ago. It only took so long because I am a lazy procrastinator. And cheap. Once I decided I would go, I made the appointment for the next day. So, 2 days if you are not a lazy procrastinator :) And probably some follow up visits, because you will love it.

I found a student clinic in our area that only charged $20 as opposed to $65 for the professional. Very cool. I was worried at first about having a student, but she was very competent. I felt minimal discomfort from the needles. Less than a mosquito bite. She spent quite a long time before starting asking me detailed questions and made a very personalized treatment. I was thoroughly impressed.

The student clinic room has four beds separated by dividers, but I was the ony one there at the beginning. If privacy is an issue for you (I wasn’t naked!) then you may want to pay more for a private room.

I went in for fatigue/sleeplessness. I already feel more alert! Plus they gave me a strange concoction of herbs to try out for the next week ($7). To be honest, it tastes like a glass of mushroom-treebark. I’ll report back after I try to get some sleep tonight :) Plus, she recommended I come in weekly for the next three weeks. This is medical care, not pointy-overnight-miracle-cure.
Lessons & tips: Look for training clinics in your area if you are cheap. If you are afraid of needles, I promise it hurts less than a mosquito!

The initial visit will take longer than subsequent visits. They also will not see you if you have not previously discussed your issues with your doctor/chiropractor, at least not at the clinic I visited.

Resources: In Austin:
White Crane, part of Austin Oriental Medicine Academy: http://www.aoma.edu/patients/
Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
http://www.texastcm.edu/studentclinic.html

Ok, So off I went this morning to the Acupuncturist.
I was a little nervous and apprehensive!! But the practitioner was very nice and reassuring.

He began with asking me questions about the problems I wanted him to work on, and looked at my tongue and felt my pulse.

We decided to work on my headaches, back, neck pain and poor sleep first, then we will look at my stomach and feet after we have worked on the initial points for sometime.

I had to lay face down on the bed. For my headaches he placed two needles at the base of my skull, neck and back there were two in my neck and about 6 – 8 down my back by my shoulder blades.
He placed one on each leg just below the knee off to the side, he told me these were support points, then for the sleep problems one in each wrist.

He told me before he started that there is usually very little pain involved, that the most pain I should feel would be similar to a mosquito bite, he was right!! he said that there would also be a weird sensation when he worked the needle, once again right, it was not a painful sensation.

The only pain I really experienced was when he placed the needles in my wrists, he did comment before he placed them that this may be more painful due to the lack of flesh in the area, once again true, the pain I experienced was more than tollerable though, similar to getting an injection.

He left me for around 15 to 20 minutes, when he came back he worked the needles again, one point in my back was very sensitive, the sensation was more what I would say a slight electric shock (like a static shock)

Removal of the needles was extremely quick, another little sensation zips through when he removed them. No pain however.

I have another appointment with him next week, but I already feel as if my headache has dulled, and I am feeling extremely fatigued!!

So overall I am currently happy!!

I have always wanted to try Acupuncture, so i have booked myself in for Saturday!!!

Im slightly worried, even though everything i keep reading says that there is no pain involved.

I just hope that it will work for me!!

After the fourth session, the acne seems to be clearing significantly on my back and chest, and the redness has been reduced on my face. Flare-ups don’t last more than a couple of days, which is better than it was before the treatment which would take more than two weeks to clear up. Stress level has been reduced, and I do feel better and more relaxed. The acupuncturist after examining the results of the last session has concluded that a sixth and final session would be unnecessary, and would like to see if there are any changes without the acupuncture treatment for a week. I guess this means the standard treatment is over for now, which I now consider this goal complete!

Seeing some more positive results. My acupuncturist added more needles to handle the stress level I’ve been having, and I feel much better. I have two more sessions, and if the treatment is fully successful, consider this complete!

During the third session, I asked if the session could not only treat my acne problem but also my stress problem. My acne seems to be clearing, but the stress from moving and finding a job has contributed to a few stubborn flare-ups. After the third session, I have to admit, I feel much more relaxed (which is finally a first since this whole treatment started).

Let’s hope there’s better results next week…

Tried it the second time… I feel better, but I don’t see much change on the acne tho… the acupuncturist told me I’ll see changes after the third session… hopefully I do see some by then…

Tried the first session yesterday… felt odd at first, but it was relaxing. Let’s just see how the whole treatment goes…

I made an appointment after my long search… and I found one that seems to be very reasonable in price and service. I do hope this helps with my acne problem. I researched many cases on treating acne, and have tried many treatments. So far, they don’t seem to work well… and I was told by dermatologists that I may have severity acne, making it difficult to treat. I tried Proactive, and it’s no different than other treatments I tried. I ran into an article that acupuncture, although not seen as a conventional way to treat acne, has been used for people with my type of case, and have gotten better results. I do hope this is it…