Posts Tagged ‘acupuncture’
2/2/12 – Groundhog’s Day Acupuncture and Chiropractic
I’m still working on the whiplash from the car wreck, and it is really making a difference going to both the Chiropractor and the Acupuncturist.
This week, I have not felt pain in the low back, but it is still shifting around between the neck and the shoulders and back again. For example, on Tuesday, it was definitely in the neck (on the sides and back of the neck). Today, the pain was like a large blanket over my upper back and across the tops of my shoulders. Today, Jenna deemed it time to do another session with cupping. It was just lovely with some rather dark purples places as well as some lighter ones. The darkest places are on the left side this time, which was the side of the impact in my wreck. The body is a very interesting machine.
My Chiropractic work complements the acupuncture very well because after acupuncture, I still had a lingering shooting pain down the left side of my spine that Jenna referred to as “structural”. Dr. Larry adjusted my back, which really helped to lessen those pains.
I am hoping to be completely well in record time, but we shall see how quickly my body really can heal 🙂
1/20/12 – Car Wreck
So, I am from the South. This means that I do not have extensive experience driving in snow in and ice, which were the conditions of the road on Friday, January 20, 2018. Long story short, I lost control, drifted into the next lane and a car hit my driver’s side back door. No one was seriously injured, and only one car collided with me that day, which was lucky seeing as how I ended up perpendicular to oncoming traffic with my front bumper against the middle metal railing and stuck on the large pile of snow put there by the snow plows. The driver of the other car helped me to get to the side of the interstate, and the drive home was, thankfully, not very exciting.
The aftermath:
Whiplash. It has been 9 days since the wreck. The day after the wreck my neck was sore; followed by two more days with a sore neck. Then, on Monday I happened to already have an appointment with Dr. Larry followed by a massage from Lynda. This appointment was by far the most important in starting the healing process. Dr. Larry did not treat me that day. Instead he did an examination of my neck and back where he found some very sore places. Lynda then did an intense massage of just my shoulders and back to help get everything moving (i.e. blood flowing, muscles relaxing, which was a feat that we didn’t really fully accomplish due to the injuries to the muscles). Over the course of this past week, the pain has traveled from my neck to my low back to my hips to sciatica in my left leg behind my knee and back up again to the neck. What a mystical thing whiplash is – to me, anyway.
I also went to my acupuncturist, who immediately gave me the whiplash treatment where she tapped into a strong web of energy to funnel that energy back into my spine and neck. I know it sounds hokey, but, I think it’s really helping me heal quickly. I do believe that the body is surrounded by energy that can be channeled to help heal areas of need. I also believe that the energy can be stuck or stagnate when we have injuries or scar tissue that have been left to get hard and immobile.
Anyway, the quick responses that all of these professionals have had to my injuries is really helping me get better quickly. I have not lost much range of motion in my neck, which was starting to happen by Monday after the wreck.
My Chiropractor has been spot on in having me come in often because each time I make an appointment so close to the next, I think, “Well, I might not need that next one….” only to find that my neck or some other part of my back is completely out of whack and in need of some help by the day of the appointment.
Needless to say, I highly recommend having injuries treated promptly. I am looking forward to a speedy, full recovery!
p.s. I think my posts will likely be about the recovery process rather than my feet for a while….it’s all related, you know 🙂
1/17/12 – Meet Acupuncture, the Newest Member of the Village!
When I first went to the Chiropractor, it was after several recommendations and a 3,000 mile car ride across our great and really big country that finally led me to that office. Yesterday, I visited an acupuncturists office after many of the same recommendations. My friend Ollie enthusiastically suggested it first, but I must admit it was not until my massage therapist, Lynda, told me that it would be a great idea to get any “stuck” energy moving.
Per my last post, I have been feeling really stuck lately: My right shoulder, my right knee, my left foot – all stuck in the same place. Each still hurting despite the endless physical therapy that Melissa, my personal trainer, continues to thoughtfully direct me to do. What have I done to unstick it? So far, physical therapy, massage and chiropractics. None are working. I felt like they have taken me as far as they can. What next? How do I heal?
Acupuncture.
After Lynda’s recommendation, I hastily texted Ollie for the contact information on the acupuncturist she recommended: Jenna Beem, Health Discovery Acupuncture and Herbs. After all of the first visit paperwork, I headed back with Jenna to the treatment room. She and I talked about my history, and she was really interested in the car wreck in 2007 when I hit a bus. The whole incident was not my fault – he ran his left turn arrow, turned in front of me, and got stuck in the middle of the intersection I was approaching downhill in the Atlanta pouring rain. I did not have anti-lock brakes, and I slid right into the bus. It won; my poor small car lost. The air bags were wonderful, though! No broken bones, but a lot of bruises and a really upset right shoulder to show for it.
Jenna asked about my Raynaud’s – when did it first show up? You know what? It showed up the winter immediately following my car wreck! Eureka! Connection? She seemed to think so 🙂 I might not only heal my shoulder, I might also heal my cold-numbing fingers and toes! I cannot express eloquently enough or at all how much having regular circulation in my hands and toes again would mean to me.
Ok. So, she decided that we needed to start face down so she could work on my shoulders, back and feet. She also said that she was going to do some cupping to remove some of the “stuck blood”, which she thought might be causing a lot of the problems.
I know I had more than 40 needles in me at one point. Also, she told me to tell her if any of the needles hurt, and when I mentioned the one in my left foot was uncomfortable in a dull way, she said that was good and meant that we had found an area that really needed to be opened up. Ok – now, I’m listening. My left foot is definitely needing to be opened up. She further explained that sharp, acute pains were bad, but dull, annoying ones were fine.
After she removed the needles, she did the cupping using two small glass globes. She moved them all along my back stopping in certain places and moving again. She explained that when the area was purple after the cupping, that meant that there was a lot of “stuck blood” in that location, i.e. that’s where the scar tissue is, or it is where the energy is stuck. I was skeptical at this point b/c the cup is basically making a hickey on my back. I mean it could be that she is just going to leave it longer in the areas I say are hurting so that they appear more purple. Ok. NOT what happened at all! She moved the cups equally along my back. The low back is just pink, while the upper back is purple. My right shoulder is very purple. VERY PURPLE.
After all of this, she massaged mint oil into my back, which was therapeutic in and of itself for the rest of the day. I left with a lot more mobility in my neck and my shoulders felt more open. I felt lighter in my shoulders and neck than I usually do.
After two days, my shoulders are definitely still more mobile, but they are beginning to get tighter. This is a process, like all things involving the body. It is going to take 4-6 weeks to see consistent change. When you go to build muscle, it takes 4 weeks to actually begin making new muscle. Likewise, it will take that long for my body to realize that it can rebuild those areas and be less tight. Open up old passageways, so to speak.
I am also doing two meditations several times each day. They are going really well. I am so excited about the prospects of finally continuing to heal. Hooray! Is this the missing link? It’s an adventure, and we shall see 🙂
EDIT: According to Jenna, I had around 20 needles, not 40 🙂