Venturing in to a New World

My low battery light has been blinking for weeks. I don't know where the energy sucks is, but its sure draining out of me at an alarming rate. The fatigue was the final push I needed, though, to venture in to the world of eastern medicine. Several people whose opinions I trust have urged me to try acupuncture. This week I finally did. Diagnosis: I have a kidney/liver imbalance, which has nothing to do with my actual kidneys and liver but is instead a water/wood imbalance. Yeah, I don't understand it either. I just told myself this is a completely different framework for understanding the world and you should just go with it.

I didn't know what to expect, but when the doctor had me feel the needle I was startled. It was thin and flexible, and felt more a hairbrush bristle than any needle I've ever touched. She inserted them at strategic points (the rhyme and reason to which I couldn't discern, but pretty much correlating to the spots the massage therapist always focuses on) with a little tapping motion. They just barely broke the skin and didn't hurt at all, with the notable exception of one spot on my hand she warned me would sting. Frankly I prick myself with needles and pins much harder than that on a regular basis. I didn't realize she'd leave them in so long, but soft music was playing and it was a nice excuse to lay still and just let my mind wander. I wasn't at all uncomfortable, so it was almost a nap.

About half way through, she also used cupping on my right leg, where I have the most inflammation in my muscle. I'm sure there was another explanation for what was happening there in eastern medicine, probably blocked qi or something similar. Again, I'm acknowledging this is a framework I don't share and just going with it. But, I can tell you that western medicine says that's exactly where I have alot of inflammation. It was just gentle sucking pressure.

I can't say that I feel dramatically different now, but then again one treatment is rarely enough to change anything significantly. I do notice that today, when we're having a huge weather change, my leg barely hurts at all and most of my aches are in my shoulders and spine. (She focused on my leg, because that was my primary complaint when I went in. That and the blasted fatigue, which is definitely not better yet.) All in all, not a big deal and worth a try.

Though, I was a little weirded out when she used a needle right between my eyes.