Back to the Body

Twenty years of back pain, and I am finally making progress. It is coming from an unexpected source: Chinese medicine.

To set the context: after this doctor and that specialist and this physical therapist and that umpteenth stretching regimen, my back still hurt. As in, stop everything and lay on the ground hurt. The ibuprofens and acetaminophens and other drugs worked little or not at all. 

The most troubling thing (besides the money spent on all of it) was the utter lack of answers. I saw the best of the best specialists, neurosurgeons, and therapists, and not one of them—over a twenty year period!—could offer me a real explanation for what was causing my problem. 

I finally got brave. I asked my doctor for a recommendation to an acupuncturist. (To his credit, he had one ready at hand!) After just a few visits, the effect was so palpable that I knew I must be on to something. That in turn has led me into further study and work in reflexology, acupressure, and herbal medicine. I am embarking on a whole new world of understanding about the human body.

Glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20) Chinese medicine, as it turns out, is not so mystical or otherworldly. Rather just the opposite: it is deeply grounded in the body. Ignoring this tradition, have I denied God’s body the health it naturally wants to achieve?

Embodied Christ, open me to what my body is really saying. Amen. 

~~~~~~~~~~

http://acupressureonline.org/

Headache? Take a look at Aaron Stein's Acupressure Guide at the above link or Amazon. 

Using acupuncture and Chinese medicine, I am working on my asthma, healing from the immense dose of antibiotics I had to take because of Lyme, and a number of other issues in addition to my back. It is a very comprehensive system and can address depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, and a host of other chronic symptoms and diseases.

The simplest explanation for how acupuncture (and acupressure) works is that it sends a signal through the body's nervous system to increase blood flow to a certain area (such as the lungs or back). Blood flow is the only way the body has to heal itself, so increasing its flow will bring down inflammation, pain, and other symptomatic signs.

I will discuss more about acupuncture, the body's meridians, the mind-body connection, and other related concepts such as how foot reflexology works, in coming Minutes.