Acupuncture part 2 -Mind over fire needle

I have been going to acupuncture at the Sino Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing for two weeks now. I have seen some dramatic differences in my knee. Even the way it looks. It used to only have a few small holes from repeated arthroscopic surgeries. Now it has like a million little holes in it! Remember those cartoons where someone gets shot and they laughingly say “Ha ya missed me”. Then they drink a glass of water and it pours out from hundreds of holes? I am a little afraid that will happen.

But seriously; I am trying out a new attitude on the whole pain thing. I am trying to embrace my fire needle experience with a more positive attitude. I have to believe it will work. I have one of the best doctors in Beijing in Dr. Bai and they have used these techniques for thousands of years. Well maybe not the ones where they put 30 needles in my leg and apply electricity to them to make my muscles do the Macarena but the other techniques have been around for a long time.

I am reminded of a series of tapes I listened to. Brian Tracy , was the business self help guru on the tapes and he stated that you have to make thoughts and affirmations from a positive approach. Like if you want to eat better for instance you have to tell yourself I only eat food that it good for me as opposed to saying I don’t eat fast food because it is bad for me. He and others say that your subconscious will take that information and help you get what you want. OK Steven Covey, Joe Vitale, Wayne W. Dyer and all you guys. I hope you know what you’re talking about. I am now trying this technique on my acupuncture. When they are about to stick a hot lawn dart into my leg in about 40 places, I tell my self It feels good. IT FEELS GOOD. IT FEELS GOOD. THIS IS SO GOOD FOR ME! I LOVE GETTING JABBED BY SHARP HOT NEEDLES. I LOVE TO SOUND OF A RED HOT NEEDLE WHEN IT GOES INTO MY FLESH!!!!!!!!!!!!  They say picturing success is a good idea. I picture myself walking with no pain. I picture being able to walk long distances or even running. Hey this is working. Now I am running on the beach. Hey a beautiful woman in a flowing white dress is running toward meEEYOWEEE SWEET BABY JESUS THAT HIT A NERVE!!!!!! OK I need more practice but the technique is working. The pain seems less when they stab at me. I have to practice to focus more and stay positive.

The regular patients are forming into a little family of needle heads. The other day I was getting my hot stone massage before the needling. It felt a little different but I couldn’t see anything because I was face down on the table. Then the person doing the massage said something to me in Chinese and I looked around to find that it was one of the other patients who was doing the massage. She was helping out the doctor. Hmm I thought? Then the other day after my timer went off she came over and turned off the timer and started pulling the needles out of my leg. Hmm I thought again. Then I saw her sitting next to the doctor while she consulted with a patient. She seemed to be consulting with the doctor and offering advice. It is not uncommon for the patients to pitch in. They may hold the lamp with the flame for the fire needle or change the bed after a patient is finished.

Yesterday I was lying there and again my timer went off and the same woman along with another came over and started to do the wrap up. One was pulling a heater cart away and caught the wires that were connected to the plethora of needles in my knee. The wires tightened and started to bend the needles. My new caretaker caught it and kept it from becoming a scene from a three stooges movie. She stated to remove the needles in my knee and leg. She said something in Mandarin and I caught a few words. It sounded like you have good leg chicken? It turns out the word for muscle is the same as the word for chicken. Chicken meat is Jī ròu the word for muscles is Jī ròu but the first character in the written language is different. So she either said I had nice leg muscles or my legs look like chicken meat. Sometimes a little knowledge is scary. I must have looked confused as the other woman made a gesture indicating it was the muscle thing.

I am feeling more strength in my muscles around my knee, one in particular, which atrophied a few years ago after surgery number two. It just seems like no matter what I did, I couldn’t build it back up. When the needles are inserted an inch and a half into my muscles, I feel an energy like they are working even though they are just lying there. At the end of a session I feel like I ran a marathon. (like I know what that feels like) They feel exhausted but somehow energized. I think this is worth continuing and committing to it.

This morning I really focused on the positive thinking thing and even though she was inserting that fire needle into the spaces around my knee joint, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe next time I visualize the woman running on the beach in slow motion she won’t be carrying a sharp spear. 

Dr. Bai on the left is one of Beijing's top acupuncturists. People come from all over the world to study with her. Yoon Ji Young (Xiao Jing)  is here from Korea to learn from Dr. Bai. She is holding the lamp where the fire needle is heated up. 

I call these the friendly needles. They are thin and are are not inserted too deeply.

This is the fire needle. It is thicker and often heated with a flame. Sometimes it is heated until red hot. It can be inserted one and a half inches into the muscle etc.

This is the resting position when all the needles are in, some light electric current gets the muscles jumpin' and there is heat applied to the knee. I sometimes fall asleep when in this stage. Note the needle just above the knee cap is pretty deep!

On pins and fire needles. Acupuncture in Beijing

The pain in my knee has become unbearable because of the amount of walking I do here.  Living an active life when I was younger was great but I have been paying the toll for that lately. I tore my meniscus playing tennis years ago. I got it repaired and the doc told me to keep doing what I was doing as my knee would be as good as new. So 8 months after the surgery I went skiing, I took my first turn and when I felt no pain I was off. I had the best day of skiing in my life as the recovery and therapy had made my legs strong and I was in shape from tons of bike riding. At the end of the day I hit a patch of “Sierra cement “ a slushy thick heavy snow that is very good at catching edges and the knee went again. Surgery number two was an odd thing. I woke up in the middle of the procedure and heard hammering. I could see my knee moving with each strike. I asked the doctor and before he could say much the nice man with the pain meds put me back out. My knee hasn’t been right since. Now I have had two more surgeries and have places where bone is touching bone.

I refused to sit around with my knee up and miss all that China has to offer. I hate feeling limited but that is where I am so I have learned to live with daily pain and just try to deal with it. Some days are better than others. I decided that since acupuncture has been around for thousands of years, I should give it a try here where the masters are.

Acupuncture in the US was a pleasant experience. Long very thin needles are placed just below the surface of the skin and once they are in the pain is non-existent. I found it relaxing even. That was what I was expecting here in China. I headed off to my hospital where they have a master acupuncturist Dr. Bai who is world renown. With an open mind and hope in my heart that they could do something for me. Dr. Bai had me get x-rays and looked them over with a lot of head shaking and uttered grunts that didn’t sound particularly good.  

She said through an interpreter that she could see why I was in so much pain. She then repeatedly scolded me for being so fat. She made gestures that fat equals knee pain and skinny equals no pain. Maybe it is because there is a language gap but she seemed to repeat that over and over. I GET IT!!! The funny thing is a lot of the weight gain is because of the knee problems. I had to give up tennis, skiing and other sports I used to like to do years ago and that would bring more weight. I got into sea kayaking in a serious way for years to stay active and that helped a bit but it is a constant battle.

The treatment started immediately. She pulled out a needle that was very different than the ones I have seen before. The needle was almost as thick as a dart.  I was thinking all you need is some feathers and this thing would work in the pub. Fire Needle she said! Then she lit an oil lamp and put the needle into the flame. Then she jabbed it into my knee way deeper than I would have thought and she moves it around. I am a little shocked but then she quickly started to stick and move all over my leg.  The procedure is a might more violent than my friendly acupuncturists back home would do. The needle goes in at different depths from a quarter of an inch to an inch and a half. She moves around poking, wiping the blood and moving on. She had me lie down on my stomach and poked the back of my legs. At one point she hit a nerve and it felt like someone had plugged the needle into the house current . I think my quote was something like yiiiiiiieeeeeeeeowwweeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I felt my body leave the table. She communicates with a few words in English and a few slaps to the body. She is probably best described as a combination of drill sgt. and strict grandmother.

After about 35 minutes of this I got some ointment on my legs then under the heat lamp for cooking. In acupuncture, there is a lot of talk of meridians in your body and Qi (prounounced chi) moving around and I don’t know if any of that is true but I definitely felt my qi doing a serious reorganization.  The doctor said I need many treatments at 5 to 600 kuai a shot. Wow I get to be poked and get to pay for it as well?? Sign me up!

On my second visit a very nice young Korean girl was to help me. She is a student of the Master Bai. Her Chinese nickname is Xiao Ying. She started with a leg massage with warm oil and a hot iron. Ahh I thought they give you pain first, then, make you feel better with the more gentle approach. My young doctor has a great smile and speaks English. She is kind and checks to see if I am comfortable. She does some of the fire needle work but somehow it doesn’t seem to hurt as much as last time. Every time she does something she asks if I am ok. Sure thanks!.. Then she tells me that she is going to do blood cupping. In my blissed out state I say sure why not. I have had cupping before and it was a pretty relaxing experience. Then she gets closer to me and says in a whisper. This is going to hurt.  I just smile and… WHAT?? Then she jabs me about 8 times behind the knee with the fire needle and sticks a flame into a glass ball and attaches that over the fresh puncture wounds. Then she does the same to the other leg.  What happened to god cop bad cop?? 

Xiao Ying The smile helps with the pain.

Blood cupping.

Soon my friend Craig sticks his head in and asks how I am doing. A Chinese man also pops his head in and they both start commenting on the color of my blood, which is pooling in the glass cups. Apparently the other man who is a cab driver was commenting that it wasn’t black as often is the case.  Soon they are having a conversation about me and realize oh yea this is China. There is no privacy here. I think mostly because it is a crowded country. Privacy takes space. All of the patients in the room know what is going on with the other patients. Them or their family will walk up while the doctor is working on you and ask what is going on. What’s wrong with him? It is something you just have to get used to. One woman is here because of facial paralysis and she gets needles in the face to the point where she looks like a porcupine in love. She has been coming for almost a year and has had some new movement in her face.

The jury will be out for a while on whether this works but I am giving it a good run to see what happens. My attempts with western cures haven’t been much help. They seem too quick to do surgery for everything. I read that results from having meniscus surgery aren’t very different from those who just rested and did physical therapy. I have had cortisone shots, hyaluronic acid injections and who knows what and they didn’t help much.

There are several aspects to the Traditional Chinese Medicine that I have seen and experiences so far.

Gua Sha

First is body scraping or Gua Sha . In this procedure the skin is rubbed vigorously with a soft edged instrument and blood will rise to the surface to promote healing and also to show where there may be problems. A friend of mine has that done quite a bit and at one point Dr. Bai asked him if he had gotten drunk in the last week. Apparently the skin over his liver was showing signs. This is not painful but is kind of irritating. They scrape and scrape and the skin gets a bit tender.

Cupping

In cupping, glass balls are heated by a flame and instantly put on the skin forming a suction. This is supposed to draw toxins to the surface, improve blood flow and open obstructions that may hinder the flow of energy. Mostly it is done after scraping here but sometimes they also poke holes first to draw blood.  You can recognize when someone has had cupping by the large hickies on their backs. 

Video of blood cupping

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If that doesn't work here is a link to the video http://youtu.be/6QJXBPI7tjA

Fire Needle

As said above a tungsten needle is heated sometimes until red hot and then inserted which is a nicer way to say plunged into your body. The needle is often rotated around or pulled to the side while inserted. Often you can see people who have had extensive treatments on their necks because of the scars on the back of their necks. In my case they will go between the knee joint and I can feel it touch the bone.

I have had all three of these done so far and mostly it seems to help. I can feel when the fire needle hits the muscle and when it hits a nerve. I can feel more movement of energy. It may or may not work but I want to believe that it will because some days the pain is significant. If anything my body may just make itself better out of fear of the fire needle!! Ok Ok I will get better just stop jabbing me already!!!  The sight of is isn’t for those with weak constitutions. At first it is shocking to see someone getting worked on. Sometimes you hear someone cry out in pain. Westerners would never stand for this because we are used to an approach that is more painless. So for now I will submit myself to acutorture for a bit. Maybe it will be good for building character.  I do know that Dr Bai has taught many acupuncturists from all over the world and many still come to intern for her. She gets results. 

When I got to work after one particularly grueling session with the fire needle I happened on photo of Slaysha Randall attempting to beat the record for most body piercings in a single sitting. She was aiming for 3600 piercings but stopped at 3200 since she had broken the record of 3100. All of a sudden the fire needle didn’t seem that bad.