The three-month beatdown in Philadelphia left me hobbled. Knee inflamed, limited range of motion, arthritis symptoms. Surprisingly, my doctor immediately referred me to an acupuncturist first, with the idea that if my lab results came back suspicious (which they did), then I would see a western specialist at the same time.
I admit, I like the idea of experiencing firsthand the different approaches western and eastern medicine use to treat the same problem. It hasn’t been a totally fair fight, however, since the western representative was fairly useless and I’m in a line waiting to see another.
But I’m not quite sure what to make of the acupuncturist, either. I’ve been three times and haven’t seen significant improvement. The common sense things he has prescribed (detox my diet, eating herbs, light meditation, choosing stretching/yoga over pavement ball and running, etc) are very beneficial, sure, but they really have nothing to do with acupuncture.
The jury is still out on all of the needles.
I’m really not quite sure what to make of it, especially when he is targeting every pressure point on my body EXCEPT the problem knee. Is this new-age sorcery? He even bled the back of my inflamed knee; is that medieval hokum or what?
Perhaps I am just being close-minded…Acupuncture has worked for thousands of years, after all. Does it matter if it’s a placebo if the placebo is effective?
The world is a mysterious place; I can’t claim to understand it all.
3 comments:
See? Whenever you come back to the blogosphere, you have a great story. It's always worth waiting for. I expect regular updates though about the needles...
Yes, great story. And yes, bleeding the knee sounds like hokum. But hokum that works? Perhaps?
I go to the Naturopath, and MB calls it voodoo. However, it seems to be working.
I also recommend yoga and swimming. Good for what ails you.
I hope that whatever combo of poking and x-rays and leeches gets you better soon. The historian, when he had cancer years ago, went to an accupuncturist who believed in making the needle hurt when it went in. What? That seems crazy. But hey, he's better now. Also had reiki, which he feels really did help.
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