Collective Complaints

that’s right- the shared compliant this week is loose stool. no one had food poisoning, or traveled to a far away land, they just had upset bellies.

lots of people complained of increased anxiety/stress this week. for some people, it made it difficult to sleep. lots of people said their minds were racing. many people started their periods this week.

this week had a remarkable shared complaint: discomfort on the back of the head. some people said they had a headache. others complained of a kind of numbness or tingling. one person said it felt “tight”. none of these were due to recent injury.

people are upset this week. serious stress, major sadness, deep and intense depression, unbelievable anxiety, mind racing insomnia, crushing heartbreak.

this week a lot of people came in for support with addiction. acupuncture is extremely effective when it comes to kicking a habit. many people use acupuncture to help with quitting smoking, but we can also use it for alcohol and drug addiction. i have used addiction protocols for other types of obsessive/compulsive or addictive behavior: shopping, food/body issues, gambling, sex, etc.

people often use acupuncture to treat lower back pain. sometimes people come in when things are acute- like they’ve just injured it, or they have an old injury that’s bothering them in a new way. some people use regular treatments to try to keep reoccurring lower back pain at bay. this week there was a kind of huge increase in the number of patients with severe lower back pain. it was hard for them to walk, sit, or even lay down. these people explained their pains as eights, nines, and tens on a one to ten pain scale. whoa. anxiety was also up this week. yikes. oh, and break ups too. (so soon after valentine’s day. hm.)

there were a surprising number of ear infections this week.

palpitations. shortness of breath. tight shoulders. clenched jaws. racing minds. headaches. reduced appetites. difficulty falling asleep.

this week’s shared complaints were wrist pain and migraines. not at the same time.