I do a lot of lifting these days. I carry Rubbermaid containers from our front closet into our van, and then transfer these same boxes from our van onto a dolly when we set up at the Harbour in the morning. Once we wheel the dolly to our designated Harbour spot, I help unpack the boxes (which, again, requires lifting), and then I do everything in reverse when the day is done and it’s time to go home.

Seeing as I’m such a hero, I often try to get away with less-than-ergonomic box lifting techniques. I’m getting pretty good at pushing boxes with my feet and sometimes I even attempt to keep my arms straight out in front of me while I twist and turn from the waist up with a 20lb box. Heh.

Needless to say, during one of my recent creative box lifting escapades, I threw my back out. Badly. It didn’t seem like it was too bad at the time, but after an hour sitting on the couch when we got home, my back had seized up enough that I couldn’t even stand up straight anymore. I literally had to crawl on the floor to go anywhere, and when Marty offered to massage my spastic muscles, I discovered I couldn’t lie flat on either my back or my stomach. Perfect, just perfect. (Now who would help Marty with all those boxes?!)

Early the next morning, I placed an emergency call to my acupuncturist, who of course was completely booked for the day. Desperate to get off my bed and out of the fetal position, I booked in to see a chiropractor in the same office instead. During our appointment, we did some spinal adjustments, used heat packs and electrodes, massaged the surrounding area, and experimented with a really cool chair that helped to stretch out my back muscles. It was nice– very nice. After the appointment, I could at least stand up straight, but something still wasn’t quite right…

The next morning, I went in to see my (fabulous, miraculous) acupuncturist, and she used four needles in my sacral area. Four. That’s all it took, and I was completely healed! (Yes, the needles felt a bit like firecrackers going in, but that was mostly because they shocked my clenched muscles into melting submission). And after those four simple needles, I literally bounded off of the treatment table and skipped to work like a first grader with a lollipop and pigtails! It was like nothing had ever happened.

I cannot say enough about the benefits of acupuncture to me! I also can’t possibly emphasize in words how terrific I think my acupuncturist is… she’s gifted and knowledgeable and really cognizant of each individual’s needs. (For example, I’m the type of person who is like BRING ON THE NEEDLES!, so my acupuncture treatments are a little more intense and vigorous, relatively speaking. Marty, on the other hand, is deathly afraid of needles and sensitive to pretty much anything, so he receives extremely gentle treatments. Our acupuncturist even uses a tuning fork on his skin before she inserts a needle so that the vibrations of the fork mask the sensation of the needle going in. It works for him, and my treatments definitely work for me!)

I’m definitely going to be a bit more careful lifting boxes for the rest of the summer (lift with the legs!), and I’m hoping not to have a crippling back injury EVER. AGAIN., but I’ll say it again: if even a part of you wants to try acupuncture for ANY SORT of illness, injury, or condition, I highly (highly) recommend it.