My first acupuncture session
I heard about the Swiss Institute College of Health Sciences from someone that I had sold my old Wacom tablet to. She was studying massage therapy there. Later a friend’s wife told me about their clinics. Students (ones who are in there last year of study) treat patients over the course of the semester. They, with the help of their teacher, perform a diagnosis and prescribe a set of treatments. She informed me that the massage clinic is always full and that the acupuncture clinic will usually have openings.
So finally, I did the necessary research (aka Google) to see what this school and their clinics was all about. I called up the school during work hours and was greeted by Bernadette. She informed me that there is 2pm Thursday slot open and that she can sign me up for that slot if I wanted to. I was excited that there was an opening and I told her that I would be over shortly. Work was about 15 minutes away, so I quickly pu on my jacket and headed toward the Institute. On the way, I had second thoughts about this slot, because it was during work hours. When I arrived there, I told her that I would prefer an evening slot and she told me to show up on Monday for an appointment. She couldn’t guarantee that I can have that slot, but at least the upcoming Monday was available for one treatment.
So, with a little apprehension(because a student was going to stick needles into my body), I showed up at the clinic yesterday evening.
So when I got there, Bernadette (the receptionist) informed me that I can actually have this Monday slot until the end of the semester and that it would cost $160 for the 7 sessions. I stepped out, got the cash, came back upstairs, andBoris was waiting for me.
He led me into an examination room with lots of curtained off sections. Each was a semi-private area for a student to work with his patient. Boris started by asking me these 10 questions. He also examined the top and bottom of my tongue. I told him that I had some, what I think, are muscular issues with my upper back and neck so he examined those areas a bit. He stepped out for a few minutes to consult with his teacher to recommend a course of treatment. In the adjacent examination area I can hear loud snoring. I assume that the person is currently undergoing treatment and has fallen asleep on their back or stomach. (I also thought that it would be funny if it were an overworked student catching a quick nap!)
Boris returned after what seemed like an eternity, and said that we’re going to do some acuncture and cupping treatments today. He put a piece of cover paper on the face rest, I took off my shirt, and I laid face down on the table. I asked him why the needles will help my condition. He says that part of the the muscle issues and the sore neck could be from the Qui becoming stagnant. So the needles would help move the Qui in that area. He then proceeded to put couple of needles on the right side of my neck and then the left side of my neck. With each needle, I think he pinched my skin a bit, gently inserted the needle at the surface and then tapped the head of the needle to reach the rigth depth. He then felt along the muscles of my left upper back, sensed tight spots, ask for my confirmation, and then he inserted needles into these areas too. In total, I had about 10 needles on my back. I thought we were done, but he said there was one more needle left. He put this one at the first joint near the tip of pinkie of my left hand. He warned me that this one would hurt a bit. It actually didn’t hurt that much but it did feel like a pin prick. He stepped out of the room and left me there for about 5 to 10 minutes.
I definitely felt something. It seemed like maybe there was more blood circulating to the areas. It could have been all mental. I also wasn’t use to lying on that kind of table, with my face in this cushioned donut. I felt my arms, which were by my side, tingle a bit, but it could have been because of lack of circulation. 
Anyhow, he came back after some time removed the needles and told me that it was time for cupping. He put some kind of ointment on his hands and rubbed it around my upperback. Then I saw a flickering light cast onto the curtains; it was obvious it was from a flame. He didn’t give me any warning, and I felt that he was rubbing something, something that felt like a blunt rubber object up my back and onto my trapezius muscles. He traced this path back and forth a couple of times and near the end it felt like he was exerting increasingly more downward force as he was rubbing. Then I heard a pop! He had been moving the cup around the surface of my body. I had envisioned that cupping was a static treatment. I’ve seen pictures of people lying there with transparent cups on their back. I just assumed that that was all there is to cupping. Boris warned me that there will be markings on my back…and here’s what my back looked like last night.
After that he said “See you next week.” I put got dressed and headed out into the rainiest NYC week in history. On the way home, I think I felt more relaxed and maybe the muscles had loosened up a bit.