If someone had asked me two months ago what I thought of wacky therapies like acupuncture I would have said something along the lines of ‘a load of piffle, pointless and probably painful.’
As a life long sufferer of eczema and generally dry skin, I have tried every medicated cream, soap, wash and spray under the sun. Results varied from a vague improvement for a couple of days to extreme irritation and crazy rashes on my arms that made me, and those around me wince at the sight of them.
Exasperated, I decided to follow my mother’s advice. I went to visit the local acupuncturist. She sat me down and went through my symptoms. We talked for ages… it was a bit like having a counselling session. Another type of ‘therapy’ I was not much convinced by until recently.
So following a long chat, I was told my skin didn’t have enough ‘wind’. To be honest, I didn’t know my skin was supposed to be windy at all, but there you go, learning something new everyday!
As such, she laid me down and proceeded to prod and poke me with no less than 10 needles. I make a big deal, but actually there was no pain. It was quite soothing, in fact. Once I was transformed into a living pincushion, I was left to doze for half an hour to let the effects of the pins run through my ‘wind channels’.
Results?
Impressively and surprisingly positive. Not cured, but significantly improved after four weeks. Perhaps this hippy freaky nonsense is worth a shot!
Moral of the story: Always follow your mother’s advice.
Contributed by Jenny-Wren Charlton
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