Last year, I wrote about my experience trying acupuncture to treat my fibromyalgia.
This was not traditional acupuncture by a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor. It was done by a physiotherapist who is also trained in some acupuncture. She used a method to release the fibro "trigger points". The treatments did provide me with great symptom relief for a few days after each session.
However, the treatments were quite painful and I'd be out of commission all day from the after-effects. In addition, the treatment was very localized. It only worked on the trigger points the needles touched. We did as many as I could tolerate, but I have these painful trigger points all over my body. It would be way too painful - plus enormously expensive and time-consuming - to hit each one. And, as I said, the relief was only for a few days. It wasn't practical as ongoing treatment.
I tried this for a few sessions, then gave up. The supplemental health insurance we get through Allan's work covered it. (In Canada, that's always called "having benefits," but I'm reluctant to use that expression since it means something very different to US readers.)
This year my fibromyalgia got worse. I might be doing too much - that is, I might have fewer symptoms if I cut back on activities more - but I haven't been willing to do that yet. So I decided to try traditional acupuncture from an actual TCM practitioner.
There are a zillion TCM doctors, acupuncture clinics and holistic or naturopathic centres in Mississauga. They are everywhere. How to choose one? I was reluctant to just choose any clinic off the street,and that held me back for quite a while.
Over our US Thanksgiving trip, I spoke to my nephew D and his partner. They are massage therapists, she is a herbalist, and they are both studying acupuncture and TCM now. Nephew D suggested finding someone also practiced with herbs, saying that TCM is a combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture, and a good TCM should do both. (Forgive me if I'm stating the ultra obvious - this is new to me.)
My wonderful nephew also spoke to some of his teachers about me, and was prepared to do an evaluation by phone. But long-distance isn't the best way to do medicine, so I decided to use his advice to find someone here.
Even so, I still didn't know how to find a doctor. I have a Chinese co-worker who goes for acupuncture treatments, but I don't like to talk about my health issues at work. So what to do? Sometimes the meaningless universe of random chance provides.
I was having my hair done a few weeks back - you know, becoming blond again and reading The Shock Doctrine. It was a new stylist; she asked where I live, and said, "My acupuncturist is right near there." She's been getting great relief from headaches from acupuncture; she said her TCM doctor is very experienced and has reasonable rates in order to be more accessible.
I took his card, and looked him up online. He is indeed highly experienced, the director of the Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Association of Canada, degrees from both China and the University of Toronto, 20 years of experience, and two busy clinics. Plus, he's right around the corner from me, and his rates are reasonable. Also, unlike many practitioners who have high fees for an initial consultation, Dr. Wang will evaluate you for free. What have I got to lose.
Dr. Wang understood fibromyalgia perfectly. I also told him about my inability to lose excess weight, which I have long suspected is related to the pain, low energy, sleep disorder, and so on, of fibromyalgia.
So I had my first treatment. It was relaxing and painless, and I brought home a week's work of herbal meds. I'm definitely going back next week.
Dr. Wang cautioned me that although acupuncture will work immediately on some conditions, such as allergies or headaches, fibromyalgia would be more complicated. If there will be results, it will take longer to see them. I'm not surprised!
My attitude about this could be called open-minded neutrality. I neither mock TCM as nonsense nor am expecting a miracle cure. I'm open to change, and I'll recognize it if it happens, but I won't be crushed if it doesn't.
I'll be sure to report back as things move along.
14 comments:
I hope that it works well for you. So far so good--it isn't causing you pain and he sounds knowledgeable and sensible. TCM has a long history behind it. I'm not sure if I buy all the theoretical basis but I do respect the thousands of years of empirical observation that has gone into it. And TCM has had great sucess with systemic conditions which western medicine doesn't have a clue how to treat.
Thank you, Lillian. That's how I think of it - it's not going to hurt. Plus the first $400 of treatment is covered, so I have nothing to lose.
I don't really get the theory either, but I haven't studied it, so I suspend judgement. But as you say, a huge amount of empirical evidence is behind it.
I'm not anti- Western medicine as many people are, but I do recognize its limitations. VAST limitations.
An author whose blog I read suffers from ME, another illness Western medicine does not really know how to treat, and uses homeopathy to try and manage her symptoms. She talks about her illness quite a bit, and it seems to require mountains of snark and determination to keep moving forward. I send you both heaps of respect and well-wishes.
Thank you so much, Sarah.
I am in a good place with my condition, but I went through the wringer to get here. I use traditional meds for certain symptoms. Thank [something] Health Canada recognizes the condition and Cdn doctors are trained in it.
I was misdiagnosed for 7 years and really suffered from it. I was still living in NYC when I got a correct diagnosis, dumped my doctor, found a good one, and got some real treatment. So it's not strictly a US vs Canada thing.
But because of that experience, I was concerned about what I'd find up here. After all I had been through to get a proper diagnosis and decent treatment by a caring and competent doctor, leaving all that was scary. One of the few things I worried about regarding emigrating was finding a family doctor and what her attitude towards fibromyalgia would be.
As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. WHEW. I am very grateful for that.
(In Canada, that's always called "having benefits," but I'm reluctant to use that expression since it means something very different to US readers.)
What does it mean in the US?
Also, isn't it weird that traditional Chinese medicine is the only traditional medicine that's a Great Big Thing?
What does it mean in the US?
In the US, if you have benefits, you have health insurance; if you don't have benefits, you have no health insurance. In Canada, everyone has health insurance.
So I think USians might misunderstand it, the way I did when I first got here.
Also, isn't it weird that traditional Chinese medicine is the only traditional medicine that's a Great Big Thing?
Is it?
Google and anecdotal evidence think so.
I mean, is it weird? I guess I never thought about it. I don't even know what different systems of traditional medicine there are, ones that have survived into the modern age.
I'd assume every culture had some kind of traditional medicine at some point. It seems weird to me that only one would have made it to here and now.
Well, you'd have to rule out all the cultures that were destroyed. That's a lot of lost knowledge.
Even if some people survived, like various First Nations groups or the present-day Maya (just for example), the culture was still wiped out, most of the knowledge gone.
What an utterly depressing thought.
But yes, you're right, and why China, I wonder.
Good luck with the acupuncture. I have a great acupunturist out in Scarborough, but trouble is he only speaks Mandarin...
I'd assume every culture had some kind of traditional medicine at some point. It seems weird to me that only one would have made it to here and now.
There still are other ones-- there's Ayurvedic medicine from India, and other lesser-known practices from different nations, mostly Eastern ones.
In the West, many people who knew anything about herbs were accused of witchcraft and killed. In more recent times, the West looks askance at anything unproven by the Scientific Method. With fewer and fewer practitioners, and more and more people who take them for quacks...it's not easy surviving under those circumstances.
There still are other ones-- there's Ayurvedic medicine from India, and other lesser-known practices from different nations, mostly Eastern ones.
You know, this comment makes me remember something I should have thought of earlier. This summer I interviewed a man who is paraplegic, who spent a few years traveling all over the world experiencing alternative medicine practices.
He spent 3 months in an Ayurvedic hospital in India - watched "psychic surgery" in the Philippines - many different modalities.
I forgot all about him.
I guess I should have responded very differently to Imp Strump's comment! Don't know where my head was on that one.
Small world.
I'm a patient of Dr. Wang's as well. I know we're talking about the same person because I'm aware of his credentials as well as both his practices.
He's very good and seems quite knowledgeable. I've been seeing him regularly since this past December and the treatments are having a positive effect - just in terms of giving me more energy, headache relief, and overall well-being. In fact, I look forward to the sessions because I walk out of there feeling incredibly relaxed and at ease.
Regards,
Christian S.
Small world, indeed. I'm glad you're getting good results from your treatment. I seem to be, too - there's an update in a more recent post. Thanks for stopping by.
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