I had so much back pain I could barely stand up . . .
Symptoms–Back pain, nosebleeds, low energy, chronic stomach pain
I met Jessica in our yoga class and I knew she was an acupuncturist but I had never tried it. It didn’t occur to me partly because I had no idea what acupuncture might help me with. Then one day I hurt my back while I was working out at the gym and the pain was so intense that I could barely stand up. I work very hard not to take medications unless it’s absolutely necessary and this time I did break out the ibuprofen. It helped but I clearly needed something more. That’s when I decided to try acupuncture.
During the first appointment Jessica asked lots of questions about my back, but she also asked about all of my body systems. She wanted to know about how I slept, what I ate, any major illnesses I had had and lots of other things. As we talked I realized that there were actually a lot of things that I struggled with but I was so used to them that it hardly occurred to me that they might actually improve. I’m 69 years old and I’ve lived with some of these things my whole life.
That first treatment Jessica focused on my back and after TWO treatments I was about 90% better. That’s when I decided to continue treatment to see if some of my other issues would improve.
One of the worst was my nosebleeds. At worst I would get them every day, sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with my pillow covered in blood. Also my energy was always pretty low. I’m the kind of person who needs 10 hours of sleep a night and if I don’t get it I feel wrecked. It was like that when I was younger too. I have also had a history of stomach issues that started when I was a child. Later on I figured out that I had some severe food allergies and once I changed my eating habits things improved tremendously. But I was still left with chronic pain and sensitivity as well as a tendency towards loose stools and diarrhea. What I quickly learned in getting acupuncture treatments is that a lot of my symptoms were coming from the same fundamental imbalance. Just learning this made me feel better because it gave me a context in which to understand what seemed like a lot of unrelated symptoms.
Jessica started treating me for that fundamental imbalance as well as for the specific symptoms. After two treatments I went a whole week without a single nosebleed! It was totally incredible. And after 3 treatments my energy was better. When I went to the gym to workout I felt like I could do more and I wasn’t so tired afterwards. I have seen Jessica about 14 times now, I go once a week. My stomach pain is improving, my nosebleeds are either gone or very infrequent, my energy is hugely better and I just feel better overall. It is so amazing to have something that has been with me for so many years actually improve! And I don’t have to take any medications to get there. I know getting treatments will be a regular part of my life from now on.
