"I like it when my clients bleed"

Not something you hear from most practitioners, but is something I'll remember my acupuncturist, Katie, as saying. I am no longer an acupuncture virgin after my first appointment yesterday. I walked in and had to remove my shoes, which I found a little unusual, but kind of relaxing. I checked in and took a deep inhale of the incense that was burning. It smelled very similar to a certain green illegal substance. So I sat and waited for Katie and took in all of the surroundings of this very relaxing place: herbs, teas, oils, incense, books, all sorts of lovely things. So I finally get called back and meet Katie, who is very nice. We sit down in a nice, small room with a bed and chair and she goes over the reasons why I am there: neck pain, headaches, sinus problems, stress relief. While discussing my neck problems, she asks if I had been in any accidents. I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago, it's funny the things that come back to your memory. I was in an accident shortly after I graduated high school where I was at a stop waiting for someone to turn and was rear ended by a Jeep at 35 mph. Bye bye Chevy Cavalier hatchback. From that accident, I had mild whiplash, so now I do wonder if that's a lot of the cause of my problem. After discussing my aches and pains, she explained acupuncture to me. She started off by showing me a needle, which is about as thin as a strand of hair and very flexible. She told me what I would feel, if anything, when she tapped the needle in, and what I would feel, if anything, after the needle was in. One of the things she mentioned while explaining what I might feel is that it is common for people to bleed. Keep in mind that the needle is not far in your skin at all. However, she said that since acupuncture helps to release endorphins in the body, if the body bleeds, it's a good sign because that means that the body is heating up and releasing some of the toxins. Thus came her quote of, "So, I like it when my clients bleed." Did I bleed? Yes, from a spot on my shoulder. Anyway. So she gave me a gown to change into and left the room. When she came back in, I laid face down and she started on my neck and back. The most that I felt was the tap of the "guide" and could barely feel the needle. She ran her fingers along the most tense parts of my neck and back and placed needles where they needed it. Since everything is connected, to treat my neck, she even placed needles in my lower back. It didn't take long for her to place all of the needles and then she brought a heat lamp over my back and left me to relax for a while. The heat felt amazing and I could feel things happening at certain points of the needles. When she came back, it was weird that I could feel the removal of the needles more than I could feel them going in. When I told her how good the lamp felt, she said that it is actually a mineral lamp that helps activate minerals in your body to get things moving. Whatever it is or does, I love it. She then took some homeopathic ointment and rubbed it on my neck and then placed a heat pack on my neck as well. When she came back, I flipped over and she worked on my sinuses. I had a needle on the top of my head, my hairline, one between my eyebrows, one above each eyebrow, one on each hand, one by each knee, and one on each foot. Again, it's all connected! She left the heat lamp on again and left and this time I dozed on and off. When she came back, she said to drink lots and lots of water and not to do much for the rest of the day. Since acupuncture kicks up the endorphins, it also releases a lot of toxins, so the best way to get rid of them, is through the urine. So lots of water was in order. Also, since one of the points of acupuncture is to up your energy, you don't want to expel it all in one day. There is a certain feeling you get after a massage of total relaxation, even a little spacey. This is even more so with acupuncture. I was pretty much floating through the rest of the day and was pretty wiped out by 5. So I will be going for the next 3 Saturdays, and then we'll decide from there what is the best course of action. My neck does feel better and much more flexible. We'll see what the week brings, if I get any headaches, etc.

The other major happening this week was taking Logan to the vet. He had been scratching and scratching at this spot under his ear and Sunday night I touched the spot and it was bleeding. Logan was also very bitey and didn't want anyone to touch it. So, Monday a.m. I called the vet and got him in that afternoon. This was the first time in the 6 years we've had him that we had to muzzle him. He was just too bitey, but our vet knows that he is never like that. So she got a good look inside his ear and at the spot under his ear. There was no sign of an ear infection, but she said what was on his skin was called a hot spot. Could be from allergies, but it's just a topical irritation. So they took him in the back to shave down his fur and clean up the area. I asked if he needed a cone and she said yes, so he doesn't cut it open again. So, we once again have a conehead in our house. It has been a few years since he had one on, so it took some getting used to. So he is still bashing around and figuring out how to get up and down stairs. I did take it off the other day, but he started scratching it again, so we had to put it back on. Well, maybe this week we can take it off. Either way, he is a very sad pooch...



Not sure why his one eye is closed, probably just the angle or something: