That hurt. Keep doing it.
Apparently, my bones are out of place and my nerves are swollen. (Frayed, too, I'd like to point out.) That's the short version of the diagnosis I got this afternoon from the old Chinese man who says he can fix me. Well, the bones and the nerves, anyway.
It appears years of working in front of a computer has made me all bent out of shape. My health insurance company told me I'm covered for massage and acupuncture and I found someone 5 minutes from home. I'm not good with needles and haven't had acupuncture before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Yes, I have tattoos, so how bad can it be, right?
The non-descript house on a suburban corner didn't make me confident, but inside was great. Very authentic Chinese - totally Feng Shui, right down to the music he had playing, and Oh! all the rows and rows of herbal medicines he had!
Being a little investigator, and having to know everything about what he thought was wrong with me (shut up, Ian! lol) and how he was going to treat it, I think I asked him more questions than he's used to. Poor guy! Ha!
I love massage. It's good pain. I've never had a massage quite like he gave me. It started out normally, then he placed a towel over my back and massaged through that. After that, he put some kind of oils on my back and what felt like plastic wrap that started to heat up after a while. Really heat up! It didn't burn, but it was about as hot as I could stand. Meanwhile, he started trying to get rid of the rock sized knots in my neck.
Finally, he took the plastic feeling stuff off my back and started a pummelling style massage. I remember mum doing that to me when I was sick as a kid. It felt much better today.
When he was done, I rolled onto my back and he gave me a great face and head massage. If you haven't had one of those, go get one. However, the next thing he did, I never expected anyone to do. As he put pressure with his thumbs on my forehead, between my eyes, he stuck his fingers in my ears and started moving them around. Seriously! OMG! All I could think was, "Man who'da thunk that! I just had a shower, I hope they're clean." I tell ya though, next week, I'll be making sure!
After all the heat and pressure, I was close to falling asleep by then and had my eyes closed, so I didn't see what he was doing next. I assumed just getting the needles ready. Instead, he put something under my neck that I think was something like a tens machine. I thought it was just a support at first, but when he turned it on, it sent a shock literally from my neck down to my feet. A very strange sensation! But a good one.
The needles hurt a little when he first put them in - mostly because he put them right at the points where my headache was worst. He also put one in my hand. That hurt like a bitch at first. I don't know why. Still, I could have slept if he'd left me there long enough.
He told me to expect to feel slightly worse at first and I did. I came home and slept for two hours.
I've made another appointment for Monday afternoon. $60 for a massage and acupuncture for just over an hour is a damn good deal. Not to mention I can claim it back on my insurance.
When I go back, I'm going to ask him about all the concotions he has under the reception desk. Nothing in his office is in English - including the notes he put on my file. I can just imagine the things it'll say by the time he's finished treating me. Something about giving me needles that'll stop me speaking, I'm sure.
It appears years of working in front of a computer has made me all bent out of shape. My health insurance company told me I'm covered for massage and acupuncture and I found someone 5 minutes from home. I'm not good with needles and haven't had acupuncture before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Yes, I have tattoos, so how bad can it be, right?
The non-descript house on a suburban corner didn't make me confident, but inside was great. Very authentic Chinese - totally Feng Shui, right down to the music he had playing, and Oh! all the rows and rows of herbal medicines he had!
Being a little investigator, and having to know everything about what he thought was wrong with me (shut up, Ian! lol) and how he was going to treat it, I think I asked him more questions than he's used to. Poor guy! Ha!
I love massage. It's good pain. I've never had a massage quite like he gave me. It started out normally, then he placed a towel over my back and massaged through that. After that, he put some kind of oils on my back and what felt like plastic wrap that started to heat up after a while. Really heat up! It didn't burn, but it was about as hot as I could stand. Meanwhile, he started trying to get rid of the rock sized knots in my neck.
Finally, he took the plastic feeling stuff off my back and started a pummelling style massage. I remember mum doing that to me when I was sick as a kid. It felt much better today.
When he was done, I rolled onto my back and he gave me a great face and head massage. If you haven't had one of those, go get one. However, the next thing he did, I never expected anyone to do. As he put pressure with his thumbs on my forehead, between my eyes, he stuck his fingers in my ears and started moving them around. Seriously! OMG! All I could think was, "Man who'da thunk that! I just had a shower, I hope they're clean." I tell ya though, next week, I'll be making sure!
After all the heat and pressure, I was close to falling asleep by then and had my eyes closed, so I didn't see what he was doing next. I assumed just getting the needles ready. Instead, he put something under my neck that I think was something like a tens machine. I thought it was just a support at first, but when he turned it on, it sent a shock literally from my neck down to my feet. A very strange sensation! But a good one.
The needles hurt a little when he first put them in - mostly because he put them right at the points where my headache was worst. He also put one in my hand. That hurt like a bitch at first. I don't know why. Still, I could have slept if he'd left me there long enough.
He told me to expect to feel slightly worse at first and I did. I came home and slept for two hours.
I've made another appointment for Monday afternoon. $60 for a massage and acupuncture for just over an hour is a damn good deal. Not to mention I can claim it back on my insurance.
When I go back, I'm going to ask him about all the concotions he has under the reception desk. Nothing in his office is in English - including the notes he put on my file. I can just imagine the things it'll say by the time he's finished treating me. Something about giving me needles that'll stop me speaking, I'm sure.
posted by E in Oz at 7:32 pm
these thoughts escaped my brain at 7:32 pm
9 Comments:
You have tattoos? How come I haven't seen them? They must be in naughty places ;)
This sounded pretty funky. I wouldn't mind giving it a go, I feel myself all bent and crackly from spending my life at a desk too...
LOL! Yeah, I have naughty ankles. It's been winter. Even I haven't seen them for about 6 months. :-p
Haha! This is something that I've always been interested in, but never had the guts to try.
How cool! And it's covered! Even cooler! ;) Have a great weekend.
My insurance covers acupuncture too, and it's awesome. My needles didn't hurt at all though I did feel lots of tingles under the skin (which were nowhere near where the needles went in) which is a really WEIRD sensation. But overall a good one.
I also love facial massages but the ones that I love the most? FOOT MASSAGES!! Oh, yeah.
I get massages fairly regularly and the thumb/ear thing is pretty common here. I've never had acupuncture, though. I don't deal with needles very well.
My son was recommended acupuncture by his insurance company after he was in an auto accident. That really surprised me. I guess acupuncture is starting to be considered more mainstream.
I've yet to have it done, but am not ruling it out.
I like comments. I don't like advertising in my comments. Besides, the UK is a bit far for me to go for a bit of needle work.
It sounds awesome and I hope it works for you. Massage I love beyond words, acupuncture I thought was great but I couldn't go consistently enough to have it reap any benefits. Maybe if my insurance paid for it.... very cool. Definitely stick with it, it WILL pay off, I've heard great things about it. The tingly thing is weird, isn't it? How they can put pins in one place and you feel it somewhere else...
hugs.
Monica, it's awesome...and not so odd now that I know what to expect.
E, the funny thing about the facial massage was that I was lying there thinking, "hey I don't have any lines on my face yet and he's stretching my skin..." Yeah, I stress myself out when I'm supposed to be relaxing. haha Oh, and I agree - foot massages are the best!
DNA, I learnt massage a long time ago. Never learnt about the fingers in the ears thing though. Weird!
RG, you know me...I have to ask a billion questions and find out everything. You should hear the things this guy treats. Once he's done fixing my headaches, he's gonna be handed a shopping list of other ailments and told to start at the top. LOL
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