For a long time now, I've had tendonitis. I've tried everything for it, including ice, heat, and physical therapy. It doesn't really seem to do much good. I even go to a massage therapist once a month, but not for the luxury of it, for the deep tissue massage that allows me to keep working. That helps for a little while, then the pain comes back. Some days, like today, are grooling and I feel like leaving work, but I bear with it, and watch the clock, waiting for the day to be over. Today, after work, I had my first appointment with an acupuncturist. He's the third generation in his family at doing this professionally, and he knows his work.
It was extremely interesting. First, he placed about 6 needles on the outer edges of my right ear, then more on the right side of my back and on my right arm. It honestly didn't hurt any more than someone poking me at first, then nothing. Then he heated my back, for a good half hour. Meanwhile, he would come in and twist the needles to stimulate the nerves.
After that, he did cupping on my back...the air is suctioned out of round cups and placed on the muscle tissue. The cups stayed in that position for at least 20 more minutes. This pulls on the muscles, allowing them to relax. Scott says my back now looks like it has pepperoni adorning it, from the cup marks. I go back on Thursday. Perhaps by then my back will no longer look like a pizza.
The doctor also told me some very interesting tidbits about the Chinese languages. Cantanese and Mandarin are both written using the same Chinese characters. Cantanese, he says, is a more colorful language, but written Cantanese characters have been lost over time, so they rely on the characters for both Cantanese and Mandarin in one written character format.
