It looks like it hurts, but it doesn't
So this weekend, I went to see my mom's acupuncturist about my back, shoulder & neck problems because the chiro was not helpful at all.
I was all for it, I mean, hell why not? It was only $10 for a treatment and if it made my back feel better great, and if not - well, it's only 10 bux right?
So I get there, and the guy is a white guy with a child molester mustache. He seems friendly, so I don't have any reservations of being taken back into a windowless room simply outfitted with 2 chairs, and a rubber, 1 ft tall replica of the human body with tons of tiny lines & chinese symbols all over it.
After a brief question and answer session (i.e. "How long have you been bothered by this pain?" etc) he asked me to stick out my tongue, and apparently by looking and seeing that the tip of my tongue was "redder than it should be" it meant that my kidneys were "cold" and that he would "give me some herbal supplements" to "warm them up". whoa.
So we go into the room and he explains that he's going to need access to my "bare back" so if I could remove my shirt (bra can be left on or taken off, i left mine on.) we would begin. He left the room and i laid down on the table. When he returned he stuck some acupuncture needles in my wrists and one in each elbow. Then he started rubbing baby oil (!!!) on my back and told me he was going to do something called cupping. (For those who don't clicky the link, a short definition is: Cupping refers to an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup.)
He explained that my back may be bruised for a day or 2 but it should fade quickly. I wondered how quickly, considering that I was receiving the same treatment as Gwyneth Paltrow, and she attended a premier like that.
After my session was completed, he came back into the room and told me that it seemed that my upper body was "radiating too much heat" (hence the cupping) and it was taking away all of the heat from my kidneys (hence the freezing temperatures apparently). Once we could regulate the "chi" (energy) flow of my body I should feel like I am in excellent health once more. He also seems to think my prior mental health conditions may have manifested themselves in my upper back. I'm not sure I'm buyin that.
He wants to see me back twice a week, doing a cupping session every other time. These bruises haven't really even faded since saturday so I'm thinking if I ever want to wear a tank top again I should not do the cupping thing. I should have taken a picture, it looks quite painful but it's not.
I have 2 appointments for this week, and I'm not sure I should go again. It seemed kind of "quacky". My back hasn't bothered me since I went, but I haven't really done much of anything to make it act up so I'm not sure that's any kind of indication that this really helped me.
P.S. And our A/C is out in our building. Ugh.
I was all for it, I mean, hell why not? It was only $10 for a treatment and if it made my back feel better great, and if not - well, it's only 10 bux right?
So I get there, and the guy is a white guy with a child molester mustache. He seems friendly, so I don't have any reservations of being taken back into a windowless room simply outfitted with 2 chairs, and a rubber, 1 ft tall replica of the human body with tons of tiny lines & chinese symbols all over it.
After a brief question and answer session (i.e. "How long have you been bothered by this pain?" etc) he asked me to stick out my tongue, and apparently by looking and seeing that the tip of my tongue was "redder than it should be" it meant that my kidneys were "cold" and that he would "give me some herbal supplements" to "warm them up". whoa.
So we go into the room and he explains that he's going to need access to my "bare back" so if I could remove my shirt (bra can be left on or taken off, i left mine on.) we would begin. He left the room and i laid down on the table. When he returned he stuck some acupuncture needles in my wrists and one in each elbow. Then he started rubbing baby oil (!!!) on my back and told me he was going to do something called cupping. (For those who don't clicky the link, a short definition is: Cupping refers to an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup.)
He explained that my back may be bruised for a day or 2 but it should fade quickly. I wondered how quickly, considering that I was receiving the same treatment as Gwyneth Paltrow, and she attended a premier like that.
After my session was completed, he came back into the room and told me that it seemed that my upper body was "radiating too much heat" (hence the cupping) and it was taking away all of the heat from my kidneys (hence the freezing temperatures apparently). Once we could regulate the "chi" (energy) flow of my body I should feel like I am in excellent health once more. He also seems to think my prior mental health conditions may have manifested themselves in my upper back. I'm not sure I'm buyin that.
He wants to see me back twice a week, doing a cupping session every other time. These bruises haven't really even faded since saturday so I'm thinking if I ever want to wear a tank top again I should not do the cupping thing. I should have taken a picture, it looks quite painful but it's not.
I have 2 appointments for this week, and I'm not sure I should go again. It seemed kind of "quacky". My back hasn't bothered me since I went, but I haven't really done much of anything to make it act up so I'm not sure that's any kind of indication that this really helped me.
P.S. And our A/C is out in our building. Ugh.