No one mentioned there would be electricity

I went to my first acupuncture appointment today. I got over my silliness long enough to wear black (hides everything right?) yoga pants and a lovely rayon shirt, that sort of gracefully covered all of my trouble spot. I thought I was clever and wore thigh high socks, thinking he would be working just above the knee, but he actually had several needles up and down my calves, so I had to take them off anyway. (phooey).


I was a teensy bit late, because I also had my first counseling session this morning right beforehand. Luckily they are two doors apart in the same complex. I absolutely adore my new counselor; it will be a good fit for what I need. I told her about my wonderful Chiropractor, and she said she wants to try acupuncture as well, and has been looking for someone who performs it. We hit it off really well, and realized we had gone over our allotted time.

I ended up being about 10 minutes late for the acupuncture, and then had to change into my comfy pants. So I was all wound up. He had me lay down; I was thinking he would talk me through the procedure, not so much. He went straight to putting needles in my hands and forearms, then on to my ankles, knees and calves. He hit the wrong spot in my hand at first, so it started cramping, but he moved it. So far so good, just a little zing here and there and then… He started sorting through WIRES. I asked him what they were for, he said they were to produce a mild ELECTRICAL CHARGE!!?!! I laughed nervously and said “No really, what are they for?” He said “I am not kidding.” :: GULP:: I asked if it would hurt, he said it would tingle a little.

So he put the first wire on the needles on my left arm, not bad, then on the needles in my right arm, one fell out (twice!) He talked about the Yin and Yang of the wires and all that yada yada. I said “uh huh” Like I was not a total novice at this. Then he proceeded to attach them to my legs. So far so good. At this point I asked him why Electricity was necessary, and he said it sped up the process, and helped the needles do their job more efficiently. I told him I didn’t mind staying longer WITHOUT the wires, he just laughed. THEN he turned on the juice, and said “tell me when you feel it”. At this point I was so nervous, that I was completely tense. I started to feel it really strongly in my left leg, it felt like your limbs feel when they start to fall asleep, doesn’t hurt exactly just feels strange. He left the room for about five minutes, when the needle in my right arm fell out, I called for him and he fixed it, and put it a little farther in my arm, I am not going to lie, it hurt just a bit. Then I realized that my other tender spots had gone away, and I realized I had relaxed those parts of my body. So I relaxed my right arm and the discomfort went away. I lay there for about 20 minute’s total. Did I mention that all of the wires are connected, so one false move would be kind of painful and disastrous. (That is how the needle in my arm fell out the second time.) Overall it really wasn’t bad, I have another appointment for next Saturday, and this time I will be completely prepared for what to expect. At some point he will venture over to my face, but I won’t freak out about that just yet.

There was zero bleeding, that was nice (I wore all black just in case though). I could feel the blood flowing better during the treatment. So I survived my naked knees and feet being seen by another human. And I survived needles and electricity; All without a melt down of any sort. One down five more to go.