I recently experienced my first acupuncture treatment. I had certainly heard of it, but never thought it would do me any good. I want to be a righteous rational scientific type, and thus I shouldn't spend time with something which falls under the heading of "alternative medicine." But after four years, my menopause symptoms, especially the hot flashes, have not abated or even gotten a little better, and my doctor did not want to put me on hormone replacement therapy, for very good reasons. Therefore I was willing to try something a bit out of the ordinary.

A very good friend who has benefited from acupuncture recommended me to her acupuncturist. The practitioner is an American, who learned the technique (or art, perhaps) in the USA, from Chinese teachers. It took a while to arrange an appointment, but finally we settled on a time.

The initial appointment took more than two hours! Conventional doctor's visits are a hurried fifteen minutes. The acupuncturist took a very thorough medical history, interviewing me about things which conventional doctors would not have asked. She said that these details were important in Chinese medicine. She also looked closely at my tongue, saying that internal conditions (according to the Chinese system) were reflected on the tongue. After examining me, she said that my situation was very common, even "textbook" familiar, and easily treated with acupuncture.

She had me lie down on a nicely cushioned bed, in a peaceful environment with soft music playing, scented potpourri, and translucent curtains drawn over the bright window. The needles are sterile, very thin and are one-use only. She found the places on me, swabbed them with alcohol, and popped in the needles. Most of the points were not painful, no more than a slight pinprick, though one or two were a bit sharper. Those subsided in a minute or so, and didn't hurt during the treatment. I lay quietly on the bed for about fifteen or twenty minutes while the needles did their work. The acupuncturist left me alone but came in to check on me halfway through the session.

When it was done she pulled out all the needles and I sat up and put my clothes on. I felt refreshed and relaxed, without the thought that I had been pricked by needles. We made another appointment for about a week later. I was told not to expect instant results, but I did feel "cooler" and less stressed. I still got hot flashes, though, and even with acupuncture they may never go away altogether. But I am willing to keep on with this, even if modern science, which thinks it always knows better, doesn't quite know how it works.

Posted at 1:03 am | link