Weak In The Knees? Stick It With Acupunture

I limp around the house as usual and my discomfort is spotted by my roommate. "You should just get your knees looked at," she said.

"Well, I know they aren't broken and I know that I haven't pulled anything," I answered. "That leaves me with two foreseeable options: doctor prescribed x-rays or doctor prescribed ice packs," both of lackluster appeal.

"Have you thought about acupuncture?" she asked.

Regarded by many as a hokey eastern medicinal practice with a spiritual connotation, acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that uses needles to treat pain and diseases of all kinds. To some this technique is considered archaic and can't measure up to technological advancements of today, and to others, the practice is far beyond the bounds of science.

I entered the exam room, relatively bland like any other doctor's office. In walks a Caucasian man (yeah, I was shocked, too), and he begins by taking my pulse, however, this was unlike any other pulse reading I have had. This assessment was extensive, thorough, like my pulse was relaying a secret code indicating some insight the ancient system would use for direction or guidance. He then examined my tongue, and I started to wonder if I had marked on the pre-screening sheet that I had bronchitis.

Then after a simple glance into my eyes, he moved his fingers directly to the pain source on either knee without my explanation of where it hurt. Unbelievable. I thought surely this was a lucky guess or perhaps, a common ailment/injury of the knee region.

I was then asked to lay back and relax while he poked the relatively painless, hair-thin needles systematically throughout my body. I must have sat there for a hefty five minutes before I fell deeply asleep.