Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Acupuncture?

Last July we went to my brother's house in Peterborough for a fun filled weekend. We arrived late afternoon, but didn't even think of getting our bags out of the car until late that night. By this time it was dark, I misjudged the depth of the front step and did a magnificent "triple axle" combined with a "double lutz" off my brother's front porch, landing in a spectacular "flying sit-spin" Ker Plunk! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!!!!!!

I really did a number on my foot, ankle and leg. We did the RICE treatment - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation - for the next few days, and that kept the swelling down a tad, but my leg, right up to mid calf, was black and blue. Oh dear, I could hardly walk. After spending three hours in the ER enduring multiple x-rays , combined with painful poking and prodding it was determined that neither foot nor ankle were broken, but I had a nasty sprain. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!

I hobbled around for the rest of the summer using a cane. Not fun! Eventually the bruising faded and the swelling went down, but the pain never did take its leave. September found me at physio twice a week for treatment, and that helped a bit, but not much. Walking, biking, Tai chi, Line Dancing were all put on the shelf while I tried to deal with this aggravating injury.

Fast forward to January - I am still suffering with this dad-blasted ankle and don't quite know what to do. Hence the reason for this blog. Do you dear folk have any suggestions? Do I get back into my old activities and just work through the pain or do I continue to rest it after all this time? I find that if I do push myself to do something, not only am I in pain, but my toes go numb. Not good! My doctor suggested that I try Celebrex to see if that helped, but I am still thinking about that one. There was such a controversy around that drug and how it affects the heart.

A friend recommended I try acupuncture. Have you tried it? What do you think? If you recommend it, how do I find a good acupuncturist? What do I ask, look for, expect?

So dear friends, I am open for suggestions. I want to get a handle on this before biking season starts in a couple of months. HELP!

Hope to hear from you soon. Your dear friend 'Limping Lilly"

4 comments:

karla said...

Hi Cuppa,
My mom used to take celebrex for the pain associated with her fibromyalgia, but I'm pretty sure she stopped using it after all the controversary. I know that she sees an acupunturist now, so when I talk to her next (today I think), I'll get some feedback from her on how it's helped.

karla said...

Hi again Cuppa,

I just talked to my mom, and while she does go for acupunture, it was for a sore shoulder and alternative treatment for bell's palsy. As for it helping her shoulder, she said it worked a bit, but a friend of her's uses acupunture religously for pain management, and swears by it - more so than medication.

Good luck with that sore ankle Cuppa. Hope you are able to find some relief.

Cuppa said...

Karla - thanks. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Unknown said...

I’m kind of late to address your enquiries, so I hope you’ve found the answers yourself. How did you fare with the treatment? I hope it helped you well with the pain. As for a good acupuncturist, there are many out there. Try searching and read on the reviews. =) Jessi @ The Emperor’s Medicine