Tiny needles I left in for several days
US Airways is cheap. And I don’t mean cool, inexpensive cheap, I mean cheap cheap, like Southwest Airlines or JetBlue. I am flying right now and did not realize that they have unfortunately gone the way of the low cost airlines who charge for absolutely everything, even water. I usually fly United Airlines, but in order to get a reasonable flight from Boston to Orlando (and by reasonable I mean less than $500) I decided to take fly of their partners. I don’t think I’ll be flying them again the foreseeable future. Luckily, most of my flying isn’t domestic, so this isn’t a huge concern.
But that isn’t what this entry is about.
I have a new favorite thing. And yes, it is one of those woowoo, tree hugging, spiritual activities, and I won’t make any excuses for that. I will just tell you, in my logical ESTJ way, why I’m hooked. You can think what you like.
I am a new fan of acupuncture. I have only gotten acupuncture one other time in this lifetime a few years ago I was having problems with one of my hips. It would begin to ache if I walked too long, and I’d have to sit down for a good while to let it recover before moving on. This became quite an ordeal living in A’dam where people walk absolutely everywhere. (But it did mean that I enjoyed the relaxing café lifestyle quite a bit.)
I went to a several doctors and no one could find any reason I was having these issues with my hip. As a last result I went to the acupuncturist not really expecting any real positive result. I received one treatment where he put a few needles in my hip for 20 minutes. All I can say is that I never have had the hip pain again, and that was over 2 years ago.
That experience, even though it was quite significant and changed my daily life, didn’t make me a convert. I never thought I had any reason to go back to an acupuncturist.
But when I was in A’dam a few weeks ago and I was deathly ill with a cold/flu, I felt like I’d give it another try when I just couldn’t knock my sickness. I was thinking about going to the normal doctor, but I figured they just tell me to eat more brown bread, so I decided to try the acupuncturist.
She was a likable enough character, looked very bohemian, was about my age, with an almost British accent which I take is from living with her Irish partner. I explained to her that I had a lot of congestion and had to get a on a plane the next day and didn’t want my head to explode, and could she do anything about that? And, while she was at it, I’ve been experiencing some insomnia and general anxiety from lack of sleep.
And then the needles went in – 4 or 5 in the crown on my head, 1 in my forehead, and about 5 in each arm and the same in each leg/foot. I laid there for about 30 minutes and then she said I should go home and surround myself with feelings of calmness and relaxation.
I promptly went to happy hour.
I may have written here that I cannot sleep on planes. And you might know by now that I fly internationally a lot and take plenty of red eyes to get to different locations. So not being able to sleep on planes can be quite an issue.
Well, the next day I got on a Lufthansa flight (EXCELLENT service, food, and seat recline!) to fly back to the USA, and instantly fell asleep. I know this might not sound like a big deal to you, but it was HUGE for me. It is probably the first time in 5 years that I’ve slept on a plane for any great length of time. I was in shock when I woke up. I decided that I really had to watch a movie (what a normally do all during flights) in order to make sure I’d be able to sleep when I got home that evening.
I watched about half of the movie and could not keep my eyes open!! I went back to sleep for a few more hours.
I was certain that my napping on the daytime flight would negatively affect my sleep that evening, especially given the insomnia I’d been experiencing. Each night I would get into bed and think about HOW to fall asleep, and lay awake for hours counting sheep or looking at the patterns my ceiling. But that evening I fell straight to sleep.
And I’ve slept every night since then. In fact, nighttime rolls around and I cannot keep my eyes open. And the only thing that has changed is the acupuncture. I don’t see any other logical explanation. I still travel a lot, have quite a bit of stress, and have a busy job. So, the result has been most surprising and wonderful. All I can do is smile!
I don’t know if acupuncture treatments “build” on each other, but I will be going back – soon. And I’m a convert. I heart acupuncture!