As I continue to navigate my Magical Medical Mystery Tour of 2013, I’ve listened to stories from countless individuals about how acupuncture really changed their lives for the better in regards to a myriad of ailments.
As a person who approaches new situations/treatments a bit apprehensively, I’ve love to hear any stories or advice about your experiences with acupuncture. (Good or bad!) My third treatment is later this week, and I’m hopefully optimistic.
Dish it, folks! I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.
Katie
July 8, 2013 at 3:50 pmI’ve been going again for the last month or so for some major PMS symptoms. I have already felt a huge improvement: No more moodiness or back aches or general yuckiness. I had gone several years ago for some back issues, and it helped for that as well. My sister is convinced that acupuncture cured her high blood pressure. I highly recommend it and I hope it works for you!
Joy
July 8, 2013 at 5:40 pmI’ve gotten acupuncture treatments for the first time ever this year.
I am a pretty serious runner and I was sidelined for over a year with an ankle injury that 6 doctors (!) couldn’t help me with. I went for physical therapy for months and months and months and ultimately nothing made me feel better for more than a few days. I was at the end of my rope when my husband suggested I try acupuncture. I got so, so lucky and found a wonderful woman who I trust completely. On my first visit she told me that she thought she could heal me, although it would take more than one session. It took only five sessions, but (knock on wood) my ankle is better. Like, I’m training for a half marathon at full speed better.
So, yes, acupuncture changed my life and I can’t recommend it highly enough. One wonderful side effect of it is that I sleep like a baby for a few nights after getting a treatment.
Joyce
July 8, 2013 at 7:26 pmhi whoorl,
i went for acupuncture about 8 years ago when i was dealing with some pretty major panic attacks that were resurfacing. i won’t get into the crazy long version of the story but it helped me tremendously. i remember after my first session feeling like i was almost in slow motion and having to go back to work. i say give it a shot, what do you have to lose?! if it does nothing else for you, it “allows” you to be in one spot for an hour, relax and clear your head.
take care.
Mari @ Wine Required
July 9, 2013 at 7:29 amI swear by acupuncture. I had terrible pain in a shoulder that I couldn’t get rid of. I took anti-inflammatory meds and they weren’t helping. I was offered surgery as an option. I did not think that was going to solve the issue. I started seeing my acupuncturist and after two treatments the pain was completely gone. It has been several months and it has not returned. I still see her because we are working on some other things, and those are also getting better. Amazing changes have happened for me.
Courtney
July 9, 2013 at 8:43 amLike some previous posters, I started going for migraines. I was getting probably 4-5 month, and they lasted for days. It sucked. Through acupuncture, I was able to cut them down to once a month, which was directly related to my cycle (which I never would have figured out otherwise!). And that one migraine was easily treatable with Imitrex.
I started going once a week for a month, then cut back to once a month (kind of maintenance). Last year when I had a miscarriage, she helped me get my cycle back to normal (with some herbs as well), and then helped me get pregnant again a few months later. Acupuncture helped with pregnancy issues (constipation, back pain, etc.) and now I’m back again just for maintenance on my headaches, since I can’t take any meds for them while I’m nursing.
As for the pain–for the most part, there is none. I barely even feel the needles being tapped in, they’re so tiny. BUT, every so often, it will hurt–almost like someone is digging a knuckle into that part of your body. And that is always related to whatever issue I’m having–i.e., that particular point is related to headaches or digestion or whatever, which I never realize until I feel that zing! of release.
Oh and I always, always fall asleep during the treatment and sleep great afterwards as well. Love love love acupuncture.
Elizabeth
July 9, 2013 at 11:30 amAcupuncture and regular chiropractic care have changed my life. My hypoglycemia and digestive issues have cleared up, and I feel better than ever. I cannot say enough about how amazing Chinese medicine is and how important it is to keep the back and neck healthy in order to keep the organs healthy. It all works together! Here are two examples of why I am a believer: 1) I have a floppy ankle. I can fall on brand new sidewalk for no reason. My ankle just caves. I have had this all of my 36 years. When it flops, it hurts and gets swollen. I have been to a Western doctor after Iesha’s happened, and all I am offered is a high dose of pain mess. Lame. After a spill two years so, with swelling that would not go down, I went in to the acupuncturist. The swelling went down by half by the end of that appointment and was great by the next day. 2) I have hypoglycemia, and used to deal daily with lightheaded ness. Sometimes I faint, and sometimes my sugar gets so low that none of my tricks (juice, Gatorade, honey, food) work, and I end up really sick with sugar that just won’t come back. I went in to my Chinese doctor at the end of a week of sugar so low I could hardly function. I was in there for an hour. We. I came out, my sugar was normal!!! And he didn’t feed me…he saw that the part of my spine relating to the pancreas which produces insulin was totally out of line.he pooped it bak in, and gave my acupuncture for my pancreas and whatever else…and I made a total recovery an hour later. Those two experiences have put me on a track of dealing with IBS (cured), and general health. I go once a month now just to keep my back and neck in line, and to check in on my sugar and digestion. I hardly ever need an acupuncture treatment anymore during my appointments! It’s just such an amazing, intuitive, and understanding way of looking at the body and dealing with it’s issues….really dealing with it, not just covering up issues with meds like Western medicine is prone to do. Good luck!
decoybetty
July 9, 2013 at 2:10 pmI’m one of those people who acupuncture has sincerely changed my life. I have endometriosis and after having the surgery the doctor told me I could go on the pill (which I’m allergic to) or there were no other options. The endo didn’t go away after surgery and I was a lot of pain all the time and dealing with a lot of emotional crap. For every period I’d be in pain for 3 weeks. It was awful.
I started seeing an acupuncturist and now I feel amazing. I have to go once a month for maintenance and I’m also taking herbs (which taste gross but help) – she doesn’t believe in people taking herbs for the rest of their lives, but they seem to be helping so much that we’re not messing with them at the moment.
while some symptoms were cleared up right away in the first few sessions, others took a lot longer to start to heal.
JeanneW
July 12, 2013 at 9:52 pmI absolutely fear needles so I’ve avoided going to an acupuncturist for years. But I had a recent and serious issue with allergies and my immune system that pretty much attacked my body for about five months. It was so bad that I barely left the house except for the necessities. Two doctors told me my issues were so severe that I needed to see research doctors, so off to UCI I went. After an ungodly amount of tests and visits, four doctors sat in my examination room and told me they had no idea what was causing it and how to stop it. They just prescribed me more meds that weren’t helping me and actually made it worse.
One day, my girlfriend stopped by for lunch. She knows my fear of needles so she essentially kidnapped me and drove me straight to her acupuncturist in Costa Mesa. She had a similar issue and this doctor was able to help her. I was so desperate and miserable that I agreed to do a treatment while my angel of a friend waited 45 minutes till I was done. I’m still not fond of the needles but of all the treatments I tried, the acupuncture had the biggest effect. Immediately after the first treatment, the symptoms were visibly diminished. I don’t want to bore you with all the details but my symptoms were pretty crazy. I admit I was shocked. I went 2x a week for about a month and now I’m going only once a week now. I just went this morning in fact. I also take the herbs in pill form. We’ve had to play around with the dosage since my body is so sensitive. But the visible effects of the attack are pretty much gone now. I’ve had a couple flare ups but they are hardly anything compared to what I endured for five months. I’ll probably continue to go until I am completely healed and can assure that I won’t have any more attacks.
My sister had fertility issues. She went to a fertility specialist at Hoag who, after tests and ultrasounds, told her her eggs weren’t ripening. We weren’t surprised because she rarely has a period. He said her only option was to use drugs which my sister didn’t want to do. She told the fertility dr she was going to see an acupuncturist in Irvine and he pretty much said “Yeah whatever”. Three months later, she went back for a follow up ultrasound and the Hoag dr was stunned. He said her ovaries were not only fertile but totally full of ripened eggs…to the maxiumum level in fact. He had never seen anything like it before. Of course my sister just smiled and said “Acupuncture, herbs and a special diet.”
I don’t know how it all works. I’m sure it has something to do with myofacial points, endorphins, nerve pathways. Surely there are aspects of our bodies that western medicine hasn’t figured out.I believe some doctors are more skilled an intuitive than others so if you continue treatment, find one that works well with you and your problem. Good luck!
chiropractic career
July 27, 2013 at 1:08 pmHi, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this blog post. It was funny.
Keep on posting!
viagra
August 16, 2013 at 6:22 amHmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on
this blog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.