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Have you tried acupuncture? If not, you are missing out. It is one of the treatments I have come to rely on to get me through chronic Lyme. I don’t know what it is, but something about that hour-long treatment knocks me out to the point I am drooling, and when I wake, I feel like a new person. Both of the practitioners I go to on the west coast and east coast are complete rock stars, and I don’t know what I would do without them. They know what is wrong with me without me even telling them. They start the visit by looking at my tongue and then feeling my pulse. These two tests give them enough indication of what they need to treat.
It is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine for those who don’t know what acupuncture is. It has been around since before 2500 BCE. Acupuncture’s main principle is that energy flow determines our health. They refer to energy flow as Qi, pronounced “chee”. Our pathways which they call meridians, connect over 2,000 acupuncture points. Acupuncturists use tiny needles on some of the points to stimulate the Qi. Disruption of the energy flow can cause disease. Therefore, acupuncture is excellent to find and correct the imbalances in energy flow.
Acupuncture treatment is approximately 60 minutes. You lie on a massage table after the practitioner has checked your pulse and tongue. They can tell about your Qi from your pulse. Also, your tongue is analyzed because it too reveals the health of your body. Refer to this chart to see examples of tongues. You will then have approximately one dozen needles inserted lightly into acupuncture points throughout your body. Each point represents a part of your body. Most of the time, it doesn’t hurt. Occasionally you will have a needle that does hurt, and it usually is an area that is bothering you. For example, I had a few too many drinks the night before, and when he did my liver point, it hurt. Funny how that works. After all the needles are in, he dims the lights, and you rest for 30-45 minutes. Sometimes I am given Chinese herbs as well to take at home.
Although western medicine has its doubts about acupuncture because there are no scientific studies, it has been used to treat people for thousands of years for various ailments. I have found it super helpful with pain and my healing with Lyme. It is also great for stress reduction. Acupuncture has a way of communicating with your nervous system to calm it down and stimulate your immune system. National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment alone or in combination with conventional therapies to treat the following:
To learn more about acupuncture, listen to my podcast with Jacques Depardieu, one of the practitioners I have seen for over 20 years.
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