 |
| me NOT pictured;) |
Acupuncture. With it comes both revered AND skeptic associations: hoax, miracle-worker, or just a nice complement to conventional medicine. I can't say that I fell into any of these categories prior to trying it myself. I had heard about it here and there in the past, most of which was from trusted friends that felt the need to utilize it for one need or another. I had heard of its
benefits-from chronic pain to fertility to weight loss. My interest was piqued, however the main obstacle for me was the cost. With private acupuncture appointments costing between $75 and $200 per session, I was out of luck-heck, my copays alone on our new insurance down here are nearly that! It's a struggle just to cover our necessary medical expenses, let alone anything extra I may want to venture towards.
I will say that a couple of years back, while living outside of Pittsburgh, I did find an affordable "deal" within an office that claimed to provide physical therapy and chiropractic services-and an acupuncturist to boot! After meeting with them, it was clear that they were full of something other than goodness (insert your own 4-letter word here:), however they let me try their acupuncturist for a very low price, and bless her heart, she was an amazing Chinese acupuncturist clearly dedicated to her profession, but had fallen into a very very bad setting without realizing it. Because it was her offering the service, and not the shady people who ran the joint (only me, I swear), I took the offer. Besides the cold and bright setting (not her fault), it was an OK experience... pretty painless and short-lived, and when I left... I saw the strangest thing. The brow furrow, my most self-conscious of facial features that ages me about 10 years, had nearly vanished (the first thing I look to after a good facial-why not acu??). Also, half-way through the drive home I realized how dopily relaxed I was... coincidence?? No way, not if you know how non-relaxed of a person I am! I took note, but never looked back-didn't want to deal with those people again and kind of pushed it all out of my brain!
Fast-forward to living in Wilmington, NC, and I had a friend who saw a private acupuncturist here-she tried a granola-head from Cali (my words, not hers) who studied it, and a true blue Chinese acupuncturist-she preferred the true blue. Again, I took note, but couldn't afford it with a baby on the way (and probably wouldn't be brave enough to try while preg, nor was it on my to do list with a preemie feeding every hour:), so again it was pushed back.
Finally, one day the stars aligned and I saw on a very trusted friend and fitness expert's Facebook page that she was promoting
community acupuncture down here. Upon looking into it, I found a nice
site and was very pleasantly surprised by what I read. An acupuncturist (all-American gasp!) ran a community service, meaning he services more than one client at a time, but for a very affordable price-on a sliding scale from $20-$40 based on what you can afford. The location is about 30 minutes from home, so my biggest challenge was finding a time around my husband's schedule to get there and RELAX. I had my hesitations (other people in the room?? an hour of travel for this??), but loved his explanation (besides the lower cost) of why he uses the community setting-more or less informing us that the traditional Asian acupuncture IS usually done in this way (and while he doesn't say so-he'd never even hint at this, way too polite), is not usually done in the money-hungry private American way:).
Also, around this time, I was getting both public and private feedback on my
fertility blog post... quite a few young ladies were both praising and intrigued by my acupuncture suggestion. To fill you in, I had fertility struggles pre-Kai and now am post-Kai trying for baby 2, but I had never used acu as a boost. After researching for my post, though, I found it was mentioned multiple times-and I am always for a holistic alternative! Once posted, I got feedback from girls that have tried it and were successful in their pregnancy efforts within mere months-I was so happy for them, AND so happy to have another reason to try this out myself! Yes, mind over matter, sure... but you can't argue with something that works for that many people-it's not always the placebo effect, folks.
So, I finally found a time in my life when I was ready to try it. I set up my appointment online (easy peasy), and went on a Saturday at naptime (EASY PEASY-thx papa! hey, we only have each other down here to take care of our little love:). I have to say that when I walked into this setting out of a bright loud strip mall lot, with a "please be quiet" sign outside of the door, and a "remove your shoes" inside; I was beyond pleasantly surprised. This was no joke. This wasn't a cold room with multiple people lying on creepy hospital tables side by side (my sad image after my first experience). This was HEAVENLY. I wanted to move in. This was a quiet peaceful place. The most blissful music was playing in the background. The air was warm and smelled of lotus flower. There were clipboards and forms with clear instructions. There was a private office to consult in first, and consult I did. The acupuncturist/owner took so much time with me, discussing EVERYTHING health-related, I felt as though I was getting a counseling sesh to boot;) While I was rambling about my fertility, blood sugar, aches and pains; he nodded knowingly and comforted me so much in saying how all of my issues were intertwined and the biggest thing to tackle was my stress first and foremost. UMMMM BINGO! Makes sense, yes, and I slowly started to realize that acu is more of a balancing act for your body than simply to tackle specific issues. Balancing your body in general will bring you less stress, more peace, and as I always have posted-better physical health results from less stress... from cancer to a common cold, your immunity alone is boosted! He suggested about once a week to start to see results for my needs-if I enjoyed this, I found that completely reasonable at his price level.
Alright, my consult was done-it's game time! In the community setting was about 6 REALLY comfortable mesh lawn lounge chairs, that blissful music, and some nice low lighting. I was especially excited about not having to change into a robe for this, as you would a private treatment-all work was done below the knees, below the elbows, and from the traps up (but will differ for everyone). There was maybe one other person being treated, but I loved that they were completely unaware of me. They were chillin' in their own world, and there was truly nothing to be self-conscious about. You definitely have your own quiet space, even if the room was to be filled. As he prepared, he quietly told me what he was doing each step of the way, and the needles were quick to go in. I can't tell you they were 100% painless, because besides that little pinch there was a heavy feeling that came under the skin-I panicked for half a second, because that's what Becca does best, but he was quick to assure me that this is a normal and positive response that would fade quickly, and I was able to calm down-sure enough, it did diminish within a few minutes and I was left to myself to soak in the moment. I was first staring at my needles, waiting for that ache to diminish, and thinking thinking thinking... but then a straight-up miracle occurred. I RELAXED. I didn't try to relax, and I didn't expect to relax, but I did non-willingly relax! I didn't fall asleep, as I saw some doing, but even better I found this quiet time for ME and only me-I found myself doing my own version of meditation, as I hadn't done since the
Meditation Challenge posts, and it was such a peaceful moment. The treatment lasted about 30-45 minutes, or when he noticed me stirring and wide-eyed. He put a nice white flower oil in my hands to breathe in. I was completely in a relaxed zone on the way home, and even when a few differences came up with a loved one later that day, I truly handled it cool and calmly-not my forte. The true test, though, came that night. I had been having major insomnia around that time, partly due to some health issues, and partly due to some anxiety-of which probably all went hand in hand. That night, for the first time in months, I had a perfect deep sleep. Yes, sometimes the baby pops up and I give him a quick change, snuggle, or milk; but this didn't prevent me from the sleep I had been yearning for for so long-a healthy sleep! I wasn't expecting this, and I didn't even think about why on Earth I would suddenly finally have a great sleep until I realized the only change I had made was my acu appointment. This alone, was a huge step in the right direction for me.
I continued to go weekly for the past month, and after each treatment I feel more and more relaxed, the initial needle pain is MUCH less as promised, and my sleep has continued to improve. The more treatments I have, the longer these results seem to last. My husband even joined me once (he's not the jump on the bandwagon weekly type, but I could see him attending monthly for stress relief-he admitted to getting GREAT sleep that first sesh as well). I was even recommended a child drop-off center literally next door to open my schedule a bit more (not usually my style, but knowing they can walk over and get me and seeing him run to those trains and trucks makes a mama happy!). On specific health topics, my anxiety has reduced, my neck pain has been somewhat relieved, and fertility is headed in the right direction (more details to come on that fun topic hopefully soon). I was also pleased to hear that not only is this safe during pregnancy (if done the proper way, of course), but can reduce chances of miscarriage. If nothing else, this is an opportunity to take that "me time" to close your eyes and meditate. Between this and yoga, I am good to go-as long as I stick with it! I've thrown chiropractic treatments in the mix despite our high copay to really tackle my neck pain and truly take care of myself before major medical interventions, which will ultimately cost more in the long run-both monetarily and risk-wise. I can't promise all of you that every community center will be the same-I truly feel I hit the jackpot-but I do encourage you to give one a shot if money is holding you back. My acupuncturist has a degree and is highly knowledgeable in
Eastern Medicine, which is a very nice second voice to hear alongside my conventional doctors here, some of which see acupuncturists themselves! My feeling is that the more knowledge, info, and interventions the better-especially
holistic ones-my hope is to find success in acu before a riskier medical alternative. I hope you can find the same balance, and if you can find and afford a private acu (or if your insurance will cover, even better!), the more power to you! Let me know!! Stay Chic, Stay Healthy;)... and see who I've found in the Wilmington area below-be sure to look in your area as well using
this link-there are more out there than you'd think!
