Oh, my GODS!
Acupuncture is NOT for sissies! It’s not the needles that hurt – they are too small – it’s what they tap into that hurts like a MOFO! Oy!
The first one in the bend of my knee was like a nasty electrical shock down my leg. I jump and curse. The right one was somewhat better. The ones on my back were a little sticky but not too terrible. The ones at my achilles tendons were a little sticky, but not terrible. The ones behind the ear, negligible. My body tried valiantly to pass out while laying face down; while unsuccessful, I did break into a cold sweat and feel nauseous. THEN she goes back to twiddle the damn things! OY! I’m freaking out, so she checks my pulse and decides that I’ve had enough.
On THAT side! Gods!
So, I turn over and she goes at me again. Left leg, right beside knee, not too bad. Right leg beside knee: OW! Then she asks me to put my hands in loose fists. She puts a needle in the side under my pinky on the left – not horrible. The right one – OW! Then she puts one at each eyebrow which was nothing. THEN she puts one in that divot below the nose right above the lip. OW! Now I’m starting to cry.
She goes back and twiddles them and I’m about to jump off the table. Then she thankfully leaves me to whine and cry for a few minutes. She comes back in and twiddles the damn things AGAIN. More cursing and crying from me. I sit for about 5 more minutes and then she removes the vile things.
She asks me to sit up and I inform her that I will definitely pass out if she comes at me with more needles while I’m sitting up. She assured me that now she was going to put seeds on my ear. Yes, SEEDS. The pressure points on the ear are so tiny that you use seeds as activators. She applied the seeds with medical tape and told me to squeeze them a few times a day for a few minutes. They stay on for a few days.
Hookay, I lived through it. When I went out front to pay, the Dr told me that I’m not uncommon, lots of folks find it very painful especially when they are already in pain and the pain threshold is very low. Another chick there said that she cried the whole time, too. Well, at least it’s not just me. :-)
She gave me some teapills (those little round black pills) to take to ‘help with circulation for my back’. 8 BBs 3x/day. All rightey.
The good news: I think I do feel better, backwise. I got up with just a little stiffness today! Yay!
The bad news: the teapills have given me the trots.
The worse news: I’ve got to go through this a few more times. WAH!!
If I didn’t think it was worth it, I certainly wouldn’t do it again. I now have a new respect for acupuncture. It is some BAD ASS SHIT. I will do it again, despite my confirmed fear of it. I think it will help me quite a bit. She determined that I have three disks involved, which is very good to know.
Everyone always asks about the pain of tattoos. I can tell you straight up: tats are FAR LESS PAINFUL than your first acupuncture visit. Pussies need not apply!