Pain—the great leveler. 
Pain is the one human experience we all share. Rich, poor, old or young, we all unfortunately experience pain, but the ways we deal with it can be as myriad as the stars.
Growing up in the so-called heartland of the United States, Columbus, Ohio, my family sometimes used the tried and true methods of our farmer ancestors to deal with pain, mostly herbs and snake oil, but the 20th century man in the white coat with the shiny, new science of so-called Western Medicine ruled my house.
Any pill, operation or procedure Dr. Miles prescribed was the law. His inner office was lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves of tiny drawers with labels that contained identical white pills (to my eyes).
After a short interview, Dr. Miles would instruct his nurse which pills to stuff into small white envelopes that were then handed to us when we paid the bill. These pills inspired awe and wonder in me. How did Dr. Miles know which one was which?
My parents lived to an old age (86), but I watched the number of daily pills multiply until it seemed to me that the pills became the focal point of their latter years. My mother eventually lost her mind due to stroke and/or Alzheimers, and my dad lost the use of his limbs and sight due to heart/diabetes complications. Their experience inspired me to look for other ways to deal with illness.
I moved away from Ohio to live in Manhattan and Los Angeles, where I was exposed to other approaches to illness, such as homeopath and acupuncture. Even now certain relatives roll their eyes when I talk about getting stuck with needles. The herbal system of Chinese Medicine is more palatable to their ears, as it triggers the dim genetic memories from our agrarian roots we westerners have lost.
My recent bout with pain led me to Yo San University in Venice, California, and the talents of Dr. Lau and Dr. Wing. Last July 25th, I broke my left ankle while visiting my sister-in-law at her house in Lake Havasu—one itty-bitty step. Tibia fibula trimalleolar—three bones and a ligament. Immediate surgery put my ankle back together with a titanium plate and six screws—the most intense pain I’ve felt to date, before and after the surgery.
During and after the surgery, I popped pills like there was no tomorrow. With this kind of pain, there is no tomorrow. The pain envelops like a fog: a killer fog. Nothing matters but eliminating the pain. And then the cast….
There were times I was so traumatized that I seriously entertained thoughts about taking a chainsaw (more realistically, a butcher knife) and hacking 0ff the cast. After a couple weeks of this, I knew that I would either a) damage my liver b) become permanently dependent on pain pills c) go insane or d) all of the above. Oxycodone and Hydrocodone were my mainstays. My mother’s deranged image haunted me.
Thankfully, Dr. Lau and Dr. Wing gave me immediate relief. After my first session with the needles, Dr. Lau showed me areas to stimulate near my knee that controlled the swelling in the cast. This technique saved me. After removing the cast, Dr. Wing applied soothing herbal compresses (in addition to the needles) that transformed a mangled mess into a recognizable ankle within weeks. Further soaking in Chinese herbs continued the healing process, which x-rays confirmed.
Five months later, I’m walking without a cane and I can sleep most nights without meds. Acupuncture also helps me deal with the neck injury I received from a car crash a year ago, but that’s another story.
While studies exist that seem to prove acupuncture creates some placebo effect (Madsen), I believe what my body tells me. I didn’t create the pain, but with the specific help of acupuncture and the added benefit of Chinese herbs, I turn the pain off. 
I literally hear my liver say “thank-you.” It’s important to remember that researchers rely on test results and I suspect the definitive test does not exist to entirely prove to the western mind all the merits of acupuncture.
The World Health Organization published a report in 2003 that listed many ailments for which acupuncture demonstrated an effective treatment such as depression, headache, stroke and many more (Zhang).
Why is it that when Dr. Lau or Dr. Wing put needles on the top of my right hand, my left foot tingled with recognition? Why is it that the kidney stones a doctor wanted to surgically remove disappeared when all I did was acupuncture? Why is it during my pregnancies that when a certain point on my foot was needled, the baby kicked every time? Why is it…I could go on and on.
Dr. Leon Hammer, a psychiatrist who enhances his practice with Chinese Medicine with great success, believes the West can, in some ways, inform the East, thereby influencing Chinese medicine “…in a direction which will ultimately speak more cogently to the issue of a personal, rather than a mass, psychology” (Hammer xxxiv). So, Aristotle’s push for individuation may be incorporated into the Chinese system making it more palatable to the Western Mind.
All I know is this: Chinese Medicine, which dates back to at least the Stone Age, a fact based on texts and stone needles (Ma), has “saved” me on more than one occasion.
Pain rhymes with gain. I’ve gained a deeper insight into the ongoing mystery of the inner workings of my body—the miraculous vehicle that houses my consciousness. Of course, I will go to Western Medicine for certain things, but why shouldn’t we incorporate the best of both systems?
I am very grateful for the doctors and staff at Yo San University. 谢谢
Works Cited
Hammer, Leon. Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies: Psychology & Chinese Medicine. New York: Station Hill Press, 2005.
Ma, K (1992). “The roots and development of Chinese acupuncture: from prehistory to early 20th century”. Acupuncture in Medicine 10 ((Suppl)): 92–9. Web. 20 Nov. 2009
Madsen MV, Gøtzsche PC, Hróbjartsson A (2009) “Acupuncture treatment for pain: systematic review of randomized clinical trials with acupuncture, placebo acupuncture, and no acupuncture groups.” Web. 15 Nov 2009
Zhang, X. “Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials”. W.H.O., 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2009 < http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js4926e/>
