Needles and Pins

For the past few weeks it has been hotter than hell here in Penang, with the temperatures in the 90's and the humidity almost as high. Everyone seems to be down with the flu and I'm hoping I don't catch it. Even though I don't have the flu, I have been suffering from my chronic sinusitis, which seems to have become my closest and best friend in the past few years. Now I am not complaining, but my chronic sinusitis, my GERD, my IBS, my back pain and of course my BPH are getting to be a real pain in the ass (and luckily I am not talking about hemorrhoids).  I have written another article in my Hubpages Hub, The Scourge of Chronic Sinusitis and GERD Combination, a while ago and nothing has changed since The weather just seems to be aggravating all of my ailments. Getting old is no fun.

In reality, I am really aggravated by the inability of so called modern medicine to come up with a treatment for any of my conditions. I have been to an ENT specialist and underwent the surgery, that I am sure they all prescribe, as it makes them the most money and still I have sinusitis as bad as before. That route was useless. I have taken all kinds of medications for my sinusitis, but nothing works for more than a week. I also have taken all kinds of medications, both prescription and over the counter, for my BPH. Once again, nothing works. My IBS can be embarrassing, irritating  and painful at times and can prevent me from eating breakfast out, where there are no bathrooms conveniently close. Once again there is no medication to help. My acid reflux is luckily under control, but I have to take medication daily. My chronic back pain, can be slight or very painful. I don't want to take pain killers, as I really enjoy being conscious during the day.

I gave up looking for the perfect medication to help my ailments and decided to try something different. I subscribed to newsletters from Harvard Medical School and  Johns Hopkins University, in regards to BPH and IBS. Both of these newsletters are ripoffs. They give you minimal information as teasers and then charge you for more information.  They are absolutely self serving and useless.  I then tried Pilate's and yoga at my local Fitness First gym to help alleviate my back pain. After months of  3 or 4 classes a week, my back pain became much worse. My instructors insisted it will get better. I insisted that it is my pain and it is getting worse with each class. Needless to say I gave up on the Pilate's and yoga classes and my back pain eased remarkably.

I have now decided on an alternative medical approach to my physical ailments. I have decide to try acupuncture. I have talked to many local people here in Penang and some of them recommend acupuncture. I have also done research on the Internet and have found that acupuncture can be of help with ailments similar to mine. I have found a acupuncturist near my home and the price seems to be reasonable. They charge by the number of needles used. I have decided to give it a try, but I now have to decide which ailment I want to treat first. I figure if I tried to treat all of my ailments I will be a human pin cushion. I think I will try to treat my chronic sinusitis first. If that works I will then go for the back pain and then the IBS. Who knows. If it works for one I will go for the works. I might be able to turn this tired old body into something that works again.