So, for the past week I've been dealing with what I think is a yoga induced over-usage injury in my shoulder and neck. I finally decided enough was enough and got some acupuncture.
It was my first time, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. At first, it was much like getting a massage: the requisite questions about stress, tension storage areas, and nutrition; laying face down on a massage table in a cold room, someone gentle touching your trigger points, and then OUCH!
"Was that a needle that you just stuck into me"?
Oh, yeah...that's was acupuncture is.
I'll be honest with you, I thought I'd like the treatment much more than I did. I thought I would be OK with the fact that someone was inserting tiny needles into me, and at first I suppose I was. But as my body began to sweat profusely (I'm still not sure why this happened, I'm hypothesizing that my body must have gone into some kind of fight or flight mode) and more needles were going into me, some larger that their predecessors, I began to feel a low deep annoying type of pain, a scratching of nails on a chalkboard pain, or someone diddling a nerve in a busted tooth pain. It was weird. The doctor left the room, and I tried to concentrate on breathing and relaxing, but all I could think about was a myriad of needle injury possibilities. What if I took too deep of a breath then causing a needle to move, which then leaves me paralyzed or even dead? Sharp thing are kind of scary.
So, do I feel better? Well, much of the tension that was associated with the neck/shoulder injury is gone. So, I guess that's good. The main injury is still there, but methinks it just needs time to heal. Here's the weird thing: for the past couple of weeks, my allergies had been gone. I was going outside again, running, and feeling good. Then, all of a sudden after the acupuncture, they came back full force. I'm sneezing, snotting, and eye-watering all over the place all over again. Not cool. Did something new tree begin to pollinate or did the acupuncture trigger some strange reaction?
Acupuncture.
Would I go back? Never say never, but...
Would I try to find another option first? Probably
Would I rather get a nice deep massage? Definitely.
The best analogy I can think of is that it was like watching a scary movie for me. I just don't like scary movies. Some people do. Some people really like being scared. I hate being scared. Like...a lot.
And then again, this strange aversion to the whole experience makes me wonder if perhaps I do need indeed need acupuncture. Sometimes we find ways to obviate the things that we need.
