acupunture

today i tried acupuncture for the first time. yes, desperate times call for whatever the heck measures i can randomly come up with.

mistake #1: I rushed into scheduling appointments with a dietician, acupuncturist, and almost a naturopathic dr. Instead of looking for professionals that specialize or have specific experience in treating acne, I just looked up any practitioner nearby.

so i ended up seeing a chiropractor nearby at a sports clinic (didn't know at the time she had a sports-specific clinic!) but she was open to seeing me anyway (who wouldn't? people in private practice don't turn down customers). She was super nice and was able to tell me what kind of treatment she would provide to me related to acne. plus she billed me for chiropractic services which means i can still save insurance dollars for visits to another acupuncturist if this doesn't work.

specifically, she focused on releasing "heat energy" and on points that relieve stress, since acne and stress are greatly related.

i know everyone seems to say that acupuncture does not hurt. Well, I am both a wuss and an over thinker. So I'm not sure if it was just psychological, but it was a quite unpleasant experience. One of the needles in particular went in and continued to cause discomfort - the same discomfort I feel when blood is being drawn. But my chiro just readjusted and then the discomfort was relieved. I had to lie with the needles in for about 20 minutes during which I only felt psychological discomfort knowing there were tons of needles poking into my body. Ironic the needles were in positions to try to relieve stress when I was feeling so much stress as a result of the whole experience!

now I still have soreness in may arms and in my leg. (still went for a 6 km jog afterwards though, felt ok).

I'll have to see if any changes result. so far, emotionally I feel quite good. In fact, I was talking to my husband thinking "wow, I can't remember the last time I spoke to you pleasantly, not in a pissy, stressed tone". Although, not sure it's related to acupuncture, or could simply be the satisfaction of being able to spill all my acne concerns to a health care professional.

will update on results!