I really hope this works for you believer! I have a lot of faith in acupuncture and hope that it helps you with your health.

Thank you Silversword......I just returned home. I was impressed with the Doctor and his office personnel. Our consult took about 15 minutes. I had done a lot of explaining on the phone when I set the appointment up.

The insertion of the needles did sting a bit...not a problem. He hooked the needles up to a machine that sent electrical pulses through them. The treatment took about 25 minutes. It was not terribly unpleasant but the area in which the needles were placed is rather tender now.

The Doctor said that he would do up to 10 treatments at this point. I am scheduled for another one next Friday.

We also discussed herbs that would help with my blood sugar and I plan on asking for him to work up a treatment for me to follow where that is concerned at my next visit. I could probably do that on my own with a little research as he did not write it down. I remember several and some I already knew about.

I am very optimistic. Something I have not been in a very long time.

Boy.....did I ignore my spell check on that one or what!!!!

I'm crossing everything in hopes that this helps you. I have 3 dogs, and they're crossing their stuff too :)

Boy is my back sore tonight! Did you guys have the electric pulse sent down your needles? Ouch.....I'm going back though....next Friday.

I am curious why you would be sore. I've rarely had any pain whatsoever after acupuncture. Are you still sore today?

Silver

I am not sore today....I think that it had to do with how deeply the needles where placed. The info that the Doctor game me said that there could even be bruising, depending on how deeply he placed the needles. He is going at the this pretty aggressively. In placing the needle next to the sciatic nerve it caused a very tight muscle contraction and he had to reposition it so that the contraction wasn't so tight.

Before he placed the needles he did some pretty strong pressure tests with either his knuckles or something else. I was surprised at the pain in some areas as I wasn't feeling pain their before. Other areas that he thought might be tender were not.

I think I counted about 15 needles in all and then the treatment lasted about 25 minutes with the electrical pulse going through the needles.

I am very sleepy today but not really in pain. I'm taking it easy as he suggested. I have had a lot of pain since before Thanksgiving so things are pretty inflamed....that might have something to do with the pain....the tissue already being so irritated for such a long time. Also I have read that when you have chronic pain you brain response to pain is messed up and it can over react to a situation that might otherwise not normally cause too much pain.

I am forging ahead. Feeling better this morning is all I need to know that having discomfort on the day of the treatment is no big deal. I expect that it will lessen as I get further along in the 10 week season. I'm still jazzed about it!

Just wanted to post that I had my second acupuncture session on the 13th. I am feeling sooooo much better. I have started to cut back on my pain meds. I have not started exercising yet but feel that I will very soon. Probably swim at the "Y".

The terrible pain cycle that I was is has been broken! Praise the Lord!!!! I go back in 2 weeks for my next one. I am sold on it.

It was still a little painful during the procedure but the tenderness afterwards was much less. :0)

That's great to hear!

Oh Believer!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy it worked for you.

"The terrible pain cycle that I was in has been broken! Praise the Lord!!!!"

Believe: I hear this stuff works! Also, have you done any research on humor therapy? Google it, and look into it. For those who struggle with chronic pain, they are finding that by watching really funny movies, and getting CD's by comedians, that they are able to lighten up on pain medication. That laughter does wonderful things for your health with the endorphen's it releases into the body. When they test patients before a funny movie, and after the movie, all of their vitals have changed! Worth looking into.

Believer: I just did the google on Laughter Therapy and evidently it is becoming a big deal. Started in India in the mid 90's by Dr. Kataria, it is now a world wide movement in 53 countries. The University of California has been researching the medical benefits of laughter, and have concluded that laughter has tremendous health benefits. There are world laughter tours, and laughter clubs and Laughter yoga popping up around the world. CNN, Discovery Channel and Oprah have all done programs on this. They have a phone number of 1- 800-615-3055 listed for it. World Laughter tours also list a phone number of 1-800-669-5233

delete first phone number 1-800-615-3055. It is the wrong phone number. Belongs to a hospital. Sorry.