One of our first time acupuncture patients has kindly offered to share her experiences of her course of acupuncture treatment, from initial consultation to final results, regular updates will be posted as her treatment continues.
Background
I’ll admit that I’ve never been a fan of sports or gyms but as I approached my *cough* mid-thirties, I started to notice my clothes getting a little tighter and my tummy a little rounder, so when I was gifted a year-long membership at my local gym, I begrudgingly started to train 3-4 times a week. Over time I noticed my fitness level improving and surprising myself and my husband, I started to look forward to my evening gym sessions.
Spurred on by my new fitness levels, I decided to take my children to the local trampoline park as an Easter school holiday treat. Whilst trampolining brought back some fantastic memories, I used to trampoline for the Newcastle Ladies Youth Team in my teens, it did give me a little niggling pain in my left knee.
After stopping for a quick refreshment break to boost our fluids, we embarked on the tight rope challenge, big mistake! Half way across the rope I toppled to the right but my left leg dropped to the left of the rope, I crash landed into the foam squares dragging my left leg behind me, much to the delight of my giggling children.
As I fell, I felt and swear I heard, my left knee crack. After crawling my way, very ungracefully I might add, out of the foam pit, I was near to tears and managed to convince the children that we had done enough exercise for one day.
Back at home, I sat on the sofa – nursing my pride, with my leg elevated and a bag of frozen peas on my knee, hoping and praying it was just a sprain.
A few days later, my knee still swollen and very sore, I paid a visit to my local GP who suspected that I may have partially ruptured a tendon. He suggested giving up my beloved high heels and with lots of rest, some painkilling and anti-inflammatory tablets it would repair itself over the next few weeks. He mentioned that physiotherapy could help but as NHS waiting lists were long, I would be better off consulting YouTube for some exercises to do at home!
Needless to say, without the correct course treatment at the time of the injury, 5 months later I am still suffering pain in my knee. I use a knee strap at the gym but I know that whilst it helps keep me working out, is just masking the problem, time to seek the help of a professional.
Initial Assessment for Acupuncture Treatment
I spoke to Traditional Acupuncturist, Steve, at the Newcastle Sports Injury Clinic and he convinced me that a short course of acupuncture could help to alleviate my pain and whilst he wouldn’t recommend wearing high heels, would possibly allow me to slip into my beloved high heeled shoes again – on occasions. I was sold and booked in for an assessment and initial treatment to see how a few little needles could get me on the road to recovery.
On the day of my appointment Steve welcomed me into his clinic room and took his time to explain what acupuncture is, how it works and how it could help me.
Reassuring me that the needles used were single use, sterile and nowhere near as big as I imagined, I was happy for Steve to proceed with the session.
Steve asked me a series of medical questions to gain a thorough understanding of my medical history, including any accidents or conditions I had suffered in the past. He then went on to ask about my lifestyle and diet, lot can be learned from what we eat.
At one point, he asked me to stick out my tongue and explained that the colour, contours, ridges and moisture levels of my tongue would give him a good indication of the current condition of my body and its functions, he was able to tell me that I ate too many bananas for my digestive system to cope with – I hadn’t mentioned bananas to him and I do eat a few a week, all from just looking at my tongue!
Written assessment completed, next step, acupuncture.
Acupuncture Patient at Newcastle Sports Injury Clinic
