About twenty years ago, I sustained an injury to my back, specifically, to my shoulder blade area. The injury was so bad that it hurt to raise my arm to get a plate out of the kitchen cabinet. I remember thinking to myself that this must be what my grandmother meant when she said that getting old is the shits. I figured I'd just have to live with the pain for the rest of my life. It was a depressing notion. I went to the doctor to have my back examined and left with a prescription for pain killers. The pain killers made me drowsy and didn't help with the underlying issue. This is a common medical practice in the USA: see a doctor for pain, and receive medication that sometimes masks symptoms but rarely addresses the root cause of the problem. A friend at work noticed that I couldn't reach the reams of paper for the printer because the paper was in a cabinet that was high enough that it triggered the pain in my shoulder blade when I tried to grab it. She said, "What is going on? You look miserable." I explained that I had a lot of discomfort. That's when she grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me to her office and shut the door. "Girl, you need acupuncture" she said in a matter of fact tone. Using a Sharpie, she wrote down a name and phone number on a post-it note. "Call him ASAP," she said. The next day I called and made my very first acupuncture appointment. I was a nervous wreck because I could not imagine having a bunch of needles stuck in me. It sounded terrifyingly torturous. The acupuncturist was a middle aged man from China and he asked me several questions about why I had come to see him. I relayed to him the saga about my shoulder blade and how miserable I was feeling. He had me change into a light cotton robe and lay face down on a table. Next, he took the pulse in both of my wrists and asked to see my tongue. He felt my shoulder blade and said that he could feel a build-up of inflammation. He said he was going to do three treatments: Acupuncture, cupping therapy, and Gua Sha. I had no idea what I was in for, and replied in a meek tone, "Ok, thank you." The session went well and the Acupuncturist asked to see me four more times. To my great surprise, over the course of my five sessions, my shoulder blade pain healed. Completely! I then began to see him for other aches and pains. Eventually, he retired and I found a new acupuncturist to see. Her name is Dr. Dina Bello and she owns and runs Apex Vibrancy Center. Dr. Bello has helped me with several, key issues and I am so grateful to have found her. One vivid memory I have of her is the session I had the week after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 Election. I wasn't in any physical pain, but emotionally I was a wreck. Dr. Bello gave me a treatment to ease my anxiety and stress over Donald Trump being elected President. I remember laying on her acupuncture table, sobbing my eyes out. That week felt like someone had died and my energy level was very low. I recall being barely able to function. But with Dr. Bello's treatments, I coped with the outcome of the Election and life was good again. Whether you have unresolved physical pain, or emotional pain, acupuncture is something to consider. If you happen to be in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area, I highly recommend Dr. Bello! ---------- Hashtags: #Acupuncture #Pain #PainManagement Dr. Bello, in her element
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