The acupuncture bed I laid down on and had all the pins stuck in me.
Pretty much your basic examination bed.
This morning I headed to formation in my ACUs because I have a 0800 appointment with my NCM. After accountability, I headed back to my car, grabbed my blanket and took a nap. At 0800 I went to my NCM appointment. It was the same as usual. The same questions, the same answers, the same everything. After the appointment I went back to my car and listened to the radio while eating breakfast. I hung out in my car until my 1000 acupuncture appointment.
I was looking forward to this appointment, I’ve never had acupuncture done and I’m optimistic about trying anything now. I’m so tired of always being in constant pain. The appointment started with the acupuncturist asking me a few basic questions and then rolling out a mat that was full of very hard plastic rocks. She said while she is inputting information in the computer, she wanted me to take off my boots and walk back and forth across this mat with my socks on. I could use the edge of the examination bed to help balance during this time. She proceeded to show me once by doing it herself. I took off my boots and started the walk…the walk of pain…lol. I’ll admit I have tender feet, I don’t go around barefoot much. This mat full of hard plastic rocks is about two feet wide and 5 feet long. I tenderly walked back and forth very slow and using the exam bed extensively. I’m not sure what this does, but I did it.
I then laid on my back after taking off my socks and my ACU jacket. The acupuncturist then used a little alcohol to clean up each of the places I was going to get stuck. She then stuck a needle in the middle of my forehead, I didn’t feel a thing with that one. The others went into each wrist, each ankle, and on the top of each of my feet. I could feel a little stick, but nothing hurt. The tops of my feet were the only that were a little more intense for the slight moment she was sticking the pins in, but it was nothing to complain about.
I then listened to relaxing music for a total of almost 15 minutes or so. Laying on the exam bed, listening to relaxing music, focusing on my breathing, with 5 pins stuck in me. She came back in and took out all the pins. To tell the truth I didn’t feel any different, but I guess it will take a few sessions before I notice anything. I then headed straight to a class in the pain clinic that my acupuncturist was teaching and suggested that I attend. The Class was CTM (Chinese Traditional Medicine) Nutrition. We covered a lot of things, but basically focused on the benefits of nutrients and sleep. The class was interesting, as is all of this eastern medicine that the pain clinic focuses a lot on. I’m going to go all in with this eastern medicine stuff. I’m still surprised that the army pays for all of this because it’s so alternative to what western medicine is all about. I may have said this before, but I don’t think I have anything to lose by trying out and learning all I can about eastern medicine. So far western medicine hasn’t done much. I get pills that dull the pain at times, and that is about it. I guess we’ll see what the east has to offer!
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