A visit to the acupuncturist
A journalist visits an acupuncturist and reports:
“I have made an appointment to see Rachel at the acupuncture clinic to receive treatment. There is nothing specifically wrong with me yet I find the concept of a former intensive care nurse having spent four years training full time as an acupuncturist quite intriguing.
Rachel now knows more about me than my mother does.
She has taken a comprehensive medical history, noting everything from childhood earaches to shocks and traumas, my love of chocolate to how often I wake each night and thematic dreams.
Not only have we discussed my lengthy list of complaints but also my family’s medical history and what medication I take.
For Rachel it is vital to have every ounce of information she can possibly extract about a patient as the treatment for an ailment such as migraine in one person may be different to the treatment another migraine sufferer requires.
After this lengthy discussion I hop up on the bed and Rachel feels my pulses, commenting that they are weak.
Concerned, I probe further and she tells me I am deficient in fire energy.
At this point the my cynical journalistic mindset kicks in and I start to think this diagnosis sounds a little like the days my horoscope tells me I may meet a stranger who may turn out to be a useful future contact.
However, Rachel goes on to explain to me that terms such as water, earth and fire simply represent various organs which feed and nourish each other. Wanting to boost my fire energy, Rachel must interpret my pulses to be able to know the precise location for each needle.”
