Standing on My Own Two Feet: Acupuncture a Balancing Act

 

By Leslie Ann Leinbach

 

 

Oprah once had Dr. Oz lead audience members through simple tests that predict longevity, among these timing how long you can stand on one foot. For me, this was bad news. At the time, I could barely stand on two feet without problem. I wondered how many years that meant for me. Now, according to the chart at RealAge.com, I am less than half my age in terms of standing on one foot, a feat I have achieved since undergoing acupuncture for Bell’s palsy with the result that acupuncture took away a number of problems making my life difficult for years – hip pain, stiff knees, wobbly ankles, numbness in my hands, insomnia, and voices in my head saying, “eat cake, eat cake…”

 

 

Acupuncture changed my life and now is helping me stand on my own two feet well enough to hold one foot in the air as long as a teenager can!  I was fortunate to find acupuncture.  Many people who could be helped by it know very little about acupuncture and miss out on what it can do for them.

 

 

Doctors practice conventional medicine by diagnosing and treating specific diseases and conditions with drugs or therapies for that specific problem. Acupuncture works differently. Acupuncture sees health problems as the result of an imbalance of a person’s energies. The acupuncturist doesn’t cure illness, but rather works to restore health. I learned this when acupuncture for my paralyzed face took away a number of other ailments.

 

 

My acupuncturist explains that in terms of wellness, balance is the process through which each person responds to the physical, the emotional, the mental, and the spiritual together as areas of life that must adjust to each other’s “ups and downs” in order to keep all of them working together.  Conventional medicine knows health is not just a condition of our physical bodies, but of our mind, our heart, our faith and soul; it just cannot easily fit that into the way medical practice works.  Alternative medicine, like acupuncture, treats the “whole” person, and with good result.

 

 

The effectiveness of acupuncture has been recognized by the U.S. Institutes of Health; its “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” website (nccam.nih.gov) looks at acupuncture as an important part of our healthcare system and its medical sciences. It lists a number of health problems research has shown acupuncture to help. For me, my own experience is my scientific research, and I continue to be surprised by what acupuncture can do. And, it is not all achieved through needles, alone.

 

 

My doctor told me I need to control the stress that is spiking my blood pressure, plastering the walls of my arteries, and giving me an excuse to believe chocolate is a life-saving necessity, when all it really does is dangerously elevate my blood sugar, cholesterol, and weight.  My acupuncturist said that for me to start controlling stress, I needed to write a journal about how I feel. I told him I didn’t think I could do that.  He put a pen on the desk and asked very seriously, “Can you pick up the pen?” I had to think about my answer.

 

 

I told him I did not want to be trapped into doing something I would feel guilty about not doing. He said he had not asked about writing a journal, he asked if I could pick up the pen.  Apparently my answer was going to be “no.” I knew that was not a true answer and had to ask myself why I would act as if I cannot pick up a pen.

 

 

The acupuncturist turns out to be a good counselor. When I began to write, I also did other things I usually put off.  Clutter started to disappear from my home and stopped the stress of frantically searching for my glasses, my phone, my keys, important papers. I became so busy not procrastinating that I was too busy for cookies, cake, and candy. And, because I no longer sat around feeling overwhelmed or guilty about all the things I had to do or should have done, I suddenly found I had time to walk, which I had been intending to do ever since acupuncture took away the pain in my ankle, knee, and hip.

 

 

There were no revelations in what I wrote in my journal, the “cure” was picking up the pen.

 

 

My doctor told me I had to reduce stress, stop eating junk, and start exercising --- I promised to try.  My acupuncturist helped me stop trying and start doing.  Acupuncture is about change.  

 

 

A celebrity doc like Dr. Oz bringing acupuncturists, herbalists, and Reiki masters to his show is helping more people feel comfortable about turning to acupuncture and other types of alternative medicine that can be used along with healthcare provided by the family doctor.  My doctor tells me to continue acupuncture because it is helping me.

 

 

When I got over Bell’s palsy, I was no longer sick, but I was not well. Acupuncture changed my life. I am now standing on my own two feet well enough to balance on one foot long enough to know I can get even better.

 

 

My acupuncturist is Mark Siegrist, L.Ac., Seven Star Acupuncture at the Spine and Wellness Center of Dr. Patrick Borja in Exeter.

 

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I live in St. Lawrence, Exeter Township and teach for the Boyertown Area School District and as adjunct faculty at RACC.