Acupuncture anyone?

[JJames]

Okay, I've finally exhausted all the traditional avenues of pain relief while waiting for some surgical approach that both makes sense AND will be covered by my medical insurance, so this evening I will be going for my first acupuncture treatment!

If anyone has any comments are useful tid-bits I'd be glad to hear them. In any event I am going to give this a shot, and will post how it goes tomorrow. I'm honestly not sure what to expect. I know that this can't actually FIX what's wrong with my back, but any relief would be welcomed!

For now I'm just on pins and needles! Sorry - bad pun, but I couldn't help myself.

[Harrison]

Mr. Pincushion,

I've not experienced this myself, but many patients in this community have done pretty well with accupuncture. Please tell us about your experience -- and how you found the practioner too.

[JJames]

The actual acupuncture procedure was relatively uneventful, and it was certainly not at all painful (which I believe is the natural 1st question regarding someone inserting multiple needles into ones body!) I have not, and was in no way led to believe that I would, receive any sort of relief yet. I have scheduled another appointment and will continue to report back as to how my experiences are with this.

My wife located this individual for me. He was recommended via "second-hand" word-of-mouth. I was glad that after meeting him he was not too far into holistic approaches that he was negative towards Western medicine. I like anyone (MD or otherwise) who I see for my back issues to be opened minded regarding all possibilities available. I do not care for those who practice Western medicine who immediately discard practices like acupuncture either.

In any case, I will continue to post on this. If anyone is interested, here is Stan Baker's website:

http://www.acupuncturechnmedicine.com/

He practices in Northern CT and Western MA.

Jeff

[treefrog]

I tired acupuncture, did 15 weeks of treatment, to see if it would help. I had some very minimal effects, but nothing spectacular. And since it was not covered by insurance, it was not worth the cost.

But, I think you are wise to give it a try, and to realize that it might take a number of sessions before getting some effect.

I hope it does help you with your pain.

By the way, my PM doc was the one to recommend acupuncture to me.

[JJames]

Thanks, Cathy.
I plan to ask at my next appointment, but perhaps you have some insight or thoughts on this. What is the best possible outcome I should even consider obtaining from acupuncture? An hour pain free? A day? I honestly don't even know what to expect from this.
Jeff

[JJames]

So I had my 2nd acupuncture appointment yesterday. This time was considerably more uncomfortable then the first visit, and lasted longer - 90 minutes v. the 60 minutes 1st visit. As I lay there I was swearing to myself that this was also my last appointment! I have since reconsidered and have another appt for this Monday evening, April 27th.

The main reason for my change of heart is that I believe that I noticed a considerable reduction in my pain levels later in the day. Even after over an hour car ride to my MRI plus the 45 minute MRI procedure. I of course do not know for certain if there was a direct cause-effect between the acupuncture treatment and this span of time, but it is certainly enough for me to not quit just yet!

Before my appt I did ask about what the reasonable expectations for pain relief were from acupuncture, but couldn't seem to get a straight answer. He explained that he would need to continue to see if he could correctly locate the right areas to work on first - whatever that means.

For now I will continue the treatments, and continue reporting on them. This guy is still gonna' have to stick many more needles in me to catch up with the numbers I have had to go through over the last 3 and 1/2 years! At least these are very thin and aren't being inserted into my spinal cord or my pain-generating discs!

Jeff

[2cool4U]

There are some who believe acupuncture works when the practitioner places the needle(s) in a trigger point area. That is probably what your person meant by finding the right area. Trigger point therapy certainly has value in reducing pain, so if the acupuncturist needles one or more of these, you would get relief.

BTW, this hasn't been actually proven to be why acupuncture works, it's just speculation at this point.

[treefrog]

My very first appointment was sort of like a test, to see how I would react to the acupuncture. Every person reacts differently. And at each appointment he would ask how I felt in the time after the session. He would base my treatment on what kind of results I had.

He did tell me that the treatments can build over time.

Also, you can feel worse for a few hours after the treatment. I always did. In fact the night after my first treatment, my legs felt like jelly.

I hope you continue to get results and that your pain responds well to the acupuncture.

[Bionic Michelle]

My PM doc does accupuncture on me. I like it- hate it during, but feel better overall after the fact. I cannot say I've ever gotten to pain-free, even for a time. I really can't explain it, but I just feel happier, and better all over. She does spots in my ears, my hands, my legs, butt, back, and once my face! I can tell when she hits the trigger points she's looking for because they hurt when she presses on them. I also like that she's an MD and seems very balanced in her Eastern vs. Western medicine. The only thing I've ever seen her being against is fusion surgeries in young people. Hope it helps you!!

[JJames]

Originally Posted by Bionic Michelle

My PM doc does accupuncture on me. I like it- hate it during, but feel better overall after the fact. I cannot say I've ever gotten to pain-free, even for a time. I really can't explain it, but I just feel happier, and better all over. She does spots in my ears, my hands, my legs, butt, back, and once my face! I can tell when she hits the trigger points she's looking for because they hurt when she presses on them. I also like that she's an MD and seems very balanced in her Eastern vs. Western medicine. The only thing I've ever seen her being against is fusion surgeries in young people. Hope it helps you!!

Your post was very helpful. I was curious if it was "normal" to dislike the uncomfortable acupuncture procedure, but to gain some benefit from it. It scares me a bit that he is inserting these needles so close to my bad discs themselves. All I can think of is just how excruciatingly painful those bad boys felt during the injections of saline during my discogram! Perhaps my feelings have no merit on a medical basis, but psychologically they sure do!

So here I go again this evening. Dreading the appointment already, but hoping that the acupuncture is the real reason that I am experiencing moments of reduced pain levels. I'll take any kind of temporary relief I can get at this point!

Thanks all - Jeff