Update on acupuncture/torture

It's working. The first few treatments sent me into a pain spiral with this new mobility in my spine aggrivating my sciatica, but I have WAY more mobility in my back than I had a month ago. It still hurts, but today after another treatment I'd rate the pain a 5/10, while last week this time I was at an 8 or 9 (insert visual of me curled into a ball on the sidewalk because every step felt like Mike Tyson was trying to bite through the nerves in my lower back). And, when I got up off the physio table today, I didn't have any pain in my sacralized joint. Mind you it only lasted for about 1/2 an hour, but I can only recal maybe 3 times in my life where I felt no pain when standing (other things that worked were chiropractic - but it lasted maybe 5 min, and strong drugs that worked but were too addictive to get used to). So... the point of this post for all those people I've noticed searching Sacralization/Scoliosis/Sciatica/Knee, is to try acupuncture and if that doesn't work try the extreme kind where they stick the needle into the pain muscle and shake it. It didn't fix me 100% but the improvement is encouraging.

Capoeira

I found this video of the event we went to in Phoenix this past March. I thought I'd post it for all of you that ask me what's the difference between the shows we perform (which are done at the end of the event, on a stage where we perform traditional Brazilian dances like Maracatu, Afro and Samba)and the martial art side. For 3 days prior to the performance and the reason for the having the event, we are training with some of the best teachers and having Rodas (where we have the chance to practice what we learn). Anyway, this video is a compilation of many of the rodas we had over the weekend... you can see things get a little scrappy for me around 1:49 and again at 2:45. It was an awesome event, I'll see if I can find some vids of the show/performance too...

No more wallowing...

So after another painful physio session I'm walking down the hill to my apartment. Feeling sorry for myself because now that I've started to feel slight improvement in my knee... my back is in crazy pain and now my other knee is swollen and stiff. Then I hear a light rattling noise behind me. I turn to look and I see this man barreling down the hill in a wheelchair, and I have no idea how he's controlling it because he has no arms or legs. Kind of puts my pain in perspective.

OWwch

Ok... so I've tried almost everything for my back/hip/knee problems. My back has been hurting since I was a teenager. That's when I was told by doctors that even though x-rays show a weird sacralization of my L5 joint, that won't cause me pain... even though it's exactly in the spot where I'm feeling the pain. Over the years that developed into sciatica, and then scoliosis of the lower spine, and now knee issues because of all the crazy muscle imbalances my body has developed to avoid the pain I get in that weird joint. So now years later doctors admit that I might have pain from the sacralization but there's nothing that can be done besides inject it full of cortisone and go on my merry way. So I've been ignoring it. Which has led to my latest knee issues. Back to physio I go and surprise, today he wants to give acupuncture a try. WHAT... needles where I already feel numbing pain??? And aren't you a doctor - what's with this alternative stuff? OK... if there's a chance it will help I'll do it (plus my physiotherapist is cute. Sad, but a cute guy can talk me into almost anything). So I opt for the extreme version where not only do they stick a needle in me, they stick it right into the muscle and wiggle it around. If I'm going to do it, I want the one that works. Well it's only been an hour so I can't say it worked. I still feel like he left a needle in there... right in the nerve - good lord it hurts. But one good thing I noticed - right away my lower spine had more mobility. But good lord the pain.

Oh also I noticed cute physio guy had a wedding ring. Why do I not look at these things before I get all attracted?