.: Poking at the Pain :.

So it goes on.. my treatment on my right ankle. I had rolled it after an awfully timed tacklehug right before Fizz months ago. Then, I went ahead and danced on it that night. And continued to do so for weeks later. Over the year, I've done a poor job of letting it heal properly and missed out on weeks of running and Eskrima. A perfect excuse to sit and pout really...

Today, my acupuncturist and I started a more aggressive treatment of my ankle. I had my usual needles in the usual points for stress and pain in general. I'd been doing my ankle strengthening exercises and so it was easy to for her to palpate the points of irritation on my ankle. For some reason, the needles she'd applied at these points gave me a strong reaction. One reaction was too burst out laughing for one point. A little unexpected there but as a massage therapist its happened to me with clients on my table. Another reaction being a incredible burning sensation at the point that soon dissipated. A little shocking at first...

What would be more shocking (pun warning) was the electricity that was applied to a few of the needles that were in the medial and lateral sides of my legs. So this little machine sent little bursts of energy that simply felt like poking poking poking poking poking... The idea was to force the muscles to work and then fatigue and relax. She also applied a heat lamp hovering above my ankle then she left me alone in the room darkening the lamps. Before she left, Kristl told me to just let the reactions happen and if that included laughing, go with it...

I may have giggled a bit after she'd left but mostly I tried to do some deep breathing and follow the pulsing of my electrified muscles. I started to relax and fall into a little sleep when my arm jolted and I jarred a needle in my wrist. That kinda hurt and then I got it in my head for a second the idea of burning flesh...I remembered a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Jerry gives Tom a hot foot with some matches burning at Tom's shoe. "My heart is burning, burning, like a giant flame...hey, wait a minute...something is burning!" But upon further reflection and some real deep breaths, I realized I wasn't burning... The rest of the treatment was very very relaxing...

So now here I am at home, very relaxed, calm, ankle wrapped up, ear seeds for future self-treatment, and determined to heal this damn thing correctly... so no massive high heels or dancing for a few days..

Oh and if you're interested: http://www.kwaifahacupuncture.com. Tell Kristl, I sent ya!