Does acupuncture work; myth or fact?
I would have to say that it works. I recently strained my back and of course am still battling the dreaded leg cramps (sorry Leg Cramps PM). After just two sessions with the acupuncturist combined with replacing my desk chair with a kneeling chair my lower back pain is reduced by 80%. The leg cramps are better as well, but I will post another blog on that topic.
Let’s look at the practice of acupuncture. It has been in practice for thousands of years - since approximately 200 BCE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture). Surely this gives credence to the practice otherwise it would have long ago died.
Now for my personal experience – 3 visits thus far.
He begins each session with a deep massage to the shoulders and upper back, followed by the arms and then opening blocked energy channels. He also uses a warming lamp (over the most problematic area) during the acupuncture portion of treatment. He then ends each session by vigorously patting my lower back and legs with a firm foam whacker (for lack of a better descriptive word) to promote circulation. Very soothing instrumental music softly plays during the entire session lulling one into a state of relaxation.
Session #1
I learned during this session that you don’t move after the needles have been placed. I attempted to shift my wrist on the supporting pillow and instantly felt pain. Needless to say, I stopped moving and decided that the slight misalignment wasn’t worth an adjustment.
Session #2
About 10 minutes into the final phase of treating my legs (for cramps), my right calf locked up in a severe cramp and I couldn’t move due the needles (remembering the pain caused by moving my arm in the first session). Well picture this – I’m lying on the table, my calf muscle locked as hard as a rock and I can’t move. I started yelling out, “help, I need help”, the doctor and assistant came running in and immediately starting removing the needles from my body as fast as they could. They both proceeded to massage the calf muscle in hopes of release the cramp. Well…….that caused even more pain so I yelled out in pain. They stopped massaging the muscle and helped me off the table. I was able to release the cramp as soon as I put weight on my foot. After this episode I was certain I would have a terrible night of leg cramps, but….I didn’t!! I was quite surprised to say the least and very happy.
Session #3
Dr. Wu left a service bell next to my hand during this session so if the cramping occurred again I could ring the bell vs. yelling and scaring his patientsJ. The front-side treatment went very well as usual and was quite relaxing. Now for the back-side (which I was nervous about after the severe cramp during session #2): he placed 23 needles in my lower back and legs and the warming lamp over my right calf. I was okay for about 12 minutes of the 20 minute session and then started stressing worrying that my calf would lock again. I’m sure I somewhat derailed the effectiveness of the treatment by stressing, but I couldn’t stop myself from worrying. I made it through the remaining 8 minutes without a cramp – YEAH!!
Stay tuned for more updates on this treatment and I say: WHY NOT TRY IT?, it might work and certainly won't cause any damage.
BTW- when my daughter was expecting her 3rd child, the OB threated with inducing labor so we sought out an acupunturist to stimulate labor - well, it worked. About 15 hours after treatment she went into labor and delivered after only 4 hours!!
