Woody Cavenaugh

One of the perks of being gainfully employed is insurance options that allow for wellness. My boss is a huge fan of acupuncture and Chinese herbology, and my wife is a huge fan of acupuncture and Chinese herbology, so I didn't stand a chance. Fortunately since I spent two years of observation without being able to participate, I had lots of opportunity to be skepticle and watch what happened with my wife on a first hand basis.

I was impressed enough with her whole process that when I was able I was excited about getting on board myself. Michele Salinas who is our practioner takes the two pronged approach using both acupuncture and herbal medicine at the same time. When she asked me what my goal was I told her I wanted to get off of my high blood pressure medicine. The warning on my particular blood pressure medicine is to have blood test often since the drug could damage my liver. That is its number one side affect. So now it should be obvious why I want an alternative.

My first visit was a bunch of questions, family history, personal history, banter, stuff like that. Then she checked my pulse in six places and made a note on my file. Then she looked at my tongue and made a note. She looked at my tongue again, asked a question, and made a note. She did this maybe six time, and when she was satisified ordered me to take off my shoes and socks and lay back on the table. The first time I was punctured I was expecting to feel something a tingling or something like that. I felt nothing. Ok, I felt a little anxiety about being poked for the first time but nothing related to the needles. I barely felt them at all. Instead of feeling a prick, I felt a gentle tapping. Nothing more.

The next time I went in she checked my pulse in six places, seemed very happy about the result and looked at my tongue. She told me that my tongue was looking better but it always takes longer for it to show up on my tongue. Ok, whatever, the only thing I ever learned by looking at my tongue was what color the candy I just ate was. The acupuncture this time was different. She would put a needle in and the area around it felt like it was getting a very mild electrical pulse. As she added needles each one seemed to have a corresponding needle that the electrical sensation moved through. Since my background is IT I describe it as nodes talking to one another. And not every node communicated with every other node. There were specific paths the electrons flowed through. (Again, just my way of explaining it.) It is rather relaxing simply being aware of the movement of electrons going one direction and another.

But this is only one part of the whole experience.

The other part of this is the bag of weed she sold me. Well, weed isn't exactly what I ended up with but it is funny to call it a bag of weed so I go with that. The bag had seeds, twigs, dried mushrooms, roots, bark, stuff I don't really know what is and sea shells. Yep, sea shells. Those came in a separate bag and had to be cooked a whole hour before I added the other stuff. Total brew time on my herbal tea, three hours. The most shocking part of the whole thing is it taste good to me and I always look forward to my daily two doses. A cup in the morning, and a cup in the evening. Its really rather relaxing.

The upshot of it all is, I sleep better, I have more energy, and my blood pressure is lower. Overall I can say I feel better.

Now for you disbelievers, and I am glad you are out there. Some of you might say its all in my head like faith healing and cat girrls. Here's the thing. If it works, then it worked, regardless of how it worked. The only way you can really knock it is to try it yourself and speak from experience. It is what I did.

Where to go:
Carolina Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine
Michele Salinas, LAc, Dipl. CH, RN
336-235-2730