Qi Knows

Last week I was treating a 37 y.o. female for chronic neck and shoulder pain and tension. She has had this tension for a couple of years and working as a food server for a living does not help it…

This was the second treatment I have given her; the first one helped a lot and she has not had the ‘tingling’ sensation running down her arms since then.

I was inserting the needles into the neck and shoulder area as part of a treatment protocol I picked up and modified earlier this year. When I put the needles into the area where most of her tension is located she asked me if I had put a needle in the outside of her left ankle area. I said “no, not yet. Why do you ask?” She told me that the area jut below her left anklebone, on the outside of her foot was itching like crazy. I gave one of my usual replies; “hmmm.” I rubbed that point on her foot as I was thinking to myself “now that is interesting.”

One of the theories of treatment in acupuncture is ‘local/distal.’ In this model the acupuncturist will insert needles into the local area to release the tension, or blocked qi; then they will insert needles as far away from the local area as that meridian travels to give the qi a place to “go.”

The point I was going to needle for the distal point was exactly where her ankle started itching. When I did needle it she commented that the itching stopped. H,mmm go figure.

The qi knows where I was going to direct it even before I got the needle in.