Treatment for the Sick #3_Cupping (Feb. 20th, 2013)

To end our 3 hours together I asked Dr. Song if she would do the cupping treatment, since it's a great treatment to use when someone is sick. For those who don't know what cupping is, it's basically a medicinal treatment in which suction cups are placed on the body to draw stagnated  or "stuck" blood to the surface of the skin. The bruises that result usually last a few days. The are a few ways cupping is applied it can be used with bamboo or glass cups and fire and most recently plastic cups and a mechanism that extracts air. During the treatment Dr. Song first started with the plastic cups which were first placed on my back and the mechanism was used to suck the air out and basically suction my skin. Since I'm more of a traditionalist I asked Dr. Song if she could use glass cups and fire. She agreed to it and started the fire cupping process. She lit the glass cup and on fire, which extinguished and she attached them to my back after a few mins she started to move the cups up and down my back and as she moved the cups she immediately saw red forming on my back. Of course it was a little painful because the glass cup was sucking my skin and she pushed the cup up and down my back, but after the treatment I noticed a tremendous difference in my breathing. So to finish off my hour I left the Doctor's office with bruises on my back (still deciding whether or not to post the pictures), relaxed and more informed on acupuncture and the sub practices of it. 

Treatment for the Sick (Feb. 20th, 2013)

The second hour was focused more on the acupressure part of the medical practice. There isn't much to talk about here, but Dr. Song told about 5 points on the body that would help people who are to get sick or are sick that would help with body temperature. The points are the chest, the palms of both hands and the bottom of both feet. She talked about how using alcohol and rubbing each of these specific parts to create heat would be best for people about to become sick because they help bring up body temperature, which would ideal for fighting sickness. She further talked about different foods and the the consequences (good and bad) of eating them. Such as drinking soda daily or acidic foods with then taking in tons of vitamin C after that would increase chances of getting gout (arthritis in a specific joint). She also talked about how certain meats should be avoided if that individual has certain skin problems, an example would be avoiding lamb and beef if the individual has psoriasis. The end of the acupressure marked the end of my second hour and our last hour together for the day was about cupping. 

Treatment for the Sick (Feb. 20, 2013)

Hello! So I met with my mentor today and again I was given the treatment  which I feel is a recurring theme as each time I visit Dr. Song I'm the one being practiced on, but nevertheless I am learning more and more about acupuncture each and every time. The first hour that we met was focused more on the actual acupuncture itself. Since I was sick last Thursday (Feb. 14) Dr. Song decided to focus more on helping me recover from being sick. She introduced me to new points on my back that would help speed the recovery process. There is one the is great for fighting sickness, headaches, stress, for older folks hypertension and much more. That point is called the GB 20 (part of the gallbladder channel) and located just at the base of the back of the head. Another point that Dr. Song pointed out was the PC 6 (? the names escape me because  they were in Chinese) located on the inside of the forearm, which again held many benefits for someone when they're sick  or need the benefits it yields when chi moves through that specific point. There are many other points that Dr. Song told me about and introduced me to, but for intents and purposes I'll spare the names since they're in Mandarin and the fact that most of you guys reading will most likely skip over them. 

Treament Hour #2

The second part of my treatment and hour consisted of working on the front part of my body. This part of my treatment may make some people squeamish  so fair warning.This time she focused on my feet, arms and my head. She inserted needles around my eyes and just below my nostrils. She did this because she knows that I have eyesight problems, so she put the needles there specifically to improve my eyesight. As for the nostril points she wanted to drain my nose from the build up that accumulated while I was facing down. As for the points on my feet and arms they were again to move the chi throughout my body and help with the functions of my body parts. After she left the needles in for a ample amount of time she proceeded to give me acupressure which was to stimulate each meridian point and keep the chi flowing throughout my body. When I finished I did not only feel relaxed, but I noticed a significant difference in how I felt as well as more knowledge about each of the points she targeted during this hour. 

Treatment Hour #1 (Feb. 2nd, 2013)

On February 2nd I met again with my mentor, Dr. Song. I got to her office around noon and had quick lunch with her. The first hour consisted of Dr. Song actually giving my the treatment while explaining and showing me different points on the body. She kept pointing out specific points (the names are in Chinese, so I'll spare the names for now) on the body that served different purposes. One of the points she pointed out to me was L14 which is a critical point for the lumbar. Once she finished with my back she inserted needles into different parts of my head that would keep my body's chi moving. Then to finish off the back part of my body she inserted needles on certain points that helped with the digestive system, eyesight and various other functions of the body parts.