Adventures in Acupuncture

I love how America has become an a la cart society. On any given day in Boulder I could eat from about 10 different ethnic restaurants or visit several specialty grocers. And the mash of cultures goes well beyond food, there's the 652,231 yoga studios and centers for any and all religions. And when you don't have luck with Western medicine, it's pretty darn easy to try out Chinese medicine, especially with the Southwestern Acupuncture school right in Gunbarrel.

I've done acupuncture in the past. My high school friend Melissa is an acupuncturist and I got a few treatments from her. Sadly, she works out of Windsor or Lakewood and neither locale is very, uh, local for me. So last month I found a new acupuncturist using the time tested strategy of checking out which ones are covered by my insurance. That narrowed the Boulder field from 432,563 to 2 and I made an appointment with the one closest to me.

This time around I'm hoping to clear up my acne once and for all. Western Medicine, you had about 20 years, 5 major chances and an arsenal of medicine that nearly killed my liver and about destroyed my joints and still you failed. FAILED. Chinese Medicine - your turn now. According to Chinese medicine, acne is a symptom of some full body imbalance, mainly I have too much heat. Or my Chinese lungs are weak. Or possible I have too much heart fire. It's really not beneficial for an American to dwell on the details too much.

I think I've had 5 treatments now and so far, no change. But it is a 20 year old problem and they did tell me to expect it to take a few months, so I will wait. And if you asked me before today if the treatments hurt, I would have said, "No way!" The needles are so thin that there's no pain from puncture, but sometimes there's a little electric zing. Until today. Today I got a needle in a new spot, my heart fire spot. Even before the acupuncturist left the room to let me rest for the 30 minutes I said, "Wow, this doesn't feel right, it's never hurt before." And he said, "Yes, there can be a bit of pain and pressure associated with that spot. Can you tolerate it?" And I spent 10 excruciating minutes wondering, could I? The pain was almost indescribable - kind of a stinging with the feeling my entire arm was being crushed under a rock. And even more annoying to know that if I just pulled out the needle, it would all go away. And so for 10 minutes I dwelt on whether or not I could keep tolerating it, and then the pain finally subsided to a dull stinging. The whole experience was especially trippy, given how uneventful my last 4 visits were. But now my heart has been drained of some of its fire and maybe my skin will clear up this month.

In addition to the needle treatments, I've also been taking Chinese herbs. It's a little like tea, it that it's stuff dissolved in water. But, unlike tea, it tastes like ass. I'm reminded of the old adages that the more bitter the medicine, the more it will help, or some such placebo effect. And lucky me, today I was upgraded from 2 doses a day to 3 a day. Whee!

To also help with the treatments, I'm also trying to follow some Chinese food recommendations. I've stopped drinking coffee (I've made it over 3 weeks, but I did replace it with black tea) and don't put ice in my water. Sadly, one recommendation was to avoid spicy food. It's somewhat easy to get mild salsa instead of the burns-your-tongue-off salsa at Chipolte (but not nearly as fun), but in general I do enjoy spice in my diet. Indian, Mexican, it's all yummy and spicy.

The one bright spot in today's treatment was Adam's behavior. He charmed the pants off the Chinese receptionist. She demanded to know why I've been keeping him from her (picture her like a Chinese Grammie, if that helps). And since most of my treatment involves lying alone in a dark room with needles in my legs and arms, I'll be happy to keep bringing Adam for some free daycare. At least he liked it better than going to Rally's.

Hopefully in a few months I'll be able report a full recovery from my debilitating acne. And if not, at least it was covered by insurance. Thanks health care!