Seeing the picture above drills home (sorry for the pun) what I must look like during an acupuncture treatment. But under the gentle and expert hands of Noell Eanes, M.Ac, ACA, RYT, who practices at Balance Integrative Health, I don’t feel like a pincushion, and during the two treatments I’ve had, I’ve never felt pain – I promise.
(Disclaimer: Consulting a physician and seeking a second opinion are advised before undergoing any medical treatment.)
Eanes’ treatments are a mixture of Five Element Acupuncture, TCM and Shakuju Therapy. We start by chatting about how I feel and what’s going on in my life, then I lie down on the table – a luxurious massage table with arms – and she begins the Shakuju, which feels like a tiny pinprick moving in a circular pattern around my belly.
A quick aside: During my treatment Eanes says many informative things that I don’t have enough knowledge of the subject to really understand. Each time I ask, “And what does that mean?” and she always patiently explains. For instance, as I was getting up on the table she said, “You know, everything you’re telling me has to do with your liver meridian, so I think we’ll concentrate on that a bit.” I had no idea what that meant, but she explained that it had to do with Chinese medicine, the implications of it and how to work on fixing the unbalance.
After the beginning Shakuju, Eanes feels around my belly, hips and ribs and asks me where I feel tenderness. She then performs moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine therapy of lighting moxa, or dried Artemis mugwort, on my skin. Again, there’s no pain; the moment I feel heat, the herb is removed.
After that, she places the needles in specific places on my body, covers my eyes and leaves me to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Then I flip over and we start again.
And though I don’t know why or how it works, yet, I can tell you that the places that were sore or tender at the beginning are no longer so when we’re done. And when I walk out of the building I feel lighter, calmer and more at ease in my body than I did when I arrived.
You can contact Noell Eanes for more information and to book a treatment through Balance Integrative Health, located at 2121 Magazine St., by calling 522-9645 or visiting BIHNola.com.
