Acupressure in Armageddon

 

Growing up and many years into adulthood, I viewed acupressure as something akin to voodoo medicine.  Crazy.  As a well-indoctrinated American, I believed there was a pill for every ill, just like Rockefeller wanted.  The idea of getting relief just by pressing a certain spot on the body seemed so ridiculous as to not merit entertaining even thoughts of any other options. 

My first exposure to Eastern medicine and acupressure came when I was pregnant with baby #5.  Three of my previous four full-term pregnancies (-ish—but that’s a story for another time) involved serious hyperemesis gravidarum—morning sickness—not to the point of hospitalization or needing an IV, but still, it was bad.  Each and every day, starting around 9AM and lasting until bedtime, involved lots of puking and misery.  One of my babies had a very sensitive stomach.  As an example, I’d had some Chinese food with diced bell peppers.  He decided that he didn’t like bell peppers.  After a couple of hours of incredible misery, I vomited just the bell peppers—about 2 tablespoons maybe.  Another hour after that, he decided that he actually didn’t like any of my dinner and the rest came up.  The whole process was so violent (I really can’t think of any other term to describe it) that the capillaries around my eyes burst—I had little red freckles splattered around my eyes for a few hours.  The next day they faded to brown and then they disappeared.  The stomach acid burned my mouth such that the water I rinsed with and drank afterward tasted like sugar syrup. 

I read or heard somewhere (it’s been over 20 years now, so forgive the faulty memory for this) that some acupressure anti-nausea “bracelets” used by travelers might provide some relief.  I picked up a pair. 

Holy cow, for the next three months those babies only came off for showering.  The morning sickness wasn’t entirely alleviated, but life was so, so much better. 

And I became a believer in acupressure.

But I never had any need for anything else, so didn’t think much about it.  Fast forward about a dozen years to when I started watching Korean dramas while exercising or engaged in lots of food prep.  I particularly enjoy the historical dramas with medicine as a theme.  Most employed needles in acupuncture, but some of the more modern dramas throw in a little acupressure as well, often with the character/actors aiding their TV friends and family members with simple ailments.  Reminded of my experience with the acupressure bracelets for my morning sickness, I began to wonder if there was something more to acupressure. 

I decided to pick up a book on the topic, thinking that perhaps acupressure could be used on my husband.  Often times he can’t use herbs because of allergies or interactions with pharmaceuticals.  Fortunately, acupressure has no such contraindications.  Based on Amazon reviews, I went with Acupressure Made Simple by Deborah Bleecker.  Now, this isn’t going to treat cancer, bone fractures, or bacterial infections, but it does offer options for a lot of common ailments.  I can’t personally vouch for any of them; as we are a relatively healthy bunch around here we haven’t had cause to try them out.  Part of that issue is that I couldn’t check the table of contents before purchasing; while many books on Amazon have a “Look Inside” feature where you can see the table of contents, this one does not.  So I didn’t know exactly what I was buying or what illnesses or pain could be treated.  So I figured I’d reproduce the table of contents here for you.

Acid Reflux, Heartburn, GERD

Allergies

Angina

Ankle Pain

Anxiety

Arm Pain

Baby Bedwetting

Baby Colds and Flu

Baby Colic

Baby Constipation

Baby Diarrhea

Baby Ear pain

Baby Fever

Baby Sleep

Baby Vomiting

Back Pain

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Cold and Flu

Constipation

Cough

Depression

Diabetic Neuropathy

Diarrhea

Dizziness

Ear Pain

Elbow Pain

Eye Pain

Fatigue

Fever

Finger Pain

Foot Pain

Frequent Urination, Weak Bladder, Incontinence

Gallstones

Hand Pain

Headache

Heart Arrhythmia

Hiccups

High Blood Pressure

Hives

Hormonal Health

Hot Flashes

Impotence, Libido

Infertility

Insomnia

Kidney Stones

Knee Pain

Lasik Dry Eyes

Meniere’s Disease

Migraine Headaches

Morning Sickness

Nausea

Neck Pain

Plantar Fasciitis

PMS—Premenstrual Syndrome

Sciatica

Shoulder Pain

Sinus Pain

Stress, Irritability

Stroke Recovery

Toe Pain

Water Retention and Edema

Weight Loss

(I made this a nice single-spaced, two column section in Word, but of course, Blogger won't let me do that here.  Sigh.)

Of course, this manual also includes details on how to locate the most common pressure points and how to make acupressure work for you.  It’s extremely well-written and easy to understand without extraneous fluff to distract or confuse.  It looks to be a good tool to add to the medicinal tool chest.

Acupressure Made Simple on Amazon