Intense Acupuncture, Round 2 - No Pain, No Gain

I count myself very fortunate to have found a true Chinese acupuncture medical doctor.  Last week we started a 3-day a week regimen.  Instead of splitting her time working with 2-3 other patients simultaneously, she works with me for a solid hour.  Oh, and she sees me on Wednesdays, which is her day off.  Dr. Williams truly cares about her patients, and she is really trying to help me.

We haven't pricked fingers and toes again since my first two sessions, but she does prick under my tongue every visit with a large bore needle to get it to bleed.  Today the last two were brutal.  There were tears running from my eyes, and I may have grunted once, but I bore it stoically and gratefully.  It hurt to eat tonight, and it hurts now.  Ice cream helps some. :)

She works all of the needles hard, twirling them as well as bouncing them up and down.  They hurt a fair amount, but the pain is worth it.  Since the needles are often right on the nerve, twirling them or moving them up and down can cause jolts of sensation.  I do bleed some.  She asked me to stop taking baby aspirin for my high blood pressure to hopefully cause less bleeding.

On Friday last week, she indicated we were going to work on my swallowing.  It involved a lot of needles in my scalp and neck, both front and back.  It feels like one of the needles goes in very deep into my neck. 

Guess what!  My swallowing reflex was better over the weekend!  I was able to swallow some of the larger vitamins that I hadn't been able to swallow for several weeks.  I was also able to keep my full mouth guard in overnight, which I hadn't been able to do for several weeks.

We did another swallowing treatment again today, so I am anxious to see if I have additional improvement.  I told her my speech was worse today, so she said we would work on it.  Tonight I thought she was trying to drill them through the side of my skull.  I think that was probably working on my verbal center.   I'll be very interested to see what happens tomorrow morning.

Dr. Williams indicated the Chinese herbs should be ready on Friday.  She indicated I probably wouldn't like the taste, but I will take my medicines with a smile.

She also suggested Tai Chi and Qi Gong exercises in addition to some hand exercises and finger rubs on the head to stimulate all of the acupressure points in the hands and scalp.  I started with a Tai Chi DVD this morning and plan to continue every morning before work.  The slow movements, coupled with deep breathing, should help me with flexibility, muscle strength, breathing, and stress.

I go back to acupuncture again tomorrow at lunchtime and again Friday.  I have high hopes!  It truly is a case of No Pain, No Gain!  Can't wait to start the Chinese herbs and see what affect they may have.

Thanks for caring, and thanks for reading!