walkers walk… but runners fly

Friday Coffee Date

Hello!  Thanks for joining me for coffee (or, tea!) and random life updates.  If we were having coffee together, the first thing I would share is…. IT HAS STARTED!  (Warning: the following photo might make you scream in dismay… or squeal with joy?)

Yes, this was at Michael’s yesterday!  As soon as July 4th has passed, it’s officially “early early holiday season.”  I know… it’s too early.  But I secretly love this time of year.  It’s definitely too soon to start thinking about the holidays… but they ARE coming!  So much to look forward to- football, pumpkins, cooler weather (which we won’t get till November, sigh… but it WILL come eventually.)

So, why was I at Michael’s?  It’s in the same plaza as my new PT office, where I got some dry needling on my calf!  I’ve never had dry needling before, but I’ve had acupuncture.  In case you’re wondering, what’s the difference?- I would say there isn’t much.  In both treatments, needles are inserted into the body- for acupuncture they’re inserted on points along the meridians, and dry needling is more of a western medicine-based approach, focusing on muscles and trigger points.

The therapist inserted four needles (two into my calf and two into my IT band) and then attached clamps to them that sent an electrical stimulation deep into the tissues (which is the same thing my last acupuncturist did.) It made the muscles kind of jump around, and felt a little weird and uncomfortable, but not painful.

I’m very hopeful about this!  I’m going back for another treatment next week and then I’ll see where I’m at.  I feel like I’ll be running again SOON.

Meanwhile, you might ask, how’s that “week of strength” going?  It’s going well… but I’m kind of wishing I had dubbed it the “week of sleep.”  Sleep is also important for healing, and I’ve had some rough nights lately.  I’m hoping to at least get a “night of sleep” tonight- I’ll take six uninterrupted hours, gladly!  Nothing like setting the bar low.

How is your week going?

Have you had acupuncture or dry needling?

Signs of Halloween in July- yay, or nay?

Top photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

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25 Responses

  1. ooh, WEEK OF SLEEP sounds absolutely fantastic. I may have to have one of those soon. Or maybe just even a Weekend of Sleep . . .
    I’ve heard great things about dry needling!! hoping it works well!!!

    1. Yes, I’ve heard good things about dry needling too, and it just seemed like it would be helpful for this specific issue. We’ll find out! And- I did get a night of sleep last night. Maybe I should try to extend it to a “weekend of sleep.”

  2. I HAVE had dry needling and it was a game-changer for me. It helped so much when I had my hip injury. Yes, it feels so weird, but wow did it ever work for me. I feel like I am a Dry Needling Evangelist now. I hope it works for you the way it worked for me!
    Halloween in July seems a bit early but hey, I’m not going to yuck anyone’s yum. I mean, if it’s bringing happiness, who cares, why not? There is so much grimness, why not enjoy life, am I right?

    1. Oh good!!! I’m glad to hear you had such a good experience. Hopefully I’ll be saying the same thing in a couple weeks. And yes- there’s plenty to feel grim about right now. Why not bring in a little happiness with some pre-holiday spirit?

  3. Ugh on the sleep. Here’s hoping that tonight will be the turn around and you finally get your zzzzzz’s.

    I say yay to Halloween in July.

    1. I did get a good night’s sleep last night! Phew. And, I’m glad someone (other than my sister) agrees with me that Halloween in July exciting.

  4. Never had acupuncture or dry needling. I’m a big fan of ART.

    Hope your calf gets better.

    Great job on the strength workouts.

    1. I’ve had some great results with ART as well. This issue just felt so vague and mysterious that I thought dry needling would work better? Who knows.

  5. Not a fan of early Halloween! Maybe it’s because my birthday is in late July, but I feel like this time of year is still all about summer and I want to embrace it, not rush ahead to the next season, even if I do wish it was a bit cooler outside!

    I had dry needling once and it felt too weird to me, but hopefully it helps you. And I’m hoping you get more sleep — I know a solid night always makes me feel better!

  6. Yes, my sister’s birthday is at the beginning of August, and back when we were growing up that still felt like the middle of summer. Now school starts SO early- our kids go back August 12th. Ugh.
    Dry needling DEFINITELY felt weird! I actually have a thing about needles and had to take deep breaths when they were going in (not that you can really feel much- it’s just the idea of it.) But, I don’t mind some weirdness if it helps.

  7. I hope the dry needling works so you can get back to running!! I had acupuncture once when I was pregnant as I had heard it could help with RA symptoms (my RA was terrible during my pregnancies). But it was such an unpleasant experience that I could not bare to go back and try it again. Friends who do acupuncture said I must have gone to a bad place and that I should try it again but I just can’t… When the person left me alone with all those needles in me, I got so dang cold! But I’m too worried about being a good patient to yell and be like – hey, I’m cold, can someone give me a blanket?

    Your comment on my blog about Taco and Paul road tripping together made me laugh. It is very hard to envision! They played well together for 2 games last night and then tried to play memory and wow did things go south after that and my mad mom voice came out and gah. It was not pleasant. But I hope some day they are good friends that want to road trip together!

    Hard PASS on signs of Halloween! Summer is just kind of starting here and I want to hold onto summer vibes! And yes, I will take 90s and humid over rain any day of the week! As long as I am by the water, I’ll be comfy and there is an amazing pool that is very entertaining for the boys so heck, maybe we will go there both days this weekend! Taco has been asking when the house in our neighborhood is going to put their grinch inflatable out and we’ve had to remind him that first comes the black in October, then comes the Turkey in November and THEN in December we get the grinch. So he’s apparently living for the fall/winter right now as well.

    1. Ha ha, I understand, Taco! It’s hard to wait for these things. I can see why you’re not in a hurry for summer to end though.
      i haven’t had acupuncture a lot, but the times I’ve had it have all been positive. It does sound like you might have had a bad practitioner.

  8. I loved hearing the hope in this post, Jenny. I do hope you’re back to running SOON.
    (And I’d never even heard of dry needling, so adding it to my list of things to explore.)

    1. This is the first time I’ve actually tried it- before that I had heard about it here and there. Again- it seems like it might be interchangeable with acupuncture for certain conditions.

  9. I had dry needling when I partially tore my rotator cuff and separately but at the same time pinched my radial nerve and annoyed my traps. It gave me so much relief! My little family loves Halloween/spooky decor, but is a little overwhelmed with all the “back to school” stuff when my daughter hasn’t even been out of school a month yet! We don’t get supply lists or anything until the end of August, so she feels the stress of wanting to shop but not being able to yet, haha!

    1. Yes, “back to school’ is a little early for those of you who are on a later schedule. And- thanks for the story about your dry needling! It gives me even more hope.

  10. I’ve had acupuncture (it didn’t seem to help me, unfortunately), but I’d never heard of dry-needling. But I’m a HUGE fan of alternative medicine and different things work so well for different people. I had years of intense pain in my Caesarean scar(s) and my family doctor basically said there was nothing I could do. I went to an osteopath and she worked on the scar tissue for some sessions (hurt SO BADLY) and it has helped me soooo much. Ditto with the osteopath and needing to use the bathroom every single night! Though I think that was also related to the scar tissue adhesion with my C-section scar.

    It’s too early for pumpkins even for me, but I LOVE fall. It is my absolute favourite time of the year and is GORGEOUS in Nova Scotia.

    1. Yes, breaking up scar tissue HURTS, but can really help in the long run. It’s true that different therapies help for different people/conditions.
      You’re still in the early stages of summer, so I can see why you don’t want to think about pumpkins!

  11. I always wanted to explore acupuncture but just cannot get around to calling my insurance to see if it’s covered. Probably not. I hope the dry needling makes a difference!!

    1. HA. I can help you out there- it’s probably not covered. I’m paying cash for this, my insurance doesn’t cover ANYTHING out of the mainstream. So annoying.

  12. I will have a week of jet lag.. sigh.. but at least I’m back home with the family and downtime.
    never tried dry needle, hope it helps with your calf. You’re taking this niggle so well, keeping up with the positive vibe.

  13. I tried dry needling and did not like it at all.

    I slept a lot on our vacation, which proves that I can if I let myself—and don’t have work to stress me out. After a day of hiking and no TV to keep us up, we went to bed crazy early and were up with the sun.

  14. I’ve never tried acupuncture OR dry needling. I hope it helps for you!

    Oof, I can understand why Michael’s has its Halloween stuff out now (it’s not like they need to worry about back to school stuff!), but it’s TOO SOON for me. Or maybe I’m just being cranky because I’m on a spending freeze for now so I can’t spend money on all the cute Halloween decor just yet. 😉

  15. I love autumn, but I don’t want to see any Halloween stuff until October 15th. HA! I know, I’m ridiculous. Having it now just reminds me that we’re going to have more 100+ degree weather and really, we haven’t even gotten to the peak of tomato season yet.

    I’ve never heard of dry needling, but your explanation is clear. I have RA, and I tried acupuncture for a bit. It didn’t help me, and my insurance didn’t pay for it, so after about $600 of treatments I gave up. I know people that it has helped though. I hope the dry needling helps with your calf!

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