Acupuncture, Part II

Yesterday, after my first round at Taiwanese acupuncture, I had a headache and nausea. Not a migraine, this kind of headache was more like a hangover headache - I've felt it before whenever I do a detox program. A lot of people claim it's from the toxins that are stored in your cells releasing back into your bloodstream before being cleared out of your system. And, since acupuncture is supposed to help remove toxins, I took it as a good sign.

When I went back this time, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure enough, after a brief evaluation, I went into the back to get more needles stuck in me.

She gave me me a few extra ones in my stomach and feet this time. Like before, it was very painful. When she put one in my arm, I could feel the pain shoot down my wrist to my ring finger. I was even worried about irreparable nerve damage. After the needles were in, I felt like a paper doll pinned down with thumbtacks. I couldn't move anything. I couldn't even scratch my nose.

The office was busy this time. The man to my right was doing a different kind of traditional health technique, known a "fire cupping". It's like a reverse massage that draws the skin up and outwards, using heat and plastic suction cups. I was a little jealous, it looked pretty comfortable compared to what I was going through, and he was in and out in less than 30 minutes.

To my right was another guy, with his girlfriend. I couldn't see exactly but I think he'd hurt his ankle, and he got about 30 needles in a 4 inch area down there. There were also several people in the back room, an old women with a loud, Taiwanese voice, and another woman, yelling in pain from what I guess what also acupuncture but I can't be sure. It's hard to know for certain if I feel any better - but I'm pretty sure it was good for me and I'll try to go back at least every month.