LOL. That "chronic back pain" as a 20 year old turned into a degenerative condition. After a lot of doc visits and imaging they found that I had a compression fracture of 3 vertebrae in my thoracic. The doc said it looked like I had been in a car crash. He said I probably lost an inch of height due to bone loss and the anterior wedging that followed. That all took place throughout my 30s. Only very, very recently (within the last couple of months) was I able to get in with a good pain management doc that has been working on tightening and strengthening the ligature of my spine as the muscles are all completely farked after 20+ years of compensating for an untreated injury. After the first few treatments I was pain free (at least for a bit) for the first time and I basically broke down in tears because I had forgotten what it was like to not be in constant pain. I'm not 100% right but I'm on my way and there is hope now. Hooray. As for acupuncture -- I would highly recommend people look into dry needling first. My wife is a physical therapist who is certified in dry needle and, for folks who can tolerate it, it can be a miracle. If you have any type of muscle tightness issue that is causing orthopedic problems, needling can fix in a day what might otherwise take weeks or months to even see mild progress in. Some insurances don't cover it which is a bummer, but I think it's worth the OOP expense regardless.
Went yesterday for the first time. Doc was very very verbose and we spent about 45 minutes just talking about my body, life, etc…pooping, sex, everything. Very informative about the roles of the liver and kidneys. She even looked at my tongue and body temperature and told me that I needed to relax and that I think too much...which is funny because I am so much better than I was a few years ago. Needles didn't hurt except one in my ear (not in my ear hole) and a couple in my hand. I went in for lower back and neck pain but she put needles everywhere, including my scalp. I left feeling sort of sleepy but shook that off. But today I am gassed. Not fatigued, but sort of no motivation. I cut my run and kickboxing short, which is pretty rare for me to do. Going to take a nap now to see if that helps.
id done acupuncture a few times years ago, but back in june i got a pinched nerve in my shoulder that was causing a lot of pain and numbness in my arm so i went back. i started feeling relief 30 minutes into my first session. been going a couple times a month since then even though my shoulder is better. i dont know if they have them in houston, but there are a couple "community acupuncture" places in austin that work on a sliding scale ($20-$40). cupping costs an extra $20. the guy i see there is better than the person i was previously going to who charged me $90. youre in a recliner in a big room with other people, but when he was working on my shoulder i was in a private room since i had to take off my shirt.
If you have a pinched nerve, or muscle-type soft-tissue issue, it can absolutely help. If you have anything sort of chronic, long-term....go to a doctor.
You'll have to ask @Nook about sticking needles up your penis and that sort of thing, I cannot help you.
It's not supposed to hurt or feel like a shot. More like a dull chopstick at first. I'd tell the lady about it.
i go to the south location (stassney/manchaca). wally is the dude, but everyone who works there is great. https://acupunctureworldheadquarters.com/ there is also one somewhere on the east side, but i havent been there.
Thank so much for this! Hopefully can try it soon. I live in north Austin still, but this isn't too far.
Acupuncture is like Chiropractic treatment - utter bullshit. If someone wants to do it or feels it benefits them okay. As for needles in the dick- are we talking sounding or injections? I’ve had an injection that made me insanely hard for 6 hours but it did bruise later.
I can speak for dry needling. Never done acupuncture before but dry needling worked for me. It hurts, I won't lie I needed a fewwww pieces of gum to chew on while getting treatments but it'll be the first thing I go back to if I need it.
