2nd Treatment

I went to my second appointment today. From my last appointment I did have some relief from the pain in my fingers and thumb on a near daily basis and had no lower back pain at all, despite working outside quite a bit over the weekend.

Other than what Paula had told me from the last appointment, I still didn’t know much about acupuncture. I’ve purposely avoided seeking out too much information so I can have a better subjective experience during my first few appointments. However, I wanted to know a little more of what was going on, so I asked Paula for a slightly deeper explanation of the theory behind acupuncture. Paula says that energy (called Qi) follows through conduits (meridians) throughout the body. There are 12 standard meridians, each one flows through one of the 12 zang-fu organs. The zang organs (associated with yin) are considered to be “solid” organs that produce various substances for the body. The fu organs (yang) are hollow and responsible for consuming, metabolism, and elimination. Each zang organ is paired with a fu organ, so the flow of energy goes up for the yin meridians and then back down through the yang meridians. As long as the pressure remains balanced between the two pairs, everything is fine and the body is healthy. However, when the flow gets disrupted or blocked, symptoms began to manifest. Deficiencies can cause issues as well as excesses.

The needles used in acupuncture are applied to specific points along each meridian and each needle helps unclog and increase the flow of energy. The treatment helps balance the flow and eliminate various issues. The actual practice is far more complicated than just sticking needles in points, so this is a very simplified explanation, but it’s the best one I can come up with from my limited experience and knowledge so far.

In order to better show me what she was explaining earlier, Paula used a quite a few “optional” points so I can get the full experience. By the end of the session I was feeling like I might appear as a porcupine and this time the treatment wasn't quite as pain free as the first. There were needles placed in a few areas with high amounts of sensory nerves and despite the thinness of the needle, I felt them.

The sensation of the needles is odd however; once she was finished inserting them all, any discomfort started to fade and as I sat waiting (part of any sessions is a 10-15 minute quiet time in which the needles stay in and you are supposed to relax) I could almost drift off to sleep.  Other than feeling relaxed, I tried to detect some other sensations, but I didn't really notice anything else in particular that I could identify.

Four hours later, I feel much the way that I did after the first session. I am relaxed and feel less pain than I normally do in my hands, but I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to feel. I can say for certain that it’s doing something for pain, but past that I'm not sure.