Grand Master P (as in Puncture......as in acu..)

I have baffled my acupuncturist!  (I call him Dr. Needles.)  I was doing really well and had not had a migraine in over 3 weeks and was feeling really good and almost cocky that I had gotten rid of them.  Then, came the smack down!  Almost every day this week, I have had a headache.  Some were full-blown migraines, others were just bad enough to make my day miserable.  There doesn't seem to be any reason for it.  No major changes or anything.

SO - since Dr. Needles couldn't figure out my deal, he set up a free session with his teacher and mentor who I will call "Grand Master P".  This guy is like the triple black belt mac daddy of acupuncture.  He is a sweet, tiny, Chinese man who drives in from Texas about once a  month or so to consult with and provide guidance to his student, Dr. Needles.  (Apparently, like music, acupuncture is an ongoing learning process.) 

Grand Master P was very helpful.  He asked loads of questions before diagnosing me with "Qi stagnation".  According to him, Qi is life energy and it flows throughout the body.  Sometimes, it flows into a part of your body but doesn't flow back out for some reason.  This is Qi (pronounce "Chee") stagnation.  In my case the Qi is flowing to my head and is getting blocked up there.  The energy has to go somewhere so it comes out as pain.  He said that the remedy for me is to pull the energy back down from my head.  (I don't know how much of this I subscribe to.  I'm just saying what he said.)

He put a lot more needles in than usual and I have to say they stung a bit.   He said that if it stings a little, that means it's working.  If it burns, then that's not good.  Two of them burned like hell so he had to adjust them.  I think he put them in deeper than usual.  As he did this, we had a very nice chat about life, music, and everything.  He plays the western as well as the Chinese flute and was very interested to hear about my oboe playing.  We agreed to play some duets and swap CD's next time he comes into town.  Very cool guy.   

As Grand Master P was leaving the room to let me rest with the needles in for 20 minutes, one of them fell out.  It happened to be the one near where my head had been hurting that morning.  When I told him this, he said "That's good!  When that happens, we don't put it back in. When the body redirects energy, sometimes it rejects a needle and pushes it back out.  When it does this, it means it doesn't need that needle any more."  Isn't that crazy?  If it hadn't had this happen to me, I don't think I would've believed it.  I have never had a needle come out before.  I don't know what it means, but there it is.

I have to say, I felt tons better and way more relaxed after my visit with Grand Master P.  This is good because I have friends staying at my house with 2 little boys aged 5 and 3.  I totally need my energy this weekend!  :-)

Verdi and Needles

Thursday night was our last big symphony concert of the season.  We ended it off big with Verdi's Requiem.  The chorus was HUGE!  There were literally hundreds of people on the stage.  It's exciting to play this kind of music.  The only bad thing was that someone's hearing aid was turned up too high and there was a hideous squeal that accompanied the first 2 movements.  Ugh!  It really was annoying and horrible.  It was driving me (and everybody else) nuts!  Luckily, our conductor is really good at handling these kinds of things.  After the second movement, he turned to the audience and explained what the noise was and he requested that people with hearing aids turn them down.  The situation was fixed immediately and didn't happen again after that.  Yay!  I'm so glad our conductor is so diplomatic.  I have known previous conductors in the past to throw absolute diva fits over things like this!

For the first time, I had my acupuncture session before I played the concert.  I really didn't know what was going to happen, but I hoped that I would be more relaxed.  Lately, I have had issues with performance anxiety which is weird because I never used to.  Over the past few years, I have developed gut issues that happen just before performance time.  It's obnoxious!  I can't eat anything except broth and rice on the day of a performance or else I'll regret it.  Anyway, I was hoping the acupuncture would help with this.

Although the session did help with a headache which was forming on the left side, I didn't notice a change in the gut issues.  However, I did feel much more relaxed and I had much less anxiety about it.  So that's good.  I didn't tell my acupuncturist about the stomach thing but maybe I should.  (duh)  Overall, I think the acupuncture is helping.  I have not had to take a day off work since I started.
 :-)

Acupuncture Update

I haven't kept up with my acupuncture session reports so here's an update:

I went almost 2 weeks without a migraine but then I had one this past Saturday on the left side, then Monday on the right side.  The interesting thing is that the pattern has changed.  I used to always wake up with a migraine if I was going to have one.  Now, these past two started in the late afternoon/night.  (Which I actually prefer because at least I don't have to take off from work.   But I still would like to not have them!) 

Today, I told my acupuncturist about this change.  He said that there is a Yin and Yang balance and that Yin is associated in the morning, but Yang is associated with afternoon.  (Or maybe it was vice versa.  I don't quite remember, but it was interesting to me.)

Anyway, I am having crazy allergies lately and have developed a rash on my arms.  Apparently, the cold weather we had earlier has caused the oak trees to produce WAY more pollen than usual.  This sucks because I'm really allergic to it.  Oh well.  Anyway, the needles stung a little today.  It's probably b/c my skin is more sensitive these days.

I did feel much more relaxed after today's session.  The relaxed feeling even lasted through my orchestra rehearsal.  We'll see how it goes.  One cool thing - my acupuncturist digs classical music and may come to our upcoming symphony concert.  I love it when people are enthusiastic about symphony!

Needles and Chips

Needles:
Well, today was my 3rd session at the acupuncturist's.  I'm used to the drill now.  This time, he put extra needles in my neck because I told him I'm having tightness in my shoulders.  (I ALWAYS have tightness in my shoulders.  I hold a lot of tension there and they seem to be up in my ears most of the time.)  Also, he gave me some therapeutic cream to put on my neck to loosen the muscles.  (Kinda like a natural Icy-Hot.)

I have not had a headache since my first acupuncture session on Tuesday.  It has almost been a week now and that's the longest I've gone without a headache in several months!  Is it wrong to be in love with your acupuncturist?  ;-)

Chips:
A friend of mine posted a recipe for kale chips on  her blog.  I made them tonight and they were fantastic!  I did not expect them to be so light and crispy.  I totally pigged out on them, but didn't feel too bad because it's kale!  The more kale you eat the better, right?  Seriously, try this.  It's an easy, painless way to get your veggies.

Second Visit to the Acupunturist

Today was my second acupuncture session.  As I was headed over there, I checked the mail and there was a hand-written card from Dr. Needle.  How nice is that?  It had a nice, peaceful picture of some green bamboo on the front and it said:
"Lyn- 
I'm glad you decided to try acupuncture and Chinese medicine, as I believe your condition will respond favorably to treatment.  As we discussed, if you can be consistent for a period of time I believe you'll see results.  See you next visit."
He's trying hard, isn't he?  His business is only about a year old so I'm sure he's still trying to grow his client base.  It was still nice to get the card though.


Last time, there were two needles that bothered me and he had to adjust them.  Today, nothing bothered me at all.  Either my body is getting used to it or Dr. Needle is adjusting to my particular body.  Anyway, it was fine.  He put the needles in the same places except instead of the neck ones, he put them on either side of my nose (to help open the sinuses).  I could see them sticking out like big 'ol walrus whiskers.  Crazy!  Again, I had to lay there for 20 minutes before he removed the needles.  After they were out he massaged my shoulders, temples, and ears.  I was calling this "shiatsu" but it's not.  It's called "Gwa Sha" (used to release tension in problem areas) and "Tui Na" (used to move Qi in various parts of the body).  

After an acupuncture session, they say not to do anything strenuous and to not take any drugs or drink alcohol for 6 hours.  I just felt extremely sleepy when I got home and took a nap.  I have to say, I have felt better for the past 3 days but I can't tell if it's from the acupuncture or from the fact that I have the week off for spring break.  The real test will be when school starts again!

I'll keep posting about my experiences with acupuncture for those that are curious.  (I have to go twice a week for the next couple of weeks.)  I'm not 100% sold on it but, like I said before, I'm willing to give it a try.  My friend's mother said that for her, it took about a month but now she doesn't have any migraines at all and she doesn't have to take her medicine.  I'm hopeful. 
 

Acupuncture 101

A friend of mine recently told me about her mother who has had some success with acupuncture for migraines, so I decided to try it.  It can't hurt, right?  (Well, at least not as much as my headaches do!)

I made an appointment for this morning at 10:30 am.  Coincidentally, I had a migraine on the left side of my head when I woke up this morning so I almost canceled.  Then I thought, "now's my chance to see if it actually makes me feel better."  So I dragged myself over there.

Pre-puncture:
The acupuncturist I saw (I'll call him Dr. Needle) seemed very professional and seemed like he knew what he was talking about.  He asked lots of questions before we began and he really listened to my answers.  Dr. Needle's questions helped me realize that I actually have had some improvement in my migraines since I started my crazy diet.  (no wheat, dairy, or sugar)  I was feeling frustrated because the frequency hasn't seemed to diminish at all.  BUT - the intensity isn't as bad and the duration isn't as long these days.  I used to spend the day crying and throwing up whenever I had a migraine.  I haven't had one like that in months.  Also, if I'm going to have a migraine, I'll always wake up with it.  It used to last until 6 or 7 at night but lately, it goes away around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  That's improvement!  I hadn't really thought about it until Dr. Needle's questioning.  It confirmed in my mind that I'm on the right track.

Puncture:
I have to say, having needles stuck in you doesn't really hurt at all!  It just feels like someone is flicking you lightly with their fingers.  There were two places which burned slightly when Dr. Needle put the needles in, but I told him and he adjusted them.  I didn't really feel them after that.  He put 14 needles in total:  two in each foot, two in each shin, one in each knee, two in each hand, one on either side of my neck, one in the middle of my forehead, and one the top, left side of my head (exactly where it was hurting).  The idea is to disrupt and redirect the energy flow in the body.  It sounds a little hocus-pocus but a lot of people swear by it and it has been around a long time so there must be something in it.

After the needles were in, the doctor left the room for 20 minutes.  I laid there on the table with all the needles in, with pillows under my head, legs, and each arm.  It kind of felt like I was floating on a cloud.  After 20 minutes, Dr. Needle came and removed the needles and I barely felt it at all.  He then did some shiatsu massage on my neck, shoulders, and ears - reaching the pressure points there.

Post-Puncture:
 I would like to say that my headache immediately went away and I felt great, but that's not how it works.  For chronic conditions you have to go back a few times, and there is a cumulative effect.  Dr. Needle gave me some Chinese herbs to take twice a day for a month or so.  He says we're correcting an imbalance in the body so this isn't something I have to take forever. 

The pain was still there when I left, but I did notice my nausea (and other stomach issues which accompany the migraine which I won't go into) had subsided.  Also, I usually see auras and/or trailers and that had gone away too.  So there was  improvement even though the pain was still there.  The pain didn't go away until 5:00 pm, but that's about when it usually stops. 


The verdict:
I think there is something in this and I am hopeful that it will work.  My shoulders feel less tense than they did this morning.  I have another appointment for Friday and I will keep you posted.  Has anyone else had experiences (good or bad) with acupuncture?