Woohoo is right! The first time I had acupuncture with Lin Yang, was the first time I was out of pain in 17 years!
I have had acupuncture before, beginning with treatment post cancer surgery, and also for my back. But I have never had such great results before!
I had my back broken in 1997. I had back surgeries, and various procedures, and in the last two and a half years, had the pain nerves treated with rhyzotomies, in which the pain nerves are "burned" out with radio waves. However, they were unable to reach the damaged nerve under the area with the graft.
So I was left with the pain area reduced by 75%, but the pain beneath the graft at L4-L5 was still at full force. I regularly would need to be assisted out of places I needed to go to by emergency personnel. I could not drive. The spasms would occur between 4-8 or more times a day.
I went to see her for some Chinese herbs to treat drainage for a graft in my nose (also having to do with work injury). She persuaded me to try the acupuncture. I was as astounded as I was the first time I ever had acupuncture! As I said, it was the first time in 17 years I was without actual pain! My muscles were a bit fatigued after all the pain they'd been in, but I was even able to drive to San Francisco from Berkeley the next week to get to the UCSF Pain Treatment Center.
Lin Yang was classically trained in China by her father, who is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine there. She has been practicing her art since her twenties. She has recently gone through her American certification. She tells me that traditionally, the patient goes everyday or every other day for a while and then tapers off, much like chiropractic practice. She says that Americans have modified this to twice a week. However, I decided to go for the three times a week while I had coverage. And I really felt the accumulative effects greatly improved the results.
I have been literally dancing on my beloved four inch high heels since then!
I was able to reduce my pain meds by 50% . I stopped taking Hydromorphon without any withdrew effects. read more