Adventures In Acupuncture
Does becoming a pincushion actually help?
I’m trying to remember the first time I visited an acupuncturist. I think it was probably about 10 years ago. I had my office in a suite that was owned by Katy, a middle-aged white lady who had had a lot of training and really seemed to know her stuff. I was studying tai chi at the time, and so the concept of meridians, the energy pathways in the body that are associated with different organs, made sense to me. I’d already worked with them in different ways in my tai chi class, which was geared towards health rather than martial arts.
If I’m remembering correctly, my first experience was related to a persistent sinus infection. I’d already had two courses of antibiotics and it still hadn’t healed. I decided to give Katy a try and after she treated me, the sinus infection cleared right up. The next time I felt one coming on, I went straight to her and skipped the antibiotics, with the same good results. I saw Katy from time to time after that for various minor ailments and had generally good outcomes. I haven’t had a sinus infection in many, many years.
Acupuncture needles are very small and are typically not painful when inserted shallowly into the skin at various designated points along the relevant meridians to stimulate self-healing in the body. An article on WebMD says, “It’s now widely accepted among…
