Ancient Chinese Remedy....

I've been talking about doing this for months, but I finally called up the acupuncturist who treated Doug when he had Bell's Palsy and went in for a consultation about my arthritis. Dr Mao (yes, really!) is a 38th generation Chinese acupuncturist/herbalist. We chatted for a while about my symptoms (pain, stiffness and lack of mobility from the arthritis in my right hip) and what his treatments would and would not do (would help the pain, would not help the underlying problem which ultimately will need to be resolved with a hip replacement).

After the consultation it was time for treatment. I was a little anxious, but it turned out to be nothing to worry about. The needles going in feel like a slight nettle prick, but then you don't feel them. He put needles in several spots along my right side, from scalp to ankle, and hooked up some electric stimulation for the ones in my hip. Then left for 40 minutes. I was a bit restless for about the first 15 minutes, but after that I relaxed and dozed a bit. The rest of the day I felt very relaxed and "loose."

When I was done with the treatment, I picked up my herbs and the very exact and complicated instructions for brewing the tea that I'm to drink three times per day. My package contained three large sealed baggies of herbs (one week's worth), which look and smell like something scooped up off the forest floor. They're quite aromatic when brewing as well. Not unpleasant, just very....herbal. The tea itself reminds me of a rather bitter sasparilla. The first day I held my nose and choked it down, all three cups per day. The second day it still tasted icky, but not to where I needed to hold my breath. Today is the third day and I'm actually acquiring a taste for the stuff.

So far I'm not noticing any improvement in the pain and stiffness, but at least it's no worse. I've spoken to many people who have claimed that acupuncture helped their pain when nothing else would; I figure at best it will help, at worst I won't notice any affect.