Acupuncture: One Prick at a Time

The busy holiday season is coming and along with it a new group of seasonal employees have started like I had a year ago at Sur La Table. While I am still surprised to have continued my part time job nI can’t complain since after all it did pay for my vacation to Hawaii. This new group so far seems very nice and one in particular peaked my curiosity.  She is a treat to work with and while chatting I learned she is a licensed acupuncturist and recently moved to Massachusetts to opened her own shop Second Spring Acupuncture.

While working on her client list she is supplementing her income by working part time with us. I told her about my 101 things in 1001 days and how I have always been curious about acupuncture and she suggested I make an appointment for her $20 for 20 minute intro to acupuncture promotion. Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine, sterile and single-use needles placed in specific acupuncture points to assist in re-balancing organs and bio- mechanical disharmony.

I regularly suffer from stress headaches and I do my best to resist popping an aspirin I am not always successful. While I am not 100 percent sold on traditional Chinese medicine as the answer it certainly is something I have heard a lot about and I figured I’d give it a try and see what it can do for me. We are all over medicated and or dependent on pharmaceuticals like hand sanitizer and aspirin as part of our daily lives that we do not give our bodies the opportunity to work as they should to heal themselves. Perhaps this session will kick start a healthier me.

When I arrived she was just setting up the room for me and asked me to fill out the routine questionnaire and liability forms. Shortly thereafter she had me roll the legs of my jeans up to my knees and laying back on her table.

She was very easy to talk to and definitely put me at ease. She explained what she planned to do and how it should feel and what it will do for me.  She asked me if I was ready one final time before beginning.

The first needle she put in was called Vertigo. It is centered and just above the nose. It’s called the Third Eye and is designed to help with clear thinking.

Next she moved to my hands where she placed on in HeGu. Hegu is one of the most commonly used of all Acupuncture points and has a wide range of uses. It is especially useful for all kinds of pain in the face, including eyes, ears, and nose. Next she put a few on my wrist and one on my arm. The first of the on the wrist was called Shenmen and the second was Lingdao. That left me with a total of three on each hand.   She also added one to my arm but I have no idea what it is called.

Then she moved down to my feet where she put one on the top of each foot which she said would help ease any thoracic back pain I might be experiencing and another just behind the ankle. I believe she referred to the spot on top of my foot as Xiangu. The next spot was just behind the ankle called Kunlun.

She also added on to my calf but I couldn’t tell you the name of that one. She also added one to my stomach just below my chest. Sadly I missed the name of that one too.

When all said and done I had 16 needles in my body before she turned out the lights and put on peaceful music for me to relax and let the needles do their work.

As I laid there I could feel what I would describe as bloodflow in my arms and feet that I didn’t ever feel before. It didn’t hurt nor was it uncomfortable. It was just a warming sensation. My face felt much more relaxed and my feet and ankles I didn’t notice the needles were even there.

She returned about 10 minutes later and slowly began removing each needle. As when she put them in I felt nothing when she took them out but from the vertigo position. That one I felt almost like it was slightly stuck with a tad of pressure. It didn’t hurt and didn’t bother me.

Before I left she put two “ear seeds” in each ear. Ear acupuncture points may be stimulated for a longer period of time by using ear seeds or ear tacks.  One went on “point zero” and another went on what she referred to as an allergy point. She told me I could remove them the next day if they bothered me or I could leave them in as long as I liked. They were seeds from the vaccaria plant.

I hadn’t noticed it until I was in the car on the way home that my headache was no gone and I felt far more relaxed then I had all day.  It was a great experience and next time I think I might try a hybrid of cupping and acupuncture.