My Experience

I had acupuncture to relieve headaches and tension in my neck, shoulders and back. I walked into the office and was greeted by a friendly woman who clearly didn’t have English as her first language. The doctor saw me in the waiting room and motioned for me to come back and go into an exam room. There was a massage table covered in paper. He asked me about my symptoms. I described the pain, tightness and tension in my neck, shoulders and back. He then asked me to lay face down on the table. My head was in a headrest with a hole in the center so it was easy for me to breathe.

The doctor then inserted needles into the base of my neck, my shoulder blade area and my lower back. The needles were individually wrapped and they must have been small because it barley felt like the slightest hint of anything. I didn’t know how many needles were sticking out of my back because I couldn’t feel them going in! I was fully clothed; he had pulled up my sweater on my back to insert the needles, but then it just rested on the needles, I guess. Again, I felt nothing except for being calmed by the soft music that was being piped into the exam room.

I think I stayed there for about 40 minutes. I didn’t fall asleep but I became very comfortable and relaxed. The doctor returned to remove the needles; I didn’t even feel him take them out. He then did some manual manipulation on my neck, shoulders and back. It wasn’t chiropractic manipulations, but it was going down my spine and getting the alignment back in line. He then placed some heating pads on my neck and lower back for another 15 minutes.

When he returned and removed the heating pads, I found I was moving slowly, not from any pain or discomfort. It was then that I felt the most “zoned out”. I almost felt as if I had to refocus and come back to this planet. I was a little light-headed but not in a faint way, merely a very relaxed state. As I left the exam room and headed to the waiting area to pay and leave I was almost staggering from being in this different state. I have done acupuncture before and this is how I always feel post treatment. The feeling doesn’t stay with me for very long, however I do allow myself some time after appointments before returning to having to make serious decisions. I am able to drive but sometimes I sit in my car for a few minutes to gather myself together before I head out to the road. I think the best description would be a state of total relaxation.

Afterwards, I felt great! There is no need for recovery after the treatment except to realize how stressful our lives are and try to make more time to feel relaxed.