A tangent -- acupuncture

For the last several years, I found that I'd get a sore right shoulder from time to time. It would get worse when I was stressed and/or writing a lot. One prime example was when I was preparing a document for an upcoming meeting with our CEO. Then I was stressed and typing a lot. Last year, it got bad enough that I went to my PCP, and he wrote me a referral to a physical therapist. I had to see her twice a week for about 5 weeks or so, and she never had appointments at a convenient time. (What does this have to do with acupuncture, you ask? I'm getting to that.) So at $35/copay, I spent about $350. At the end of this time, my shoulder felt better.
It was better for about a year, and in October it started being sore again. I made an appt with my doc (that took two weeks). At the appointment he took X-rays, and he looked at them and said nothing's out of whack. (X-rays cost what, $50/pop and we did 6 of them -- insurance covered it). He then wrote me a script for an MRI, which I did the next week. I went back to him the following week and he read me the radiologists report that said everything was normal. After a month of trying to get diagnosed, he gave me another script for PT and told me to get an ergo workstation.

So after a month of working through the PCP, I am still in pain. He gave me a script for muscle relaxers, but they didn't help at all. I then found an acupuncturist through a recommendation of someone at work. I got an appt 2 days after I called. She spent about 15 minutes taking my pulse (that's how they diagnose your problems) and then stuck about 20 needles in me. That was last wednesday, 12/10. On Thursday, my neck and shoulder felt better. She charged me $90 and the insurance company nothing, because they don't consider acupuncture as a treatment for neck pain. It certainly seems like Aetna would have been better off paying the $90 than sending me for six X-rays and an MRI. I went back today for another round of needles and got a neck and shoulder massage as well. Total cost, $80.

While I was there, she told me that my liver and heart were out of balance, and that she is fixing those with needles. That's interesting, because when I went to the doc my blood test said that my liver enzymes are high, and my "c Reactive Proteins" are high. I have to go back in two months to get another blood test, so it will be interesting to see if the liver enzymes and cRP's are down.

I'm not 100% cured from my back pain, and we don't have test results on the enzymes, but right now I'm pretty bullish on the acupuncturist. I tried to get her to give me a needle to help me lose weight, but she said that she thinks the appetite suppressant points don't work very well. Oh well. More to come. I have my third appt next week with her, at which point she thinks that the initial treatment will be done (ie no more shoulder pain and liver and heart back in balance). Then I can go back for "maintenance" acupuncture once a month.