First Acupunture by Kate Readio

I met Christina Roy of Premier Acupunture at the Wahoo's Happy Hour.  I told her that I felt quite good and didn't think I'd need acupunture. I didn't tell her about my dread of needles. 
When my hamstring hurt so much I couldn't run this weekend, I did a little web research and then gave Christina a call.  Turns out injuries to muscles like hamstrings can respond quickly to acupunture, because it can increase blood flow to the muscle and stimulate healing.  I'll leave the details to pros like Christina, but here's how it felt to me as a first timer.
My impression of the office and acupunture room was that it was professional, but comfortable.  Relaxing, soft music, a heated massage table and Christina taking her time with her assessment of my injury and overall health put me at ease.  Christina explained everything she would do and told me what to expect.  I was impressed with her knowledge of anatomy.
Once we isolated exactly where my hamstring was hurting she had me lay face down on the massage table.  Apparently she put needles in various parts of my body, including my ear and hands and the hamstring.  I never looked, so I never saw any needles.  It didn't hurt, although  I felt pressure at the injury site.  She hooked up some sort of electrical pulse for the needles at the injury site.  I felt like she was smoothly massaging the injured muscle, but it was the pulse of electricity which felt like it rolled up and down the injury.  It felt quite good.  By the end of the session I was so relaxed that I thought it was probably a mistake to have ridden my bike.  I felt warm and mushy and in no pain anywhere. 
     I rode back to work along the bike path to avoid traffic on 30th Street and had Rick come and pick me up instead of riding all the way home.
I didn't feel any pain in my hamstring yesterday, but took it easy and didn't exercise. 
    Today I went out for 24run's Bolder Boulder course.  I felt fine for the first 3 miles or so, but gradually my hamstring was starting to talk to me, so I cut back to the gym and ended up running almost 5 miles which makes me very happy.  My goal is to do the half-marathon in Louisville, KY with my brothers on April 24.
    Christina is one of our sponsors and generously gave me a discount.  I'll see her again Friday and Monday.  She suggests continuing to train, but no hills or bounding, jumping movements for now.
   I was interested to see the previous post about drinking enough fluids in our dry environment as Christina emphasized that with me.  So, I'll go get some water and toast to acupunture and healing! --kate