First-time acupuncture

This picture was taken last week at a free Chinese medicine clinic at a Buddhist temple in Seberang Jaya. Lately, I have been troubled by some nerve problem down my leg. And so, when I heard that there was an acupuncture clinic at the temple, I decided to see whether the sinseh could do something about my problem.

I had a second reason to try acupuncture: I had heard so much about it but had never experienced it before. Besides, even one of my old schoolmates who is a practicing medical doctor in Sydney swears by it and uses it on his patients. There must be some real medical benefits to this ancient Chinese practice.

I must admit there I was rather nervous when the first of four needles was pricked into my skin but surprisingly, there was very little pain when the needle went in effortlessly. And no blood was drawn. Same with the other three needles. Maybe, once, there was a numbing sensation when the acupuncturist twisted the needle to reach a particular spot but apart from that, I was more bothered about the accompanying itch than the other sensations.

The acupuncturist left the needles in me for 25 minutes but time flew so quickly that before too long, the alarm rang and the needles were removed. The first session was perhaps too brief for me to say whether there is any improvement in my leg and therefore, yesterday saw me registering again at the temple for a second session. I hope this is not going to be habit forming because there are people who tell me that they keep coming back for treatment for quite a while.

Anyway, there I was at the acupuncture centre again last night. The crowd wasn't as big as the week before but yet I had to wait until about 8.30p.m. until my number was called. I explained my problem once again to the sinseh and was more articulate this time. More confident this time around.

For this session, six needles were stuck into me; two more than the previous week. I didn't manage to see the needles when they were pushed in but I was rather surprised to note, when they were removed subsequently, that some of the needles were quite long and almost one-and-a-half inches had actually gone deep into my flesh. And yet, the only sensations I felt were itches and the occasional tiny pricks of pain. Of yes, I noticed too that one of the needles in my foot was jerking involuntarily. Quite interesting!

Did I mention earlier that I hope the acupuncture therapy won't be habit-forming? I may hope but it is truly hard to hope against this hope. The pricks, the tiny ant bites of pain, the throbbing sensations, the itch, and the wonder of seeing the needle going into the flesh.... Well, I SHALL BE BACK NEXT WEEK FOR MORE, I assure you!