It actually helped. A lot.
I don’t understand the mechanism of action. But after my appointment on Friday, I had about 30 degrees more rotation in my neck and the pain was significantly decreased. I went again today, and I now have full rotation (no, not Exorcist level rotation, I mean standard side to side human rotation).
I’ve been told that the acupuncturist can treat my sleeping difficulties, and my menstrual problems, and my allergies, and my pain. I’d really like to believe this, because dear lord do I want those problems fixed. But I truly don’t understand the *how* of it. Unless…
If you can fix, or decrease, pain, it’s quite likely that sleep will improve. My neck pain has been keeping me up at night, preventing me from relaxing. Assuming that my sleep improves as the pain goes away, it would make sense that any of a number of standard bodily repair functions also improve. Sleep really does knit up the ravelled sleeve of care; it’s when your body regenerates. It affects hormones, allergies, wound healing, inflammation, digestive function, detoxification, and general immune function.
I don’t know that this is how it works. In fact, I have no evidence whatsoever, it’s just what makes sense in my head.
I’ve also been sifting through google scholar (surprise, surprise) and found this abstract about acupuncture helping with primary dysmenorrhea. I do not have that (thankfully) but I do have menorrhagia. Which is related. So it makes me curious. And then these for anovulation and infertility (which can be connected with PCOS). And this, talking about the effect on the limbic system.
There are just as many, more even, articles and abstracts claiming accupuncture is completely ineffective.
Hard to know what to believe.
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