Oct 14 - It Only Takes a Prick for a Jab Well Done

Once upon there was a little boy who had allergies. He was allergic to everything. Rumor has it, he was allergic to his own body chemistry. His eyes were so puffy when he was born, people joked that he looked like Edward G. Robinson (google him if you're too young to remember him). The first baby photos of him weren't even taken until he was three months old! (A real Uggo.)

Over the years, the allergies consolidated themselves to Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Grass (not weed you pot-heads, but lawn grass... as in rolling around in it with his shirt off), Mustard, Ice and I'm sure a few others things (although the memories are conflicting and contradictory - see Conflicted Memories for an alternative universe).

One day, this little boy visited an Allergist (Dr. Lecks of Philadelphia) who scratched his back many painful times until he bled and spit on the Nurse who was holding him (the Nurse yelled at him and his Mom yelled at her!). After that, seven years of allergy shots followed - sometimes once a week, sometimes twice.

This was not all bad as the little boy's regular Doctor kept a little box of toys for his patients atop his filing cabinet. Since this little boy was in so often, he was allowed to root through the box to pick out his favorites after every new box arrived - these were set aside in a special box just for him!

What followed was seven years of nary a sniffle, until one say (in May of 1983 - on a US Submarine Tender in Guam to be precise), he got Congested and it has never gone away. Over time, he grew miserable

Flash forward to October 2007. After about six months of every OTC Decongestant and Antihistamine on the market, someone suggested an ancient Chinese secret (not Calgon Water Softener - click there for a blast from the 70s). OK, so it's not much of a 'secret' but definitely 'ancient' and definitely considered 'Chinese' - although it dates back to Neolithic times which pre-date the Chinese, but as usual, I digress).

Acupuncture. A therapy wherein very fine needles are used to stimulate specific points in the body (in the most layman of terms). Western Medicine is hesitant to embrace it... a large majority of our society still pooh-poohs it (but how can one accept the pooh-poohs from a people who won't believe in a 4000+ year-old medical treatment, but have no problem putting their faith in a less-than 2000 year-old fairytale - but again, I digress).

All I can say about it is (and I HATE needles) that it does not hurt (but it can be a little uncomfortable) and usually I can feel the positive effects by the time I reach my car. After about twelve treatments, my allergies... er, ah... the little boy's allergies subsided for the first time in a long time. He's even gone back for other issues of a digestive nature and found immediate relief.

If you have not tried it and have anything going on that you would prefer not to be going on, take a stab at Acupuncture (pun intended). You will be most likely be extremely and pleasantly surprised at the results!