acupuncture

i have just finished a course of acupuncture. over the last few weeks my physiotherapist andy who is a trained acupuncturist has been sticking needles in me to see if it will help with the aches and pains of my me/fibro. i have been lucky enough to received this on the NHS (i would imagine it is not readily available) as otherwise i could not have afforded to try it. i wanted to give it a try as one area which acupuncture is claimed to have an great affect is with pain relief.

so what is acupuncture and did it help? well it's an ancient system of healing developed over thousands of years ago as part of the traditional medicine of china. the aim of the treatment is to restore the balance of energy qi (pronounced chee) through the painless application of very fine needles into strategic points of the body.

qi consists of yin and yang and these two opposites (but also complementary) need to be in balance otherwise disease and illness occur in the body. needles applied to these acupuncture points give access to meridians or channels in the body through which qi flows: so that adjustments can be made to balance the yin and yang thus restoring harmony and health.

luckily andy did not apply as many needles as in the poor bloke above and it did not hurt as he popped them in my lower back. once or twice i did feel very relaxed and woozy but unfortunately i had no pain relief. sadly even if i had felt a benefit it probably would have been temporary as acupuncture is not known for it's long lasting effects.

although it may have not worked well for me (this time) it does not mean i would not recommend others have a go - you never know it may just be worth a try.