My Acupuncture Experience

Sooooo I tried out the acupuncture thing last Friday and it was definitely an "experience."

When we first got to the address of the clinic I almost told Josh to just go home because it was in a very scary part of town in a very deserted-looking building. I knew that I wouldn't be satisfied unless I gave it a shot though so I banished my inner coward and went in. I filled out quite a bit of paperwork before I actually set down with the acupuncturist. She seemed really flustered and she was the only one in the office so she was checking people in, answering phones, etc. During our consultation she walked out to answer her cell phone twice and it sounded like she was scheduling other appointments. 

I took my printed out charts and my hormone level results. She looked them over but seemed to be confused about my charts. She didn't speak English very well but we seemed to communicate okay enough for her to get the general idea of what was going on. She asked me twice during the consult if I've ever had an ultrasound to check for a stomach tumor...ummmm no I haven't. 

After almost half an hour of talking she wanted to do a physical examination so she took me into another room and checked everything out. She pressed down on a few different areas of my stomach and there were 2 areas on the left that really hurt when she touched them. She told me that I should try to get a stomach U/S because she really believed that I had a stomach tumor. That definitely wasn't very calming.

Then, without warning, she just started doing the actual acupuncture. I had thought that we had a consultation and then she asked if I wanted the actual treatment done and I had an option to leave if I didn't. There was never a point for this to happen. She said she wanted to test my body to see if it could "handle" the pressure and next thing I knew I had 12 needles in various parts of my body. Okay then.

The needles didn't really hurt and there was just a little pressure at each point. After she put them in she turned the lights down and left me there with them in for about 15 minutes. This part actually felt very relaxing and I really enjoyed it, leading me to believe that the actual treatment would be something that I'd be interested in doing again.

After I was done she told me that she wanted me to come in twice a week for the first month and then we'll take it from there. I paid her for my session and told her that if I decided to move forward with treatment I'd call her. I haven't called and I don't plan on going back to the clinic.

I really don't have any desire to do acupuncture again right away. I know that the level of my experience had everything to do with the specific place that I went but it was also really expensive. And my insurance didn't give me a discount like I was led to believe that it would. We don't have the extra money to continue with it right now, I'd rather put that toward the progesterone supplements I need that cost an arm and a leg. 

I definitely did enjoy the actual acupuncture process and I'd 100% recommend trying it but I'd never recommend the clinic that I went to. I've heard many many stories of positive experiences and professional clinics so I'd just say to do your research and it may take some shopping around before you find a place that's the right fit for you.