House call

I know I've mentioned it lots of times before...but I LOVE the acupuncturist I'm seeing. My shoulder is healed completely, my metabolism is running faster and now we are working on my endocrine system. My body happens to be off-the-charts acidic...and unfortunately, any inflammation I will ever encounter will be 10x worse because of the acidity in my body. I really don't want to think about getting older in THAT scenario.

So, I asked my acupuncturist to help me get more alkaline. Since he is a medcial doctor as well as a top notch acupuncturist, he knows all the ins and outs of how to help make this happen, more specifically he suggests treatment AND diet changes. I LOVE that he has a medical background and degree, in addition to the Traditonal Chinese Medicine (TCM) background. As a medical doctor, believe it or not, there are SOME things he will not treat using TCM. I ask him all the time about certain things I hear Chinese women will see an acupuncturist for...and he will flat out tell me what IS or ISN'T a good idea based on the medical findings and statistics. But, IF acupuncture can help...he's right there, recommending it above processed drugs or tedious modern medical practices.

Just ONE example would be...I had asked him about how some Chinese women go to see an acupuncturist on a regular basis for their skin. He agreed that acupuncture can help with the skin, but he doesn't believe I would need very many (IF any) needles in my face because I'm not very old and I don't have too many wrinkles...yet. Instead, he believes helping me with my Endocrine system (which we are already working on) will benefit my skin and may be all I need...for now. I know that there are PLENTY of trained professionals out there who would let me believe I needed additional work on my skin, especially if it's something I wanted, thus prolonging treatment as long as possible. I really appreciate this doctor's honesty and thoroughness. Another example...he says women come to him all the time about having one gender or another for their baby. He doesn't treat women for this because it's his personal belief that "it's not up to him." He doesn't agree with influencing something like that. But, he DOES admit that women can get certain substances from a TCM doctor that will "help"...like crushed seahorse, etc. Uh...no thank you....not for me! ;-)

To top it off...he makes house calls. How cool is that? So, I had him make one house call last week, where he proceeded to tell our ayi (in chinese, of course) what foods to stay away from, which foods to make, what to add, what to take out of our diets...in an effort to be healthier.

I have TRIED to get chinese speaking people, in the past, to relay to our ayi our preferences to making her cooking a little healthier. But, for some reason, to no avail. Stuff like...cooking with less oil, use less salt, do not fry anything, etc. However, one discussion with the Doc and...WOW! Now, I'm getting FRESH soybean milk, directly squeezed from the soybeans, water based broths that are, surprisingly yummy, MUCH MORE green veggies and seasoned tofu and more egg. Uh, wow. haha Verrry coool...

So, I can't say it enough...I really couldn't be happier about my acupuncturist. He's always willing to supply me with LOTS of information about life in China, recent history of chinese people, medical information about the body, TCM tips, etc. He even said he would call his colleagues in New York to see if they can recommend an acupuncturist in LA for my family...uh, wow! How COOL is that?! haha

And for those of you who have never had acupuncture...I get asked all the time, "doesn't it hurt?" Well, no, not if your acupuncturist knows what he/she is doing. You shouldn't feel a thing. The needles are SUPER tiny and I never feel them being placed in my skin. I also never feel them being taken out. According to my acupuncturist, many people will go to an "acupuncturist" here in China that are not truly educated in the art. It could be that the acupuncturist was trained and taught by their father or grandfather who did acupuncture. He wanted to stress to me that people need formal training and degrees for TCM now-a-days and how anyone here in China should consider going to a formal hospital to seek out a trained acupuncturist. He says that a lot of people DON'T do this because the price is always higher to go to a hospital doctor. But, he says, someone who doesn't know what they are doing can really mess you up, since many of the "points" are located along the spine. One misplaced needle...and things can go wrong very quickly. He also points out that acupuncture and TCM, in general, is a longer process than the "quick fix" we are used to with modern medicine. TCM (which includes acupuncture) can be used for preventative health as well as treatments for some ailment you currently have. The theory behind TCM is about balance...it's a natural process that includes taking your own rhythm into account as well as substances from the world around us, ie, nature. He also said that not everyone responds to acupuncture...possible reasons include being fearful of the needles, taking a LOT of chemical drugs (blocks your chi) or going through chemotherapy. There are many things that can block a person's chi...those are just a few that he mentioned. Several people have asked me ABOUT these trips to my acupuncturist, so I thought I would give a brief overview of the things I have learned.

Yes...I will DEFINITELY miss my acupuncturist when I go back home and SO FAR, this has been a very beneficial experience for me here in China.