Tuesday 1 May 2007

Chinese Medicine

I had my very first appointment today with a Dr. of Chinese Medicine. It was quite the experience and I loved it. After filling out miles and miles of paperwork, she sat with me and we talked about everything to do with my health, diet, digestion, energy etc.

Then for my first treatment she did cupping on my back and put acupuncture needles in my ankles, behind my knees, the back of my neck and my wrists. She also put electrodes on my collar. The needles didn't hurt. I could feel a slight prick when she put them in but only the ones on the right side of my body. I didn't feel a thing with the four on the left side of my body. The electrodes didn't feel like anything...I didn't even notice them once they were on. The cupping was the crazy part.

According to Wikipedia, to do cupping... "a vacuum is created by air (heated by fire) in a glass cup placed flush against the patient's skin. As the air cools in the cup, a vacuum forms that pulls up on the skin, stimulating the acupressure effect." She did this with 4 cups and then would slide them around my back and then leave them in one place for 5 minutes or so before sliding them around some more. The longer they were on my skin the more they started to hurt. Although, hurt is a pretty strong word. It was mostly just uncomfortable. The higher up they were on my back the more uncomfortable they were too. I took a picture of my back when I got home and this is what it looked like.

She also did an iodine test on me to see if I am getting enough iodine and sent me home with a week's worth of herbs to help boost my immune system. I have another appointment with her next week and I am looking forward to it.

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