Yesterday I told you about Jason Bussell and why you should find a licensed acupuncturist. While I was interviewing Jason he offered to stick me full of needles, too.
For the record, I'm deathly afraid of needles. I try to stay so healthy that I never have to see them at all and, for the majority of my life, I've succeeded. But, after the birth of my now 14-month old son, I've been less consistently well. It's probably a combination of less sleep, less exercise, more stress and more exposure to germs, but it's been bothersome to have so many colds in just over a year. Couple that with recently diagnosed "chronic headaches," and my poor body has really taken a beating. So, if was willing to take Jason up on his offer, if only to see if my immune system might improve.
While Jason does a sort of examination (taking my pulse and checking my tongue) he tells me that labor can drain a woman's body of many things she needs. In China, he tells me, they call the month after child birth the "sitting month," when women are to rest and let family take care of them. After my 55 hours of labor and c-section, I would have been happy to sit for a month, but of course, this is America.
One of the most valuable things a woman can lose is Chi, or "life energy." Acupuncture is all about restoring balance to the body's chi.
Jason leads me to a treatment room and I lie down on the table after removing my socks and shoes. It isn't long before I'm a human pincushion. I'm not sure what I expected to feel, but it certainly wasn't what I experienced. The needles were painless, though some felt slightly uncomfortable for the briefest of moments. I've had more pain in a massage. Jason left me alone to think and heal for 15 minutes. During that time the craziest thing happened--I relaxed. I am notorious for getting yelled at by massage therapists--"Breathe," they say. "Just relax!"
But that's not so easy to do. I'm constantly thinking about what else I ought to be doing with my time. Not so with the acupuncture--in fact, I nearly fell asleep I was so calm.
So, did it work? According to Bussell, most things take a few treatments to full treat, though 60 percent of pain victims feel relief after the first treatment. My headaches seem less frequent, though still there. My concentration has improved ten-fold. So yes, I'd say it worked.
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