Ear Bling

See? Now you thought I was going to blog about earrings, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!? Well, I fooled you.

This ear bling came from my doctor. She plunged three little stud thingies into each of my ears as part of an acupuncture treatment last Tuesday. Totally bizarre (and painful). They're just temporary and fall out on their own. Two came out in the first 48 hrs. The remaining four were still there yesterday when I went for another treatment (and my last treatment at least until September because she's taking two months off before she moves to a new location). She replaced the two that came out, and stuck the usual 13 needles in me. Every night before bed, I have to touch the end of the little plunger (which has a magnet) to the little stud thingies to "reactivate" them.

I wish I could say that the acupuncture is really helping me, but so far it's not. *sigh* It does take longer, I'm told, but I'll probably have to start from scratch in September if I try it again.

Anyway, in case you want to see these freaky things, here is my new ear bling. If only they were copper or sterling. Then they'd match my real ear bling.

(Please ignore my zits, not-so-lovely profile, and larger-than-life ears. But feel free to stare at my messy red hair. Thank you.)

(Click to enlarge.)



By the way, do any of you know how difficult it is to take a photo of your own EAR with a huge camera?

I'm now officially a pincushion

Tuesday I had my first ever acupuncture treatment. My doctor is a certified acupuncturist and has been wanting to practice on me since last year. I finally agreed. It was definitely an interesting experience. I'm not a stranger to so-called "energy therapies". I've had some success with acupressure and acupuncture is sort of the same thing. Western medicine claims they don't know why it works, they just know it does. Traditional Chinese Medicine claims it is all about "energy" and meridian points and what not. Anyway you slice it though, sticking a ton of tiny needles in your body... by choice... is just strange.

My visit went a little something like this...

Dr: When I saw I had an acupuncture appointment today, I was excited. When I saw it was you, I was very surprised.

Me: So was I.

Dr: I have to have you sign this form that states that you understand we don't know why acupuncture works, you can bleed and/or bruise and get lightheaded and faint. You may feel really tired afterwards and feel achy where the needles were inserted.

Me: So long as you don't make me puke, we can still be friends.

Dr: I use very thin needles, sterile and single use, and they do not tear muscle or nerve tissue like an injection needle does.

Me: Wait. Muscle? What do you mean they don't tear muscle? You're going to poke my muscles??

Dr: Well, yes. They go into your muscles and nerves.

Me: *blink, blink*

Dr: Ok, small pinch. *pokes first needle in my foot*

Me: Ouch.

Dr: Another small pinch *inserts second needle in opposite foot*

Me: Small p... what the frick? Small pinch? Are you mad, woman?!

Dr: Don't move. If you move, it will hurt. *inserts more needles*

Me: Frick!!! Oh.My.God. FRICK!!

Dr: I told you not to move!

Me: Yeah, it's sort of an automatic reaction to jerk when you're, you know, poked with something sharp.

Dr: Try to relax.

Me: Relax??? With 10 needles in me? How the heck?!

Dr: You'll see.

Me: Yeah... u-huh...

Mom: *laughing in the corner*

Dr: Ok, two more to go... well, actually three more. I'm going to put one in your head.

Me: In my head? This was not part of our original deal!

Dr: Yes. That one is to make you relax.

Me: Ooooh no.

Dr: No?

Me: My HEAD?? What if I jerk my neck and it goes into my brain?

Dr: It's my favorite point. During a stressful day in the hospital, I walk around with a needle sticking out of the top of my head. It really works.

Me: *stunned silence at this crazy woman assaulting me with needles*

Dr: *pokes the top of my head*

Me: Oh. Well, I hardly felt that.

Dr: See? Now relax and I'll be back in 10 minutes. Don't move.

Me: Relax. Right.

A couple minutes pass... mom and I joke about photographing the 13 needles now protruding from my body. I'm nervous as heck because I can't move. Then all of a sudden... aaaaaah. It's like total calm. If my eyes would have stayed closed and someone wasn't banging on something in another room, I could have fallen asleep.

People. I was totally relaxed. At the dr's office. I've NEVER been even remotely relaxed at a doctor's office before. It was wild. Then several minutes later I did indeed get light-headed so we stopped the treatment a couple minutes early.

It was by far one of the most bizarre things ever. I did not expect the light-headedness. Even though she warned me and I read the paper or whatever, I figured it would happen at the beginning, not at the end. Apparently it can relax you enough to drop your blood pressure some. According to her and what I read online, it usually only happens during a person's first treatment. I go back in two weeks.

I had at least 13 needles in me. They were in my feet, on both sides of my knees, my arms, wrists and the top of my head. Not all the needles hurt. Most of them just felt like a "little pinch". A few though really did hurt, and it was interesting to note that all but one of the ones that hurt bad were on my right side. The one that hurt on my left side was probably only because I jerked my finger. Can you say OUCH?! Don't jerk your finger, people. It's not good.

Painful. Bizarre. But to be totally honest, I think I want a needle permanently poked into the top of my head.