Acupuncture!

It's been over 2 months since my arthroscopy.  I continue to experience tight ligaments around my knee and other minor issues but daily physical activity is keeping me moving.  I was hoping to get acupuncture soon after as well as sticking to a strict diet but the emotional and physical challenges I faced following surgery were not sustainable for the sheer discomfort I had experienced.  I'm still interested in eating healthy and although i cave for sugar and coffee I'm staying on track with eating right.

Today I went to a new clinic for a session of acupuncture and realized that if anyone was experiencing acupuncture for the first time at that place it wouldn't seem like a pleasant experience.  It's a community clinic and do they mean community.  They had us all in the same room on random beds and chairs.  It made me feel like I was in another country.  It was not relaxing and quite distracting every time someone came into the room.  It was also not a full session which was nice since it was difficult for me to lay there and listen to everyone else rustling around.  It was a good thing I didn't wear jeans today because there was no way I was going to disrobe in front of a room full of people.

The acupuncture I received a little over a year ago was a stark contrast to today's session.  Last year I got a full hour and a half complete with acupuncture on both sides and then a full body massage after.  Can you guess where I will go next time?

If you have never experienced acupuncture I have 3 pieces of advice.

1.  Do not move!  Once the needles are in you do not want to move.  I learned this during my second session nearly 20 years ago.  The technician had left in a needle by mistake and when I moved I felt one of the worst surges of pain I have ever felt.  That is because the needle was lodged into a nerve.  Never again have I attempted to move during a session, even if it's an hour long.  If you have a hard time staying still then maybe no acupuncture for you.

2.  Investigate the clinic.  Ask others about their experiences.  Yelp is good for getting feedback and reviews on clinics.  I've been to places where they insisted on using "cupping" which I do not like at all.  And the worst nightmare was a guy that double charged me his fee and then charged me for 5 sessions when I had only 2.  Not only that but he demanded his money and refused to discuss the billing.  He even threatened to send me to collections!  It doesn't hurt to try out a clinic and see how the session goes but not every clinic is the same.  Make sure you are very comfortable. 

3.  Don't knock it until you try it.  I always thought acupuncture was tomfoolery.  To me people who used things like acupuncture and saw chiropractors where goofy people with made up ailments that went to made up doctors with made up gimmicks to supposedly fix these fictional problems.  But when I fell down a flight of stairs not long after a terrible accident that caused problems with my hip locking nearly 20 years ago, I was petrified that I caused some serious damage.  My landlord at the time was fighting a pulled muscle in his back and he insisted on me getting acupuncture.  I went to 3 sessions and never had a problem with my hip again.

Acupuncture is like a deep tissue massage from the inside.  I always walk away feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.  I highly recommend it to those who are suffering just about anything.  Supposedly it can also help you kick bad habits.

PT or not PT

Physical Therapy.  Do I need it?  After the arthroscopy I felt fine.  I was doing the exercises my surgeon said I should I do and then got a little over entheusiastic about it and did more reps than I should have and then started experiencing pain.  I decided PT was for me.  I talked to a physical therapist that agreed I should start PT.  I went through the process of getting a referral from my surgeon, called the PT office to make an appointment, went through their lengthy questions over the phone and then "OH! We don't accept your insurance!  Call another PT".  So I called PT office #2.  They started asking me all the same questions, my name, phone number, address, blah blah blah.  I cut the receptionist short so I could ask the pressing question, "Do you accept my insurance?"  No.

I called the insurance company, "Where can I get PT?" Downtown Seattle.
Now I live in a neighborhood that is kind of south, kind of west of downtown and the traffic situation continues to get worse.  Best case scenario, it can take up to a half hour to get downtown and sometimes longer during traffic.  Otherwise it would take me 20 minutes to get there and get parking, which is not free.  So the expense of the gas money, combined with the parking fees, along with time I don't have to waste sitting in traffic equates to not going to happen.

So now what?  I will do it myself.
I hit the gym every day. (ok not every day but that's what I tell myself).
30 minutes on the bicycle to start and then move on to weight machines that allow me to do squats.  I try to do a lot of different leg machines to mix it up.  I find when I don't go to the gym my knee starts hurting and locking up.  But when I do go to the gym I feel like I get more flexibility in my knee and less pain.

I decided physical therapy is not a professional opinion but a physical act.  I can do it myself.