Cupping

On Saturday, I had my first appointment for acupuncture. I have Kaiser, and getting them to approve and refer me for acupuncture was pretty much a six-month long process, but there I was, approval forms in my hand, heading in for my appointment.

Um, I think I'm gonna keep my reason for wanting acupuncture to myself. You'll just have to live with my decision to keep at least one thing private.

Anyway, so there I was. The acupunctur(ist?) is also an R.N., which makes her seem way trustworthy. Patrick has seen her, and our friend Chris, and even if I didn't know how successful their treatments had been, just her demeanor and way of dealing with you as a patient really put my mind at ease. Her name is Lily, and she's from the Philippines. She totally reminds me of my old boss Arlene, one of the nicest people I've had the joy of working for. Anyway, it was quite an experience, and I have to say, after just about 30 minutes of treatment, I felt like a million bucks. Before we got started, Lily talked to me for awhile about my concerns, and then she had me change into a gown and lie down on the table. She put some warm blankets on me, and when she came back into the room, she started with the acupuncture. I'm not sure how many needles I had but there were at least 35, maybe more. I was feeling pretty relaxed and had my eyes closed, so I'm not sure. I was laying on my left side, with my knees bent and my arms in kind of a crazy position, crossed over. It seemed like it should've been uncomfortable, but - it wasn't. I was curious about if inserting the needles would hurt, but it didn't. There was some tiny discomfort in some of them - the ones in my hands were a little prickly, and one in the top of my foot - but her technique seemed very gentle (not that I have anything to compare it to) and like I said, she herself is very calming. So she left me there in that sort of strange position, with classical music on the radio, for about 30 minutes. I didn't exactly fall asleep, but as I lay there, every ten minutes or so, I could feel my body relax. I mean, it was totally discernible. I'm not sure if that was because of the needles or what, or if I was just ready to relax, but it was great.

After the 30 minutes were up, Lily came back in the room and removed all my needles (actually she left one in; I was putting my socks back on and I caught one she forgot! She took it out for me), and then she did some cupping on my back, which wasn't exactly pleasant, but over soon enough. After she left the room, I took a look in the mirror at my back, and it's covered with purple round marks, but Lily told me they should fade over time.

I'm interested in seeing what the long-term effects of this will be. I'll keep you posted.