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Posted 10/28/2011 1:58 AM (GMT 0)
After seeing a foot dr for a year until he said he couldn't do anything else for me and then a pain management dr for a year who gave me four steroid injections and sent me on my way, I am just beginning to see a Japanese accupuncturist.  He is elderly and teaches in Japan too with many years experience.  My first session was this past Monday.  I hurt my knee back in the beginning of October.  He said you have a torn meniscus (spelling wrong...)  I told him all my diagnosis - DDD, Spinal stenosis, 43 year history of migraines, osteoarthritis in both knees, fibro, and mortons foot.  He targeted four areas with needles and even used some electrical stimulation. I fell asleep and was very drowsy on the ride home.  Went two days with no pain, didn't need any pain meds and then WHAM - back in full force.  Of course I know the raining weather triggered another flare.  Just wondering if anyone has had success with accupuncture?   I am going back this coming Monday.  Thanks for your thoughts.
Posted 10/28/2011 11:18 AM (GMT 0)
Sawa, I tried accupuncture for six months.  He treated me three times a week to the tune of $600 a month!  It didn't help my fibro one bit but it did help my hearing!  So there is something to this.  I honestly don't know how accupuncture could help with a tear.  But I'm definitely don't know a lot about accupuncture.  You might want to give it a try again and see what happens but I wouldn't pin my hopes on it, personally, because you might have to have accupuncture all of the time to help with the pain and that is very costly.

 

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/meniscus-tear-topic-overview

 

Sherrine

Posted 10/28/2011 11:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi sawa,

I tried two short approximately 6 week sessions two times a week of accupuncture and it seemed it only helped me a little bit while I was going. Since insurance didn't cover it I only gave it this short time frame and everything ret turned to my normal when I stopped. I wouldn't go again unless I in the future I could afford it. It seems at least for me it only worked somewhat while I was having it done.

Good luck to you.
Posted 10/29/2011 5:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hi~

This is a great topic. The eastern practice of acupuncture seems, to me, a bit silly one one level yet have you ever scratched some place on your skin and felt a tingle somewhere else? They may have something quite valid going on.

I don't know that I would try it for myself but my mother did when she was having horrid back pain. She was having what seemed to be muscle spasms in her mid back...sort of between her shoulder blades. She went to one of the regular doctors at a 'managed care' (Can you say "Group Death...I mean Group Health") center they used through their health insurance. This doctor started her on muscle relaxers for the pain and what sounded like spasms. He sent her on her way with a bottle of pills. This didn't help. Mom was a very patient person and would do exactly what the doctor said so she took the pills for a month or two(can't remember) and still no relief. She used ice packs, heat packs, slept with more pillows, less pillows...you name it. Back to her doctor, more pills and no relief. This went on for months and her pain kept getting worse to the point where her quality of life was being compromised.

It was at this point she looked up a gentleman who did acupuncture. He would even come to your home and give you treatments there so you didn't have to go out. After several treatments mother still didn't have any relief. She had pain pills to take but that's no life to live when they still had no idea why she had such pain. It wasn't until she had a massive heart attack that they finally realize it was her heart/angina all this time. Wouldn't you think a huge contingent of western doctors would have at least checked her heart? Wouldn't the acupuncturist realize it if theirs is truly a natural form of medicine that is 'in touch with the body'? At the point when the ER doctors came out to tell us there was nothing left that they could do I had given up any respect for her GH insurance and didn't think much of acupuncture either.

To finish mother's story...as we watched on a monitor in the catheter lab in the hospital, the 2nd in command doctor was showing us where her artery on her heart was so blocked they couldn't get a wire through to open it up. Just then the doctor preforming her procedure finally broke through and literally pulled mother back to life. If it wasn't for 1 ER doctor who was an 'independent' we wouldn't have enjoyed mother being with us for the next 4 years.

This got a bit off track but getting back to acupuncture ... no, I don't believe it's perfect but it likely has used in western medicine. After all, it's been used since around 200 BCE. That must say something for it.

Chutz
Posted 10/30/2011 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
I tried acupuncture for a little while, I think I went 5 or 6 times. It was somewhat relaxing, but it really didn't do anything for my pain.
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