Acupuncture
This afternoon I went to an acupuncturist for the first time. Interesting experience.
I went because I’ve been having shoulder pain that extendsdown to my wrist. Of course, it’s gotten considerably better since I made the appointment, but it still ranges from an ache to an intrusive shout of pain. Besides, I’ve never had acupuncture before.
The acupuncturist, trained in Shanghai, inserted about a dozen needles in my back, as well as attaching some suction cups (similar to what my people used to do with small cups and matches) and shining a heat lamp on me. I slept for 15 minutes. Then she had me flip over (well, she took the needles out first) and repeated the drill, so to speak. I slept again. Afterwards I was surprised to learn that the needles had been in a full inch; they felt more superficial than that.
At the moment, my shoulder is pain-free but my arm aches noticeably, pretty much the same as before the treatment. She wants me to come back twice more, a week apart. I will if only for the cat naps.
Besides, I believe the evidence that acupuncture works for some ills, even though I don’t pretend to understand the theory behind it. (Someone once told me that it’s not so much a theory as a mnemonic device. Don’t know if there’s any sense to that remark.)
A joke I hereby donate to Jay Leno:
“I went to an acupuncturist. She was very gentle. In fact, when she ran out of needles she switched to Post-It notes.”
Hey, I said it was for Leno so it doesn’t have to be funny!
[Technorati tag: acupuncture]
