Acupuncture for Everyone

I’m still too full from dinner last night to work on a recipe post today. Aaron surprised me with takeout from one of our favorite burrito places (Ana’s Taqueria, for any Boston-area readers). It was a very nice surprise, but I made the mistake of eating my rice and bean burrito while being totally consumed with watching The Wonder Years on Netflix. I adored this show growing up, and watching it now brings back so many fun memories. I’m also realizing that most of the time, I probably had no clue what was actually going on. So many of the the jokes are things only an adult would fully grasp or appreciate.

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I should have stopped eating my burrito about halfway through, but instead, I got caught up in the 12-year-old relationship drama of Kevin Arnold and finished the entire thing. I then spent the rest of the evening telling Aaron “don’t ever let me eat another whole burrito again” and trying to counteract the week’s worth of sodium I had just consumed. You know you’ve had too much to eat when you’re too full for water.

So let’s talk about my acupuncture session instead of food. I mentioned last week that I’ve been having some knee problems, and yesterday morning I went for my first treatment at Acupuncture for Everyone in Back Bay. This place has glowing reviews on Yelp, and I was beyond thrilled to find out that they charge based on whatever you feel you can afford to pay. How awesome is that? In a country that charges more than $500 to meet with a sports medicine doctor and be told to “take three weeks off” and “lift less weight”, this is so incredibly refreshing. Acupuncture for Everyone recommends paying $15-$35/treatment, but will not turn people away if that range is out of their budget.

I met with Anne, who’s the founder, and immediately felt at ease. She has a very calm, warm energy, and this is also reflected throughout the office space. It’s a very small office, with a private room about the size of a walk-in closet where you discuss your health history and other personal information, and a separate treatment room with four comfy reclining chairs where the acupuncture is administered. I was slightly apprehensive about sharing a room with three other people, but it’s not at all uncomfortable. Everyone is laying back taking a little nap, enjoying the sounds of the water fountains and calming music.

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As far as the actual treatment – let me first say that I consider myself to have a fairly low pain tolerance and I’m not the biggest fan of needles (who is?). However, the acupuncture needles are extremely thin, probably the thickness of a strand of hair. I felt absolutely no pain, and didn’t even notice most of the needles. I had a few on each knee, near my ankles, the inside of my arm (near my elbows), and one in my forehead between my eyes. The forehead one was the most scary to me, but it was also the best. Anne explained that it’s actually the most requested because it reduces stress, and I can definitely attest to that. I immediately felt relaxed, and in the blink of an eye, the 40 minute session was over.

Despite temperatures in the single digits and dealing with a nearly 30 minute wait for the train on my way home, I felt relaxed. Almost like a high? And by that I mean a really awesome yoga practice kind of high…I know where your mind was going on that one.

I don’t think that acupuncture is going to solve all of my knee problems, but I do think it will help with healing the damage that’s already been done. And if nothing else, I’d like to make it a regular thing for the stress relief benefits alone.

If you’ve been thinking about acupuncture for an injury, to help improve the quality of your sleep, recover from workouts, or simply relaxation – I highly recommend giving it a try. And if you’re in the Boston area, definitely check out Acupuncture for Everyone.

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Have you ever tried acupuncture? What did you think? And equally important – did you watch The Wonder Years?