I did it...acupuncture

So I did something recently that I never thought I would ever do...I voluntarily let someone stick me like a pin cushion and I paid them to do it. Last Tuesday I visited an acupuncturist for headaches. Now I have dealt with headaches every day of my life for as long as I can remember, and NOTHING has been able to fully cure me of the pain. Most days its just a dull ache, but at least two days a week its so severe that I have trouble concentrating and paying attention to anything. I've taken medicines, had scans done of my head to see if doctors could tell what was wrong, lived with the headaches, and I wasn't expecting to experience any relief whatsoever from acupuncture (I did hope though).

Before I go further, I would like to say that I don't believe any of the zen, yin, yang whodoo-voodoo mess! I was concerned whether acupuncture would be against my Christian beliefs because I believe that all healing comes through Christ, not needles putting some energy in line or whatever it is the acupuncturists say. After much research on my part, I've found that there is no definitive "proof" that acupuncture works, but many doctors believe that the needles stimulate the nerves causing a rush of endorphins, your body's natural painkillers. Here is an article from Focus on the Family that I found.

So when I went for my appointment, I politely let the acupuncturist know that I wasn't really interested in his "theory" on what was wrong with me, I was just looking for relief from my headaches. We got started and the acupuncturist placed needles in my neck, and immediately I got chills down my back and the muscles in my neck loosened up. Then I laid down on the table and needles were placed in my forehead (3 needles), one in each forearm, and one in the top of each of my feet. I had the needles in me for about 20 minutes or so, and I enjoyed the peaceful time just lying there, praying and thinking about things. The needles didn't hurt at all, and I was prepared for some pain, even though my research said that I wouldn't experience any.

I had an awful headache the day of my appointment, and the headache had significantly subsided by the evening, but I'm not sure it was due to the acupuncture because I took Excedrin Migraine twice that day...Since that day though, I have been using acupressure dots (see below) when I go to bed, and I go back for my second acupuncture appointment later this week.

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, I feel so much better! I still have a dull ache, but I haven't had an excruciating headache since the appointment day. I don't really know how long the effects of acupuncture are supposed to last, but I'm enjoying it for now!! And for the record, I am thanking God every day for my headache pain relief.

Here are pictures of my hands showing the spots where I place the acupressure dots at night. You can see that I have several dots on my hands when I took the pictures. It's been five days since my appointment and the permanent marker has finally come off my hands.

Heading to bed to prepare for a busy week! I'll update on the adoption later this week, not that much is going on right now.