Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

In the ever on-going quest to be pain free, I'm attempting eastern medicine.

Perhaps it's futile for a 50-something man to be pain free. Perhaps this is just my life from here on out.

Remember that time you thought you were young and invincible?  Yes - four Tuesdays ago.

My how time flies.

While I have not eschewed Western medicine to help quell my aches and pains, I have added an Eastern component: acupuncture.

Work has offered eight Mondays of acupuncture and / or massages. It's in a public and group setting, so massage is out for me. It is only a chair massage - and that is the only kind I've had, and even that I don't want it public.

Acupuncture, however, intrigued me. It didn't seem that invasive and I figured - what could it hurt?

For the 21 needles that went into me - most were in the ears......as you can see.  That is not old man hair growing out of there................yet.

In the title image, if you look past the sheen of my scalp, you'll see one or two needles sticking out of the top of my noggin.

The rest were in my arms.



The needles were place in accordance to my concerns of my 'tennis elbow' and my shoulder impingement. But it seems that everyone got needles in the ears - regardless of their malady.

One or two in the ear really smarted upon going in, but other than that, it was all good.  For 45 minutes, I closed my eyes and meditated as much as one can in a sectioned off area in a hospital lobby.

Time didn't drag or fly with this. I was just in the moment - not even truly wondering if it would help me in the slightest.

Austin took out my needles at the end of my time and asked how it was. I didn't have a true answer - it all seemed fine, but I had nothing definitive to say about how I felt.

As it turns out - my arm would end up feeling better for the next 10-12 hours. I have zero idea if it was a placebo-effect or if it actually worked. Austin told me it would get better and that I'd see better results with more treatments.

Monday was round 2.  I had PT the following day and they asked. Monday felt good, Tuesday I had screaming pain, but I do believe that was temporary and due to cleaning snow off the driveway earlier in the morning.

We will see how it progresses. After the 8 week trial period, and I seem to get results, then hell, maybe I'll do a few in-office acupuncture sessions. I'll let you know.

Just stick with me.



Song by: U2

9 comments:

wcs said...

Looks like you're in make-up for your star turn in a Hellraiser movie.

anne marie in philly said...

it can't hurt to try it, right? good for you!

Jeffrey said...

Acupuncture works wonders for me. Glad you're trying it out.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but that picture has given me a massive giggle fit! You look so adorably pricky. I have to give myself two insulin shots daily and get eye injections monthly so I don't know why this is giving me the willies but it is. I hope the treatments work for you.

Deedles

The Cool Cookie said...

It does work. I find relief. My husband should try it - he carries his stress in his back and it could really ease that discomfort.

Fearsome Beard said...

The pains of a fifty something male. I so understand you on this one. My advice? My experience? Do anything at all but just say NO to any surgery for the shoulder impingement.
The old man hair coming out of the ears? Had that since I was 33. The barber takes care of it once a month.

Ur-spo said...

Fascinating! Tell us if it did anything.

Anonymous said...

Before I read the content of your post I looked at the picture and thought - how do I politely tell him to buy some ear clippers.
JP

Mark in DE said...

ACK!!! I could never have acupuncture. I HATE needles!!! But I could certainly get into some massage. ;-)