Do you have pain that just won’t go away?  Pain that affects your sleeping hours as well as your waking ones?  Chronic headaches? Lower back pain?  Muscle injuries that just won’t heal?  If not, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.  For the rest of you—I’m with you, I get it, and I want to make a suggestion.

Broadly speaking, I want you to start living with your heart and mind open to possibilities—possibilities for healing that you might not believe in or understand at the moment.  Possibilities that even Western medicine and science can’t explain.  When the drugs aren’t working and the medical treatments seem ineffective, open your mind, open your heart, and head down the path to alternative healing methods.  Not everything in the world is yet understood.  Just because it’s not understood doesn’t mean that it’s not real.  Open your heart and mind, and you just might find yourself a miracle.

Acupuncture

I had no intention to blog about this topic today, but I am very excited about my experience this morning.  I just walked into my house from my very first acupuncture treatment.  Yes, acupuncture, with all of those needles everywhere—a total nightmare for someone like me, who is afraid of needles.  I decided last week that I would overcome my fear of needles (or at least tolerate the fear) for the possibility of reduced pain.  I am so DONE with my back hurting and my leg hurting.

Over the past 6 months, I’ve seen doctors.  I’ve had an MRI, and an EMG.  I’ve been treated with traction, electric stim, heat, ice, exercise, manual therapy, ultrasound and various rocktaping techniques.  Have I improved?  Yes, but I am still in pain, and I am sick of hurting.

So this morning, after taking a complete medical history and asking a number of questions about my life, I got onto the table, face down, and the acupuncturist got to work.  I know that many people say that you don’t even feel the needles in acupuncture, but that wasn’t the case for me.  The needles themselves are quite thin, but I found the insertion of each needle to be quite uncomfortable.  I felt a strange muscle cramping sensation under each needle, and I had to quiet my mind and relax my body.  Given that I am afraid of needles, I kept my eyes closed the entire time to avoid seeing anything reminiscent of Hellraiser.  Interestingly enough, the needles are not just placed at the site of the pain.  In fact, I had more needles in my ears and arms than I did in my leg or back.

After a few minutes, the feeling of the needles disappeared into nothingness, and I managed to relax enough to dose off.  After the acupuncturist roused me from my little nap, she removed all of the needles, which was a painless procedure, and told me to flip over onto my back.  I had so many reservations about doing this.  For almost 5 years now, I have been unable to lie on my back for more than a few minutes.  The pain in my sacroiliac joint is just too severe.  In yoga class, I rest in savasana on my side.  At night, I sleep on my side.  In physical therapy, all exercises have been modified so that I am never supine for more than a minute or two.  I explained my reservations to the acupuncturist, and she tried to make me as comfortable as possible, but clearly, she needed me flat on my back.  I crossed my fingers and hoped I wouldn’t be too crippled at the end of the treatment.  Again, I closed my eyes, dealt with the muscle cramping as each needle was inserted into my skin, and tried to relax.  I think I might have dosed off again because I was startled when the acupuncturist told me that the treatment was over and that I could get dressed.

My Little Miracle

I will never forget the moment when I sat up.  I had NO back pain.  I mean NONE!!!  What the heck? How is that even possible?  I’ve been unable to lie on my back for 5 years without terrible pain, and after just 1 acupuncture session, I am able to lie on my back and get up without a trace of pain?  Insane.  My mind is blown.  The acupuncturist explained something about increasing blood flow to the SI joint and unblocking meridians, but it was all “blah blah blah” to me.  I was too busy being shocked.  I have no idea how long the effects of this treatment will last or if it will ultimately help my hamstring, too, but I am now a believer, and I have already booked my next appointment.

Keep your mind and heart open, folks.  You never know where it will lead you.