I Am A Grasshopper - Trying Acupuncture

I love my body...not necessarily the shape of it but the faithfulness of it.  For 70 years it has faithfully performed.  I get up each morning without a second thought of how I will navigate through my day's activities.  I bound up and down my front steps, I garden, I take walks in the neighborhood, I enjoy all the foods I desire, I knit, I read, I cook, I dance...just giving little unconscious mental commands to various parts of my body and my body complies.  I never think about it...I just act.  I take this body for granted.

So I guess it isn't unreasonable that occasionally my body taps me on the shoulder with a "remember me?"  It sends me messages, reminding me that it is working hard for me and to appreciate all my capabilities.  I received such a message about 6 weeks ago when I began to experience sciatica pain down my left leg after unwisely purchasing a pair of those Sketchers walking shoes that rock you forward. Do not purchase these shoes!  My doctor said I was her 11th patient that had sustained damage after wearing them.  Wearing them just one day did something to my lower back and and I have been having pain down my left leg.  For weeks I have tried all known remedies...anti-inflammatory medication, ice, heat, stretching exercises and finally about 6 sessions of physical therapy.  Without sounding like a neurotic old lady talking about her aches and pains, it seems I have a muscle deep in my buttock that is tight and compressing the nerve.  I call it tight-butt syndrome!

Jay and I attended a lecture on Integrative Medicine at the Rand Corporation over a week ago. According to the panel experts, evidence going back 30 years shows that acupuncture is more effective for treating pain than pharmaceutical medications.  The military is training medics in acupuncture so they can apply the technique in the field.  Many people I know have tried it.  A close friend used acupuncture and Chinese herbs during her cancer chemotherapy,  my son, Joe, has had success using it for various physical ailments, and Milli also used acupuncture and herbs during her pregnancy with Gabriel.  I don't like needles but I took a deep breath and made an appointment at LA Community Acupuncture, an affordable location near my home to see if it might help.

After a very leisurely discussion of my situation with the practitioner, Joe Recsnik, accompanied by the soothing, meditative music in the background, enhanced by the sound of rippling water, he settled me into a chair and inserted a number of needles...very painlessly... in various parts of my body.  All I felt was just tiny pressure and maybe a prick, except for a funny sensation when he struck the "gall bladder meridian" in my left leg.  Then all I had to do was relax for about 30 minutes.

The sensations I felt were unique....some heat on parts of my arms, an overall floating kind of feeling that came in went, the sense of my body expanding and a decided sense of energy or tingling moving in me.  I know I have a vivid imagination so was this all in my head?  Maybe but when I stood up I felt good...a very nice sense of well-being (but then I had been relaxing for 30 minutes!)

I have always been intrigued with Eastern Medicine.  I had a very good experience with a Chinese chair massage on a ship when we were on the Yangtzee River in China.  I swear it cured my tennis elbow!  As for my leg, still have the pain.  But I am going back next week and I will give it a little time.  "Patience grasshopper!"  Who knows!  I am sure my unblocked "chi" will thank me!