Sniffles

I haven't mentioned it in much detail here as of yet, but I've been struggling with some major sinus issues over the past twelve months. I've been off and on antibiotics, feeling generally tired and a bit surly, and I haven't been able to keep up my break-neck speed without complaint as per usual.

For those of you who don't know what sinusitis feels like, it's rather like walking around with a brick attached to your face. And you're puffy.

I visited an Ear Nose and Throat specialist twice, who had me in his office all of five minutes each time, and didn't bother to try to figure out what was at the root of this problem beyond asking whether or not I smoked weed. He wore one of those metal discs on a strap around his head that you see in cartoons of doctors, had a moustache like a walrus, and an expression that varied between Mr. Bean's turned down mouth and nose and everyone's eighty-year-old grandfather's 'i'm listening' expression.

He told me I could have surgery. Or I could not. He didn't really care, and, get this, it was UP TO ME. So helpful.

I figure before I break down and have my sinuses cauterized and my nose broken and reset, I'd try to find some alternative therapies that might help free the so-called 'blockage' that exists in my sinus cavities. My landlord suggested acupuncture, which worked for him in the past. So I hit the yellow pages and came up with the Rapson Pain Clinic on Parliament, which is run by Linda Rapson, who has specialized in alternative pain management for decades. Rapson was one of the first doctors in this country to embrace acupuncture as a compliment to western medicine.

When I phoned the clinic, the receptionist informed me in a thick Scottish brogue that the clinic's Chinese Acupuncturist and Herbalist, Yun Ye, was very experienced in treating sinusitis and could see me that week.

Yun Ye is a confident man. He felt my pulse for a good three minutes and declared I had weak lungs, a slightly weak heart as a result, very strong kidneys, a very strong liver and a very strong pancreas. Which makes sense because I've had chronic asthma since I was a toddler.

He asked me for my full medical history, a list of medications I was on, what I ate, what I shat, whether I was a hotter or colder person in general, and whether I was thirsty very often (I am, as it happens). It was the most thorough questioning I'd ever had by a medical professional.

I've had acupuncture before for muscular injuries, and it worked wonders. I imagine it may be able to loosen my sinus blockage, but I'm going to take it one session at a time. Yun Ye says he can not only cure my sinuses, but cure my asthma as well if I keep coming to him. I'm not so sure.

That first appointment he stuck 16 acupuncture needles in me -- a bunch in my face, a few on my forearms, and a bunch in my upper back, including right at the base of my skull, which was very tender and, none too coincidentally, connected to my lungs. The other needles didn't hurt. In fact, I felt strangely relaxed. I felt a warm, pressure-filled feeling beneath the needles, like energy was gathering under my skin. I'm not sure yet, but I think the brick on my face felt just a little lighter for the rest of that day.

So I'm willing to give this acupuncture thing a college try. But I may pour the 'lung tonic' and 'immunobooster' serums Yun Ye told me would advance the healing process down the drain. Because they cost next to nothing, and because the MD in the clinic assured me they were perfectly safe, even in combination with my other medications, I took them home with me. They taste worse than anything I have ever put in my mouth. But, centuries of Chinese medicine is based on the properties of amazing plants and a philosophy that attributes any chronic illness to an imbalance of energy in the body's 'meridians' or 'energy corridors' (corrected through acupuncture), and Chinese people live a really long time. I think I should give the whole treatment the benefit of the doubt for now.

The idea of holistic treatment makes a lot of sense to me, because I know my asthma, sinusitis and allergies are all connected by, or perhaps caused by, the same things. When I have more money (some day!) I plan on visiting an osteopath, nutritionist and maybe a naturopath to see what they have to say. The amount of medication I take for my asthma makes me feel like I'm eighty. I shudder to think what it will be like when I am eighty if I don't somehow cut back on them.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, for those of you who suffer from a similar illness and are wondering what else besides more drugs or surgery might be out there for you. Rest assured that I am open to the new ideas this kind of approach brings with it, but I remain a skeptic that will only be fully convinced of Chinese acupuncture and herb treatment's effectiveness by an improvement in my own condition.

As Yun Ye, who'd kindly pointed out the 'puffiness' of my face at the beginning of my appointment, blithely tapped needles into my cheeks, I asked him if they'd leave any marks. He said, "Sure, sure. You'll look better after." I'm counting on it, Yun, I'm counting on it!

PS I'm also using the Neil-Med Sinus Rinse irrigation system, which is just as gross as it sounds, but does help. Check it out here.

Comments

[Will O'Neill]

Hey Stacey,

As I'm sure your mom has probably mentioned to you, I suffer from the same condition to an equally frustrating extent. I imagine she has also told you that I've had multiple surgical procedures, including a very extensive one involving a septoplasty and a severe turbinate reduction, and that none of these have been particularly helpful.

My ENT doctor sounds better than yours, but he doesn't seem to have been able to do much more, and he had the same kind of "You need to volunteer openly..." attitude about surgery.

I haven't been consulting with any alternative medicine practitioners, but what I have just done is secured a reference to a different ENT doctor, from whom I am hoping for better things. I would particularly like to receive more detailed diagnostic procedures, as I am really sick of this shooting in the dark approach - I had three turbinate reductions, none of which did anything, and the ENT I'm with now wanted to do a fourth one. Something doesn't work three times, and the conclusion reached is that it ought to be done again?!

So I will continue to try to cover off bases in Western medicine, and you do this whole Eastern thing, and let's keep each other abreast of whether or not anything works.