I am having acupuncture treatment. If you have ever had acupuncture, you know it’s not painful at all. You hardly even feel the needles when they go in until they hit the “meridian”. Then there is a little zing sensation. If you move that part of your body (foot, wrist, knee, etc) while the needle is in, you’ll get that zing sensation again. I wouldn’t call it pleasant, but it’s not painful either.
I’m trying this as my last resort before pursuing something more invasive for my shoulder. It has given me problems for years, mostly related to using the computer mouse. About three years ago, I started mousing with my left hand because my right shoulder ached all the time. No one can tell me it is impossible to learn to mouse with your non-dominant hand. I can draw those tiny little computer chips with mine!
Today, Intel announced that they are laying off 1000 managers. They are targeting mostly 2-in-a-box situations, but also looking to streamline more departments and flatten hierarchy. By the end of the day, word was buzzing around with names of people who had already been walked out the door. One guy we all knew (and Daryl knows him, too) has worked at Intel for 25 years. What a tough break. Hopefully, he has some stock options that are still worth something, and lots more money put away. With the pretty robust severance packages they announced, most should be fine. But it’s still hard to be laid off after working your whole adult life for one company. Marvell is looking more and more appealing. I think now I got the lucky break!
I’m pretty skeptical about acupuncture.
It’s hard to design a double blind, placebo-controlled test of acupuncture, but some pretty good ones have been done. Some of the tests indicate that there may be some sight improvement of pain, but other tests show no such improvement. I don’t think any of the tests show benefit for any other problems.
If you want, I can try to find links for you when I return home.
I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other. However, I do believe if some pain management can be obtained even if merely through a placebo effect, that’s fine. I’m going at this with hope, not expectation. I’ll let you know if it works for me (but I probably won’t be able to tell you if it’s chi or placebo that makes the difference.)
One of the reasons I am trying it is because Alice and Glenda are convinced it might help. I’m sort of humoring them. But again, if it does help, the humor will be mine. 😉
So, is the acupuncture helping? I know you’ve been in pain for so long that it would be a blessing if you feel some relief from it.