On Friday evening I had my first ever acupuncture. I lived in China for 20 years but I never experienced acupuncture. I've had countless reflexology treatments and Chinese massages but never did I go for the needle treatment, or 针灸 (zhen jiu) as it is called in Chinese. I am totally into Chinese medicine and I have a deep respect and fascination for its underlying principles.
But, I don't like needles. Really don't like them. When I was seven I ran around the hospital yelling "you're not going to get me!" when my parents took me to get my hepatitis shots. They eventually did get me and to this day I haven't had hepatitis so I suppose I should be grateful.
But back to Friday evening. I was running around like a mo fo and stuck in a one-way system trying to find a parking place, which meant I had to keep going around and around just to get back to where I needed to be. Frustrating. So I arrived in the acupuncture clinic a little tense and a little flustered, which added to my building nerves about the impending confrontation of my needle phobia.
This I don't think I could handle.
This is doable since I don't have to see the needles.
The acupuncturist was a young French guy in his mid-thirties. He already knew me as I had sent both my hubbie and my mum there for treatments before. Yes, I thought it would be safer if they tried it out first. Mr T. has already had a great response to acupuncture, many of his former slow-mutantesque sperm have transformed into near-Olympic ready competitors, we just need more of them now. My mother is an old-hand at acupuncture and I knew her opinion would be authoritative. She declared him to be excellent and was very impressed with her treatments. Given I have been working hard on detoxing and balancing my overly-leaded self and my slight oestrogen dominance (backstory here) I knew I shouldn't miss out on this chance to get a real boost on the path to (God please!) a successful TTC.
So I explained my story. The acupuncturist nodded and typed it all into his computer. He took my BP, textbook - it always has been and for that I am super grateful. Then he took my pulses. In Chinese medicine we have 12 separate pulses, 6 on each wrist, incredible right? But something more incredible was about to happen.
As I lay on the bed with the strong scent of incense wafting around me, he wiped my skin with the alcohol swab and then at the speed of Flash Gordon pushed a needle into a point on my leg. There was a slight pinch but then a weird buzzing feeling. He went for the next one just above my ankle. As it went in, I swear to God in heaven, I got two electric shocks in the heel of my foot. Holy Shit! I cried out. I explained what I felt and he replied 'That's acupuncture!" Wow. Seriously, this is amazing stuff. A needle no thicker than a strand of hair, placed in my leg and I feel electric pulses in my foot! Crazy!
My needle phobia completely disappeared as I marveled at the reactions I was feeling in my body to this treatment. It felt like different parts of my body were buzzing, I could feel energy moving from place to place. My acupuncturist also performed moxibustion on me. Moxi-who-what? This is where they place a cone of mugwort (a herb) on one end of the acupuncture needle and set it alight. It's meant to stimulate circulation and the smoother flow of blood and qi. Apparently this herb also stimulates the flow of blood to the pelvic area and the uterus. Here's hoping!
As I lay there with about 11 needles in me I relaxed and relaxed. When I left the clinic I felt high. Seriously. I was so chilllllled. Hmm, I hadn't felt that way since I overate a batch of magic brownies about 10 years ago. Oops. Not recommended. Bad for the calorie intake too.
The next day I slept until 1pm! Thank God it was a Saturday! So from all these effects it's been having on me I'm hoping it's really going to sort my body out and I will shortly be a toxic-free lady. In fact, I can't wait until my next appointment in a week. I am definitely an acupuncture convert and am a bit annoyed at myself for not having gone sooner. In doing my research on acupuncture for this post, I found that animals benefit from acupuncture too! Many vets use acupuncture to treat various pet ailments.
This puppy obviously doesn't have a needle phobia. Maybe now I don't have one either :)
