Acupuncture Saved Me

I was petrified of needles, to the point where I would cry and look the other way when a nurse would draw my blood. Acupuncture, NO, definitely not. I would rather deal with the pain, well… almost.

I was dealing with the pain in my foot for a while, until about a month ago, I broke. My friends Alice and Ryan recommended a Chinese Doctor in Tainan. About a month ago I had a coworker from school help me make the appointment. The language barrier is real.

A guy I have been “seeing” showed up at my appointment which was super sweet. I told him I was scared of needles. After parking my scooter illegally, I found a friendly looking face and showed her my phone which had the address of the doctor. She escorted me to the building which was located about 100 meters away on the right.

I reluctantly put my mask on and opened the door with hesitation. I stood in line wishing I was anywhere else. I notice sick people waiting their turn to get jabbed. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? No, that is a real a magician giving a young child a balloon, in a doctors office in Taiwan. My happy meter increased a little.

After paying 150NT which is equivalent to $4.95, I get a ticket and sit down in disbelief, I wonder, “Why am I here?” Oh yea, the excruciating pain in my foot. My number comes up on the screen and I slowly walk into the doctor’s room. He is compassionate and asked me about my foot. I tell him, “I was in a rock climbing (Pan yan) accident back in May. He barely touches the side of my swollen foot as I attempted to hold back the tears. He can sense my discomfort. He wants to help and I am grateful to be in his presence. During our conversation, he asks, “Are you single?” I think to myself, “Are you single?” and I glance at his fingers…no ring. “Yes” I tell him. My mind is thinking, “Wow, that was blunt, maybe he’s into me.” In retrospect, I think he just needed to enter the info in the computer.

At the end of our conversation, he said, “So do you want acupuncture today?” With fear present in my eyes, I responded with, “Yes, please.” He opened the door and showed me where to sit. I felt uncomfortable and anxious while trying to figure out what side of the table to lay on. I looked for the container to put my purse in which was located under the hard, brown, leather table.

I laid face up and the light from the ceiling blazed into my sensitive eyes. I attempted to focus on my breath in hopes it would calm my uneasy nerves. I felt like a total wreck laying there helpless and then all of the sudden chills came over my body. I reached for the container and grabbed my Patagonia Micro Puff Jacket to place on top of my shivering body.

The Chinese Doctor walked in and told me he was going to start the process. He poked a needles in my left and right thumbs. The tears started sliding gently out of the corners of my eyes and the nurse came in to wipe away the sadness.

This was just the beginning.

The Doc came back five minutes later to tell me he needed to drain some blood from the foot. I think thats what he said anyways. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I could for sure feel it. When he injected the needles into my foot, I jerked a little and may have squealed. He was so empathic. He asked me multiple times, “Are you OK?”

After the needles were inserted into my foot, he left me to “rest.” I heard the nurses laughing and I couldn’t figure out why. When the one of the nurses returned, she padded my tears away again and removed the needles. It was way less painful to have them removed then inserted. The doctor told me he wanted me to take some Chinese Medicine. I said, “sure.” and paid 4oNT for the plant based medicine on the way out.

The doctor said to me, “Do you want to see some magic?” I graciously reply with, “yes.” Apparently the nurses were watching an incredible show being performed by the female magician. I walked over and saw a woman holding a baby bunny. It was resting on her baby bump of a stomach. The mysterious magician pulled out a white dove and I am still while processing what is happening before my eyes. It was pretty incredible and helped regain some emotional strength after that traumatic experience.

Since that first time at the acupuncturist, I have been back five more times for my foot and shoulder. After the first or second appointment that was targeted on my foot, I was able to start running on it again. I was beyond grateful. Today I ran a 12K!

Since my first appointment, I have had other forms of treatment to help with the pain. He has perform electromagnetic therapy which is called electroacupuncture. In addition, the last two appointments, I have been lucky enough to receive ear seeds.

According to Clevelandclinic.org, “Based in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), ear seeds are a form of auriculotherapy, which uses acupressure points in the ear to stimulate other parts of the body.

“Auriculotherapy is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat and even prevent conditions like anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, nausea, vomiting, substance abuse and gynecological and digestive disorders,” Dr. Nguyen says. “The ear seed is like an acupuncture needle that you use to stimulate a channel to help the patient’s condition without needing to puncture the skin.”

Oh and because I am overcoming my “fear” of needles, during my last appointment, he stuck a few in my head to help with the tear in my shoulder.

I mean fuck, I am a badass.