Yesterday I went for my first acupuncture treatment.

I have a recurring ankle sprain from playing basketball and I’m just tired of dealing with it. Compensating for my ankle, I pulled my other leg’s calf sprinting to first base playing softball. So, I’ve been hobbling around the house like an octogenarian.

I’ve been curious about acupuncture for a while, so I figured now was as good a time as any to check it out.

Soon after filling out a pile of forms saying I would go to arbitration instead of lawyer, I found myself in a dark room with nice music and a soft reclining chair. The practitioner  (Kevin) squeezed different places on my hand, looking for any spot that was "tender" to me. To my surprise, there were several. At these spots, he inserted a very fine needle. Most of the time I felt nothing in terms of pain. Sometimes I did feel a wave of energy pass through my head, not dissimilar to a hit of nicotine to the brain. Nothing unpleasant so far.

Kevin asked me if I could still feel pain in my ankle. I probed with my needle-free hand and found a couple of really tender spots where I’d stretched and tore the ligaments. He inserted a couple more needles and I noticed that the pain started to fade. It was like the loss of feeling when you put an ice pack on an injury. A slow, steady numbing. On a scale, the pain went from about a 9 to a 2. Pretty cool stuff.

He continued inserting more needles in the meat of my right arm below my elbow. I just sat back and noticed where the energy flowed throughout my body. Some heat here, some tingling there. I closed my eyes and went into a quasi-meditation for the next 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes, Kevin would come in, check on me, and twist the needles (one did reach the point of slight discomfort).

Removing the needles was painless (I noticed a single drop of blood). and I walked out feeling quite relaxed.

Was my ankle miraculously healed? No, it was not. Does it feel better today? Yes, it does. Did the acupunture have anything to do with that? I think so. Will I go back for another treatment?

Absolutely.

A votre sante,

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