Newark resident Ann Monske slipped on ice and fell in January 2009.
The 76-year-old went through rehabilitation with spinal decompression all summer long, but the pain remained intense. Because of her osteoarthritis — which she has had for more than 10 years — and her allergy to many pain medications, Monske looked for alternative methods to treat her pain.
Her massage therapist told her about acupuncture, and Monske did her homework. Soon, she was convinced it would help her. She had to travel to Canal Winchester until she found local acupuncturist Lisa Hicks. Monske started going for treatment three times a week, but now is down to once every three weeks.
“I believe her skill in treating me has a great deal to do with it (my pain relief),” Monske said. “She knows where to put the needles, and it is relatively pain-free and very relaxing. She is a wonderful find for me.”
Instead of relying solely on pain pills and steroids, a few alternative treatments are available that might help to relieve arthritis pain, including acupuncture, which involves pricking the skin or tissues with needles to alleviate pain or treat certain conditions.
Hicks is quick to point out acupuncture does not cure arthritis but is effective in treating chronic pain, such as pain caused by headaches, arthritis, shingles, spastic colon and colitis.
“Arthritis is not a treatable disease,” Hicks said. “We treat the symptoms. Acupuncture does not heal the body. It jump starts it to heal itself.”
Hicks found about acupuncture through her own experience of dealing with chronic pain from a hand and shoulder injury. She was in so much pain she couldn’t even open a bottle or turn a key.
After 14 acupuncture treatments, she realized she was going to get better. She said her accident was the best thing that happened to her because it changed her life and her career.
After dealing with arthritis in his joints and lower back for 10 years, Bill Redmond, 49, of Newark, tried chiropractors, massage therapy, back decompressions and medication, to no avail.
His wife started going to Hicks for migraines and suggested he go, too.
“I can definitely feel a difference,” Redmond said. “Acupuncture makes my pain manageable.”
Hicks graduated in 2008 from the American Institute of Alternative Medicine with a five-year degree. But she still is working to get the word out about the treatment.
“Ohio hasn’t adopted acupuncture because it is still too new, even though it has been around for 4,500 years,” Hicks said. “You have to keep an open mind. If a closed mind says something is not going to work, no matter what it is, it won’t work.”
During an acupuncture session, Hicks will swab each acu-point area with alcohol before tapping a hair-thin, metal needle into the site. The needles are so thin that several acupuncture needles can go into the middle of a hypodermic needle.
The number of needles used during treatment can vary and are placed at various depths. They are placed under the skin in carefully determined points on the body. After inserted, the needles stay in place for several minutes or up to an hour. Hicks energizes the needles electrically to intensify the effect of the treatment.
Ed Monroe, 63, of Jacksontown, has arthritis in his shoulders and back. He had physical therapy for eight weeks and three shots of cortisone, which didn’t help. He was in so much pain that he had to do something, so he started going to Hicks after a friend told him about his experience in Mexico.
