Had my second session with the pins. I have about an hour there, and the first half consists of deep tissue massage. Which essentially means he sticks his strong fingers deep into the scar tissue on my ankle till I grunt or twitch. Which is apparently enough pain to be satifactory. After a while of this the pins are a relief.
The pins went into different part of the ankle last night. Last week they made a pretty half circle round the bottom of my ankle bone. This time I had one on the front of the ankle and some near the achilles tendon, and one was supposed to go on the bonier part half way down the foot. But when he stuck that pin in, it was JUST LIKE SOMEONE STUCK A PIN IN MY NERVE. You know, when you have a hole in your skin, its pretty localised pain. But if something hits your nerve, the nerve shoots pain messages up and down the neurons, and its pretty special.
I have a suspicion he will try for that meridian again next time.
After the pins had been in there for a while, he comes in and twitches them again. And the heat lamp and pins lasts about half an hour. I took a book this time, cos its really boring looking at posters in chinese for half an hour. But after the pins being there for a while, he could do the massage and it didn't hurt at all. Like the pins had done something.
I know I'm doing this and I'm paying for it so you'd think I though acupuncture would work, but because I have no idea how it works my faith in the efficacy of acupuncture varies. But last night it certainly seemed to be doing something. Killing nerve activity perhaps?
I went for a run last night, the dog is looking a bit desperate for exercise, and I wanted to see what it would feel like. Really very sore. I'm going to try again tonight, because its hard to tell if the treatment is doing anything if I don't do the activity that actually stresses the ankle.
The dog also seems to have a tumour, which is a bit of a bummer.
Posted by Toni at August 23, 2006 09:41 AMHi there
I've had acupuncture a couple of times now. It seems to be especially effective for acute pain.
It may help to think of it as a kind of rewiring. When an area, like your ankle, experiences trauma the body rearranges bloodflow and the messages travelling to nerve endings to compensate, to move around the troubled area. Tissue is inflamed, blood pools where it usually wouldn't, oxidants collect without the exercise that would bring new blood in to move them out. Acupuncture can help to 'rewire', to prompt nerves to send messages in a direct way, to unlearn the bypasses they've created to get around the obstacles created by injury.
In massage, pressure is put on sore points in muscles. Oxidants have acumulated where the blood hasn't flowed well. Pressure on that specific point brings a (tolerable) pain that brings fresh blood to the area and the pain steadily goes away. The pressure doesn't change, but the pain does, giving the sensation that the pressure is coming off. It could be that acupuncture does something similar.
It alarms me that you'd run 2 days in a row - better to recover a day inbetween, don't you think?
All the best with your recovery!
Posted by: Pamela at August 23, 2006 11:43 AMMostly so that you know I am reading and interested in what you're blogging, jsut don't have much to say. I still have that year plan book to send to you... I am simply and incredible combination of lazy and busy which means that I haven't sent it, although I did carry it around in my bad for a good month. It shall eventually happen!
What book did you take?
Posted by: giffy at August 24, 2006 10:30 PMPamela, thanks for your concern, and I think I should explain I am only running around the block. When the pain gets a bit much I do stop, but this is what the acupuncturist says I should do... Its a very old injury and he is mostly treating scar tissue, so the pain is not new damage. And it seems to be working as the lumps are definitely getting smaller.
Giffy, I took the tractor book - A short history of tractors in Ukraine. Very very interesting funny and sad book.
Posted by: toni at August 25, 2006 08:15 AM