post-op acupuncture
Oh, wow, ouch!
Usually acupuncture is painless and feels great. Between the crutches making me all twisted and putting weird stresses on my body, and the post-op issues from the anesthesia and femoral block, today's session was more like torture than therapy. I've been having serious pain in my left heel and hip (the only one I'm allowed to put weight one at the moment) and my right shoulder (compensating much?).
So Malia went to work starting withe the shoulder. That wasn't too bad, but then she started in on the knee itself. The first couple needles were OK, then she got to a spot on the lateral quad muscle attachment and I almost came off the table it hurt so much. I've never burst into tears from an acupuncture treatment before, so this was quite a shock to me. I couldn't get the feeling that the energy was flowing past the top of my quad at first. Malia kept working on it and eventually, it felt like the blockage was moving down but I still don't feel like I have a good handle on that leg! It seems like the femoral block blocked not just the nerve, but also the energy flow into the leg and I hadn't noticed until Malia tried to work with it today. Weird!
I have massage and chiropractic appointments for next week. Eventually I'll get off the crutches and get back to what passes for balanced, but wow...this was really an eye opener about how much the surgery and the crutches have thrown me off. The last time I had surgery on the knee, I wasn't using acupuncture - just chiropractic - and only had one day on the crutches. This is WAY different.
I'm going to have to spend a few minutes before I go to sleep every night meditating on the energy in that leg until it evens out. Too weird!
Usually acupuncture is painless and feels great. Between the crutches making me all twisted and putting weird stresses on my body, and the post-op issues from the anesthesia and femoral block, today's session was more like torture than therapy. I've been having serious pain in my left heel and hip (the only one I'm allowed to put weight one at the moment) and my right shoulder (compensating much?).
So Malia went to work starting withe the shoulder. That wasn't too bad, but then she started in on the knee itself. The first couple needles were OK, then she got to a spot on the lateral quad muscle attachment and I almost came off the table it hurt so much. I've never burst into tears from an acupuncture treatment before, so this was quite a shock to me. I couldn't get the feeling that the energy was flowing past the top of my quad at first. Malia kept working on it and eventually, it felt like the blockage was moving down but I still don't feel like I have a good handle on that leg! It seems like the femoral block blocked not just the nerve, but also the energy flow into the leg and I hadn't noticed until Malia tried to work with it today. Weird!
I have massage and chiropractic appointments for next week. Eventually I'll get off the crutches and get back to what passes for balanced, but wow...this was really an eye opener about how much the surgery and the crutches have thrown me off. The last time I had surgery on the knee, I wasn't using acupuncture - just chiropractic - and only had one day on the crutches. This is WAY different.
I'm going to have to spend a few minutes before I go to sleep every night meditating on the energy in that leg until it evens out. Too weird!