I just got back from my first acupuncture appointment.
It wasn’t at all what I expected.
The doctor took my pulse in a bunch of places (wrist, neck, forehead, temples…) and checked my spine alignment and told me that I have two problems. 1) my spine is a bit out of alignment because I do everything with my right hand and 2) my circulation is very bad. He said that my arterial contractions are about about 40%, but that the ideal is 80%+ and that 20% is where you die. He said that poor circulation explained why my joints are so achy all the time and why I have always had joint trouble (severe growing pains as a little kid, knee problems, wrist problems, etc).
The solution?
He wants me to take herb capsules and let him stick needles in my ear. Needles I have no problem with, so he did that. But they weren’t like in movies – they’re more like little thumbtacks with sports tape instead of metal and slightly thinner needles. He disinfected my ear really thoroughly, stuck the needles in (the one for the lower back correspondence point really hurt!), and pressed the tape down really well. He says to leave them in for FOUR DAYS! WACKY!
The herbs are another matter. I take prescription medication which is known for interacting badly with all kinds of things (from other prescription meds to certain herbal medications), so I told him I wanted to research the herbs myself before agreeing to take them. He was very nice about it – I was afraid he’d be offended or something, but he said that he didn’t want me to be scared of the medicine, so I should do the research if it would make me more confident about taking it.
Any of you guys know of weird interactions/side effects for the herbs he wants to give me? They are:
- hoelen
- waterplantain
- peony root
- asiatic cornelian cherry
- chinese yam root
- amomi fruit
- rehmanniae root
- scarlet root
- tangerine peel
The first seven are “endocrine tonics” and the last two are “good for artherosclerosis and fat metabolisms” according to the sheet he gave me. I’m going to google them and whatnot, but I figured I’d ask y’all for info too.
