Acupuncture Anyone?

[MrNinjato]

Does anyone here partake in, or use acupuncture? What are your thoughts of it?

"Background"... 8 yrs ago I had total reconstructive shoulder surgery. Since then I have lived with a daily pain level between 4-7, with a little ROM loss to go with it. Over the last several yrs I have noticed the shoulder becoming a little more arthritic with each passing year. Due to the shoulder pain, I have been taking a 7.5mg dose of meloxicam daily for the last year, prior to that I was living on the maximum daily allowance of ibuprofen (roughly 3200mgs), which is dangerous due to the increased chance of a GI bleed.


"Add to that"... I have spent the last year taking pre-req's to get into Clinicals this coming Spring semester. The constant studying and juggling of class loads with my full-time work schedule ( three 12's and a 4 weekly) has increased my stress level, and to some degree has affected the quality of sleep I get. I eat very clean and healthy, and take a mountain of supplements, as well as get plenty of exercise from running and training.


Due to a few factors my fiancé is trying to work around, she started acupuncture. I am not one to usually jump on just anything, but I decided I had nothing to lose and gave it a try at her insistence. After roughly a month, I feel much better. I have been receiving treatments for pain and stress, and seem to be making progress in both areas. My daily shoulder pain is now generally no worse than a 2-4 level, but some days at work (transferring 300+ pounders) can increase my shoulder pain. Also, my stress levels seem to be diminishing. I no longer feel absolutely overwhelmed, and feel I am much clearer in terms of ability to deal with my total daily load.


I am also learning to meditate again, and coupled with the acupuncture treatment, feel like my Zen is coming back together. I feel so much better than I did just 4 short weeks ago. The total package: training/workouts, acupuncture, meditating, and diet seem to have me back on track in terms total clarity.


I was just curious if any of you have seen any benefit if you take on this kind of "alternative" treatment.

 

[Treeslicer]

Thank God I've never needed it, but from what I've seen of it, acupuncture works. I've got personal experience with meditative techniques, such as raja yoga, visualization, etc., they seem to both exercise and reprogram the brain, and work as well. For the rest of it, diet changes and exercise programs seem to vary in effects depending on your personal genetics and metabolism. There's things some diet gurus are fond of that make me sick, for instance, and strict veganism breaks me down rather than builds me up. I've had more luck with high protein and fat "paleo" approaches than any thing else. On exercise, I've gotten a great deal of good from pranayama breathing exercises, and the practice of hatha yoga in general, as well as years of running, biking, swimming, and isometrics. OTOH, I feel that rigorous PT, weight training, and focused athletics should vary with the individual. I've seen a fine line between people reaching their peak performance, and being crippled by repetitive stress injuries. All this make any sense?

One thing I'll add to this, studying biochemistry and herbal medicine side-by-side have made me aware that most botanicals contain active substances which are how they work in the human body. For instance, many common ayurvedics will also preserve food, the Chinese herbal pharmacopeia is full of powerful substances, and a lot of the stuff discovered among primitive tribes is complicated to prepare, and kills if done poorly. On top of which, one can overdose on many vitamins. I personally ran afoul of ginkgo biloba and vitamin E at one time, both are anticoagulants, and I developed a bruising problem, which quit when I cut the dosages back to compensate. I'd spend a lot of time on Wikipedia and various .edu biochem sites when prescribing supplements for myself. The problem isn't that they are all quackery, but that they can work all too well, and people have a tendency to think that they are safe just because they are natural rather than synthesized.

 

[Ouroboros]

Due to a car accident and subsequent traume to the knees from football and hockey, rugby and being an idiot in my youth I sought treatment for pain (which still happens occasionally for some magical reason) and found a tremendously awesome practitioner in Toronto and had a gorgeous little shop of traditional medicines. After moving from that end of Ontario, I found someone who was much more ... shall we say untraditional and I found the difference to be amazing in both cases. Neither was bad.

I do believe the traditional accupuncturist treated more than just the pain and swelling in my knees and leg. I felt better overall and had more creative energy flow. I contrast this with the untraditional one who had a much more specific focus but just as good results "in that very specific area".

I'm sure I'll be needing a slew of pain coping mechanisms in the future but I don't know anyone closer than Ottawa (1 hr drive) that has a practice and I already use my insurance coverage for psychology costs--keeps me from shaving the cat down, painting his butt green and tossing his @rse in a fish market just to see what happens (I jest, I'm sorry, but it's a requirement of my employer that we all have 'chat' sessions with a psychologist...on the regular...our cost but reimbursed via our insurance spending account).

I'm intrigued to hear others experiences especially with non western options and traditional medicines...Oh, and Treeslicer...that part about 'make it wrong and it'll be deadly....' pickup a copy of Huxley's The Invisibles, there's a little story in there about a bocor in haiti making a potion, pricked his thumb and afflicted himself with some nasty tetrodotoxin poisoning...he'd added waaaay too much frog Spent a while in the morgue before being buried and 'rising' a few days later only to be enslaved by a rival dark wizard.

Ouro

 

[Wajirou Ichisada]

I've never tried it myself. But the science behind it is reasonable, and if it works for you, then it's a good thing.

I'm not sure I would consider it a "cure-all", because if it was, everybody would be doing it to the exclusion of all else. I guess it's like any other kind of treatment; for some people it works great and for others it doesn't work at all. But at least it's an option.