I have undertaken three acupuncture therapies so far. She said some stuff about my gall-bladder and my liver being off and it is throwing other systems out of whack. I dont really remember what exactly she said and I dont care, just as long as she knows what she is doing.
Anyhow, it is working. I can feel muscle tension slowly melting away in my shoulders and even in my abdominals and legs. It has also greatly reduced the ringing in my ears and has helped alot with my anxiety and constant worrying that clutter my brain at times.
Overall, I am thinking that this is a good treatment, and though it is a bit pricey, I am going to continue. My next appointment is on monday.
Also, I have been put on a herbal tonic that is supposed to enhance the effects of the treatment. The herbal tonic says that it contains the “historical antecedent” Fang Feng Tang, and Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin. I have no clue what they are, but the tonic has a warming effect which kicks in almost immediately after taking it and it seems to put me in a more positive mood. It also helps me with mental focus.
These formulas are for treating “wind” created by Liver excess - specifically what we call “liver fire uprising” - that’s the ringing in the ears, tension, anxiety and unclear thinking. Good stuff… ‘bitter herbs better your health’…
Interesting observation about the warmth that you feel after taking the formulas. These formulas are mostly cool in nature, so a warm rush wouldn’t seem logical; however, if the liver qi has been constrained, a warm feeling sometimes washes over the body as the qi is ‘liberated’ and begins to flow smoothly. In fact, severe liver qi stagnation can cause cold hands and feet, which is peculiar since stagnation usually creates heat as a byproduct.
Glad to hear you are having promising results. Keep it up!
Overall, I am thinking that this is a good treatment, and though it is a bit pricey, I am going to continue. My next appointment is on monday.
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There’s this one thing that I find really sad. Keep up your treatments if you can afford them.
At my acupuncture clinic, I offer a sliding fee scale from $20.00-$60.00 per treatment. I offer my clients a chart showing how much they make and the ‘recommended’ amount, based on the fact that I will want to see (most of) them for 10 treatments, once per week. I also don’t require any proof of income.
I really liked the “peasant medicine” approach to the Community Acupuncture model, but couldn’t incorporate everything due to the lack of space. I only have two rooms. I thought that offering a service at a rate that (almost) everyone can pay was important to me.
Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and style of practice. I think that’s what makes Chinese medicine so great!!! It’s like an art form.
I just recently registered for an Acupuncture/Oriental Medicine school out here in Southern California. My 1st quarter starts in a couple of weeks. I am starting to think if I am making a mistake. Here’s my situation, I work fulltime and my work is about 2 hours from the school. So I will be driving up there right after work to attend night classes twice a week and also taking 3 classes over the weekend. Just wondering, how much studying and homework is involved with the courses? and do you think I am over my head? I am just afraid I will be wasting my money if I end up dropping out before I finish due to being burnt out or some other reasons. I have a few weeks to decide and can get a full refund on my tuition. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
P.S. I have always had an interest in Acu/OM and am getting sick of my line of work (Electronics) and am considering a career change. Just sucks that the program is so long.
It is tough. I was lucky that I had a part time gig teaching martial arts as well as selling my herbs as well as my sugar momma who worked her ass off so that the two of us could survive with me not working very much.
It can be done, but you have to really ask yourself if you want it that badly or not.
Thanks Dale. I was hoping you would reply to this thread. Yeah, this is something I need to think about more before fully committing. It’s an all or nothing deal here. Too bad theres no such thing as an Acupuncture Technician or something like that for people who drop out half way. haha. Take care.
I’ve known of few people who attended the school here in San Diego, it’s comparable to nursing school or physician’s assistant training in terms of the amount of memorization, study, and clinicals. You maybe able to work part time and be pretty successful 20-30hrs a week. Nursing programs do not allow their students to work full time at all. It’s all about time management, discipline, and coffee.
It’s not a recipe for success…would you want to be treated by a medical professional/acupuncturist who just barely got by?
If it’s a passion go for it, but be dedicated. If you want something that you can do part time look into Tui Na or massage school.
It only hurts when they place it directly into your eyeball, but you get used to it. Had some mixed results…like going to any medical professional…my first time I could feel current moving through my body…pulsing…was amazed as I was skeptical.
I went to some other fancy schmancy sports guy in a fancy medical office, he had some radio talk show and worked with professional athletes. I thought he was full of **** and his treatments roughly a half dozen did nothing to alleviate my sciatic nerve pain and L4 L5 issues in my lower back.
Its like getting a massage therapist or good chiropractic…you have to play the field to get a good connection. If you find someone who works for you, stay there!!!
I had accupuncture from a western trained westerner for a back problem. It didn’t hurt - I barely felt the needles. It didn’t work - just made things worse by irritating my skin.
By contrast, I had accupuncture from my old coach - a properly trained traditional Chinese doctor from mainland China. This was for an agonising tooth abscess. The accupuncture was painful - he put the needles in much deeper than the westerner, and then flicked them, so that they vibrated. This was like a miracle treatment. For 48 hours it completely eliminated a pain that was otherwise so bad it was comparable to torture. It didn’t cure the issue - but as pain relief, it was amazingly effective.
Gene’s just having a bad hair day…perfectly ok to inquire Young Skywalker. Doesn’t hurt…oh I did have a coworker who did it to quit smoking, she swears by it. I look at it this way, if it’s really effective or just a placebo and I feel better, it’s worth the dinero. Taking care of yourself is never a bad thing.
…but there are ones that are too revealing of one’s character for a martial forum. For example, let’s switch out some alternate words for acupuncture.
Anyone ever sparred?
Did it work for you? Was it painful?
Anyone ever kissed a girl?
Did it work for you? Was it painful?
Anyone ever tried anything new themselves instead of just asking on a web forum?
Did it work for you? Was it painful?
Okay, okay, maybe Hebrew Hammer is right and I’m being a little hard on you, Spiked. After all, you survived yesterday’s confrontation with lkfmdc and never once complained to me privately. Most nooBs go running to mama (aka admin & mods) after their first lkfmcd spanking. Good on you.
My cat was old and sick. We did some acupuncture as therapy and it alleviated some of her symptoms for a while. Strangely, it even appeared in our magazine on page 18 of the August 2000 issue in an article titled Tested on Humans. Note that it wasn’t my idea to run that. Our former editor had a great affection for cats and when she heard about our catcupuncture, she demanded a story. Also worthy of note, our cat allowed our therapist to stick several needles in her, so it didn’t hurt that much, at least not to the cat.
I have personally had acupuncture sessions that HURT LIKE HELL, but being Chinese, Chinese therapists tend to be a little rougher on me.
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1254246]Gene’s just having a bad hair day…[/QUOTE] Dude, my life is a bad hair day. For realz. :o
Bawang’s dates also ask me if it’s painful or does it hurt? Sigh, we can only speculate…
Same people ask or say that about getting tattoos…I didn’t think it was all that painful, more like getting scratched but eveyone has a different pain level and pain tolerance levels.
I should add that I’ve had acupuncture that didn’t hurt too.
And it was effective for some things, like some allergy issues I used to have, but not for others, like my chronic pain.
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1254275]Same people ask or say that about getting tattoos…I didn’t think it was all that painful, more like getting scratched but eveyone has a different pain level and pain tolerance levels.
[/QUOTE] Depends where you get 'em, I suppose. Here near SF, I’ve seen some tattoos in places that just make me wince.
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1254275]Gene, my hair is having a bad decade.[/QUOTE] I feel ya, bro. I totally feel ya. :o
