Tuesday, January 14, 2014

9 needles, 2 1/2 hours and a little more effective

I always plan my days around how much I can get done.  Today I took the whole day off, even though my acupuncture appointment was at 9:45am thinking I surely could get the house cleaned, a few quilts quilted up and maybe even take a nap.

I did manage to get to the post office this morning between dropping my son off at school and before going to the doctor early.  They got me in a bit early, the nurse stuck me with 9 needles this time instead of three.  She said she had spent all weekend in training about migraines and had learned some new places to stick people.  I don't think she used those words, but she said that she learned about places in the feet to draw your energy to that would help.

I went in with a killer migraine.  I decided this time not to take anything for it and see if only acupuncture would help the migraine go away.  I have to admit I was very skeptical.  On a scale of 1-10, my migraine was about an 8.  It was above and below my left eye and on my left jaw.  The neurologist says that is typical for trigeminal neuralgia.  That's the one in a million people disorder he diagnosed me with a couple years ago.  I'm special.

She put 4 needles in my right foot, one in my left, three in my left hand and one in my right hand.  Then, I laid there for two hours.  I have trouble laying down for thirty minutes and not doing anything.  I read the numbers on the ceiling tiles, closed my eyes and listened to the doctors in the other rooms, counted the ticking sounds from the heater, tried to sleep, but kept thinking I would start snoring or roll over on the needles and how embarrassing that would be.  About every twenty minutes the nurse would come in and check on me.  Almost immediately, the pain went from an 8 to a 6 when she put the first needle in.  I have no idea how acupuncture works.  Maybe it takes the pain from your head and transfers it to your foot or hand.  She says it transfers your energy or chi.  She said she picked a couple spots in my hands that balanced my energy and a couple spots in my feet that were supposed to give me less headaches.

After the two hours, my neck was hurting from laying on my back for so long.  I kept trying to wiggle around to get more comfortable, but it made my hands and feet hurt more.  The one she put in my left hand really hit a nerve.  She moved it once, but every time I moved that hand, it shot pain in my arm.  I didn't want to move that hand much.  So, I just tried to lay really still.

After the 2 1/2 hours were up, she came back and said I need to come back once a week for a month.  That's a lot of days off since the latest appointment is 3:30pm.  But, I'm in this for the long haul.  It's either going to work, or not, but I'm going to try it and see.

She said that since I tried the massage and it really didn't do anything for me, I didn't have to go back for another one.  I think once my husband is over his cold, I will get him to give me a foot massage and see if he can't get the energy out of my feet.  I might check online and see if I can find the acupressure points in your feet for migraines.

I've been trying the Tapping for migraines you can search on youtube.  You look like an idiot doing it, but it helps for about five minutes during and after you hit yourself in the head.  Again, I have no idea how that one works either.  I tell you, people with migraines are in so much pain, we are willing to try just about anything.

Have you seen the 'Prancercise' exercise videos?  I'm almost ready to try that :)  It's a new exercise crazy where a lady in a leotard jumps around like she's a horse.  If nothing else, it will make you laugh.  It reminds me of when I was about 8 and my sister and I used to pretend we were horses. Now why couldn't I have come up with an exercise video and sold it on the internet.  Oh, yeah, the internet wasn't invented back then.  That's probably a good thing because I wouldn't want videos of all the dumb things we used to do.

Well, maybe now, I can rest for the rest of the day.  Back to work tomorrow.  I hope the kids have been behaving for the sub the past two days.  Yesterday I had a teacher training day.  Coming back after a sub can be painful sometimes.

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