MOO I MADE IT!

Just a quickie update on my first laser acupuncture treatment today coz I’m so excited.

*ALERT – a little bit of women’s health talk in this post. Nothing too gruesome but I understand some people don’t like health talk and if you’d rather not know, I won’t be offended if you just don’t read But I think it’s important to talk about these things to let other women know. It would have fast tracked me knowing where to ask for help if I had known more about these things I reckon!*

So, as I mentioned yesterday I was recommended this doctor via a work colleague of my friend. They both work with GPs at Melbourne Uni so are excellent to get health professional referrals from because they all know who has a good reputation and good track record. And when it comes to potentially having needles stuck in you, you want to make sure those things are properly sterilised!

I googled the doctor’s name and found a couple of news articles he had been featured in and saw there he was featured in that article I mentioned yesterday, about laser acupuncture. So I was hoping maybe I’d be offered that but wasn’t sure. At least it would probably be less painful (though I have heard the needles don’t really hurt that much anyway) but also infection wouldn’t be an issue.

When we had a chat at the start of my appointment and told him about my hormone headaches and described when I get them and what they are like. He said he has treated many, many patients for headaches. Menstrual migraines and hormone headaches can be a little trickier to treat however, as it can be harder to ‘curb nature’ ie fluctuating hormone levels. However he said it would be apparent whether or not it would be working fairly quickly and if it’s going to work it should be obvious by about 4-5 sessions. They wouldn’t continue to treat for several years just because it seems like a good idea. If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for you! But he did say he has had some excellent results with a couple of female patients lately, and one in particular with similar symptoms responded well after just one treatment.

I also mentioned how I recently discovered I have to go in for a laparoscopy (key hole surgery) later this year because of 2 benign cysts – 1 in one of my ovaries and 1 at the end of one of my tubes. I found out he is also a GP and also specialises in gynaecology and obstetrics! So everything really did fall into place and he really the ideal person to be treating me.

He showed me the laser acupuncture probe he uses and got me to take my shoes and socks off. Treatment was on some spots on my foot, a spot on my tummy, one on my back and one on my right wrist.

All the spots, except the one on my tummy, were sore spots that I had just assumed were unrelated… general sore spots? I’m full of knots so I don’t really question when they arise. It just really intrigued me he knew exactly the spots to treat and they were exactly the spots that were sore – it’s not like he was feeling around for them and then treated them.

The spot on my back one was one of my big knots. And the spot on my right wrist is one that is ALWAYS getting sore. Sometimes there’s a real little knot in there, it’s so sore it feels like a little ball of hardness. I told him that and said I had been thinking it was just RSI from using my mouse at work! He laughed and said it’s quite an integral blood flow spot… just goes to show EVERYTHING is related.

And I had no problems relaxing because he was so casual as he was treating me. He held the pen looking laser device on the spot and stood there with his other hand on his hip while chatting with me about other treatments for hormone headaches etc – just to make sure I was aware of them but not necessarily saying I SHOULD go with them. I’m not a big fan of taking medication if there are other treatments available but it was the responsible GP thing of him to make sure I knew. And he also asked me what I knew about the accuracy of ultrasounds (for my cysts) and I told him I had 2 because the first wasn’t very clear and he told me he treated a woman with what looked like a 9cm cyst on the ultrasound and when she went in for a laparoscopy it turned out that they were wrong! So just goes to show.

About a minute after my treatment, as we talked about my follow up appointment, my face was all warm and flushed and he said it’s a sign that the treatment has started taking effect. The only side effects, he said, would be some possible tiredness. I’ve been at work all day today and can’t say I’ve noticed it that much. I’ve been rather warm though, but I’m not sure if that’s me or this weird Autumn weather we have here this week.

Anyway. Got me thinking about the other weird muscular knots I have, so next time I go to see him I am going to tell him about the impenetrable knot I have in my left shoulder. It’s so hard that it’s NUMB. I have massage people staggered by how hard it is and it’s odd, I can feel it, but it’s so tight that it’s also numb to me. That can’t be right huh. And seeing the appointments aren’t exactly cheap ($90 initial $60 thereafter, so not completely outrageous) I figure I may as well get my monies worth and let him know about them too and see what they are about.

AA asked me if I thought acupuncture might be able to help him with his perpetually COLD FEET. I guess that’s a circulation thing, so probably yes. Will have to ask about that next time too.

Anyway, I’m quite amazed from today as you can probably tell. I have high hopes, my life would be so much better if I could get rid of these damn headaches. I can’t tell you how debilitating they can be sometimes. And the odd thing is, I have a shocking pain memory. When I’m in it, it is just horrendous but a week later and I can’t even remember properly how he felt. But when it strikes it’s just awful. I had to pike out on the second half of my own engagement party because I had an awful migraine. Imagine if that happened at our wedding! It’d be a disaster!

So fingers crossed – my next appointment is in a fortnight so stay tuned…
*If you’d like the doctor’s details please just send me a private message and I will be happy to forward on the details. I’m in Melbourne, Australia.