As promised, I'm finally writing up a blog post on the needling treatment I've been getting. The official name is IMS, or Intramuscular Stimulation. You can visit the the official web site and read up all the technical details. Basically, it consists of taking very thin needles (acupuncture needles) and sticking them into a muscle that just won't relax. The muscle contracts in response, and in response to that, the brain sends "relax" messages to the muscle. Eventually the relax beats out the contract, and the stubborn muscle relaxes. (So the theory goes.) :-)
I find that while it doesn't work perfectly every time, it does sometimes manage to relax my tibialis posterior, which has been tight and inflamed since August.
Being the wimp for pain that I am, I have made a pretty good spectacle of myself during this treatment a few times. The needles are so thin that if they are inserted into a relaxed muscle, I can barely feel it. But every time the physiotherapist hits a good tight spot, it really hurts, and I wail. I always wonder what the other patients in the adjoining rooms must think. (And of course tight spots are what he's looking for.) This time around I refused any more needles in th bottom of my foot and let him do it only on the side of my leg. It went much better.
6 comments:
Since August? Then it was probably my fault. Sorry about that long walk with the backpack.
Waaaah! Are the positive effects of this treatment worth the pain that you are going through?! =)
Plus I would always worry about the risk that a needle breaks while it is partly inserted inside my muscle! But I guess if there were such a risk, people wouldn't be doing this!
So far I think the results I worth the pain. If I decide otherwise, I won't continue with it.
I found out today that the needles are actually very flexible, and the muscle will actually bend them as it contracts and relaxes. So it doesn't seem likely that they would break.
Ah! That's reassuring =).
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