Mindfully Written

Amber Erickson: Denver Content Marketing Strategist & Freelance Health and Lifestyle Writer

Are Your Piercings Affecting Your Health?

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picture of pierced tonguePiercings are popular forms of self expression, especially for the younger generations. Part of it could be a right of passage and part of it may be a form of rebellion. People get piercings for different reasons, some aesthetic, some for uniqueness and some must be for shock value. I had some piercings in my younger days, mainly the double ear holes, the cartilage of the upper ear, the belly button and the tragus. That, the tragus, is what led me to write this post.

In my studies of holistic health, including some basics of the meridians and acupuncture, I understand that certain places on the body align with other places or organs or systems. If you’ve ever received acupuncture before, you will understand what I’m talking about. For those of you who haven’t experienced it, acupuncture involves placing tiny needles into specific points on the body. For example, for a migraine, sometimes I’d get a needle in the middle of my palm. It doesn’t hurt – the needles are really tiny and they aren’t inserted very far. It’s like a little prick and then the needle just hangs out in that spot for a while. Sometimes the practitioner will gently spin the needle, activating the flow of energy. You can feel it, it’s a strong sensation, all from this tiny needle.

Now, apply that concept to piercings. If a tiny needle inserted shallowly has the power to impact the flow of energy in the body, send it to specific areas, make it move faster or slower, etc., what are holes in our bodies doing? I couldn’t really find a direct answer to this, but here is what I do know.

This thought never occurred to me until I saw a new chiropractor about a year ago. He looked at my tragus piercing and said nonchalantly, “You know that’s right through your adrenal gland point, right?” Um, no. Tell me more. He went on to do an applied kinesiology test and it appears my body did not like that hole in my head. I have heard that the body can reroute these lines to bypass obstructions, meaning it’s possible that piercings, with time, will not impact the energy flow. The body is really good at trying to find balance, and that may be happening. But what if it doesn’t? What long term effects could piercings cause? Unfortunately, I can’t answer these questions, but I can direct you to the most common piercings and the acupuncture points they are on, leading you to question for yoruself whether that piercing is negatively affecting you.

Tragus

The points of the tragus regulate thirst, hunger, the inner and outer nose and, the doc was right, adrenals. The adrenals are connected with stress, inflammation and shock and adrenal fatigue is a real concern in our stress-prone society. The adrenals are located on top of the kidneys are secrete very important hormones including adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol and testosterone. It’s imperative that the adrenals pump out the proper amount of these hormones or other problems are imminent. Clearly I want to give my adrenals as much support as possible. I took out my piercing.

Ears

The ears are complex because there are many points and many different places to pierce, so I won’t try to explain. Just google acupuncture points in the ear and look at the images. There are a ton of them and you can see exactly where your piercings are.

Tongue

The point in the middle of the tongue is energetically connected to the central nervous system. Piercing could affect the spleen and cause depression or muscle loss.

Navel

Running down the main center line of the body, a piercing at the navel could affect a few different things, including fertility and other reproductive issues. In some traditions, the navel is a major energy center and piercing here could affect that power.

Could piercings  be healing?

The unexpected part of my research for this post led to the idea that putting a permanent hole into an acupuncture point could activate that point and lead to healing. Since the energy flow reroutes aroun obstructions, I wonder if this benefit would be short lived. Then there is the idea of using piercings for spiritual growth, as some ancient cultures have done. While these questions were brought forward, no real answers exist.

Piercings are a highly personal decision. For some, any potential energetic risk is worth it. For others, a simple piercing could be responsible for their issues. We just don’t know what effect they have and people are all going to be affected differently. The point, or goal, is to offer a new concept to think about and a new way to understand your body a little better.

Share your perspective: Do you think piercings are affecting your energy flow (either positively or negatively)?

{Photo: Eddypedro}

 

Stick a needle in me: Acupuncture for healing

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It took me a mere five minutes on Google Scholar to find research supporting acupuncture as an effective modality to treat:

  • Chronic low-back pain
  • Migraines
  • Tension headache
  • Depression
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Post-operative nausea and vomiting

I believe it. As a migraine sufferer, I whole-heartedly believe it, and my experiences show me that others believe it as well.

Yesterday I had a migraine, and it had been two days. I used to fight through it, miserable the whole time, until finally it subsided on its own. A steady yoga practice, I believe, has reduced the frequency and severity quite dramatically, but every once and awhile, one will strike. I let it go one day and if it’s not gone the second, I see my acupuncturist. I go to a community acupuncture clinic with a sliding scale. A visit costs between $15 and $35 per visit – I get to decide how much I’m able to pay. But really, if I can leave an hour later without a headache (and rested from a mid-day nap), it’s worth so much more.

Yesterday I showed up at my appointment, in pain and just kind of exhausted. My acupuncturist checked over my records from past visits and there is definitely a theme – same symptoms, same location, same accompanying symptoms (low energy, poor sleep, etc). He checked my pulse and started to put needles in where they needed to go. I won’t lie and say you can’t feel them – sometimes they hurt, at least at first, but it makes perfect sense to me why.

Our bodies are made up of energy, the space around our bodies is energy (aura), and the entire universe is energy. Got that?! It’s hard to describe with words, and even when done successfully, is so far outside of the Western paradigm that it falls on unaccepting ears. All I can speak to is my experience.  I used to not get it. Then I got it. Now I really get it. I used to get shivers, or feel tingly sensations, but I didn’t realize those physical sensations were really just the feeling of energy movment within my body. It began to make sense in my yoga practice first, when I’d feel almost cold and shivery, but only on one leg or my head, but no other parts of my body. That’s when I thought, well clearly I’m not cold, what is this? Once I tapped into that sensation, I began to just pay attention to it, and in that, my sensitivity has skyrocketed.

Fast-track back to acupuncture. The tiny needles are inserted into known channels of energy in our bodies. When the needle hits the spot, it triggers movement and when I feel a jolt when the needle goes in, I attribute that sensation to the needles awakening some stagnant energy (which could be causing the blockages and pain in the first place). The pain of the needles doesn’t last, and then the fun begins.

As I lay in my recliner, covered neck to toes in blankets, resting in the darkness, listening to the musical selection of the day, I can feel my energy working. Some days it’s subtle, like a gentle ebb and flow, like the movement of water. Others it’s wild and erratic. I like the wild and erratic because I feel like something is happening. As I lay there, I wonder if everyone else is having an experience similar to mine. I suspect no, since most people aren’t tapped into their energies. But maybe they get it- I have no idea. After one particular wild energetic ride, I told my acupuncturist that it was crazy and he smiled and said, “The weirder the better.” I think I’m in good company with him.

After an hour of feeling my energy move, and perhaps napping, I wake to the needles being removed.  I then put my shoes on and go about my day. Yesterday I left with no headache, no leftover neck pain, nothing. The fatigue, nausea and sleeplessness was gone too. I felt amazing. I’ve decided that me random headaches are just a sign that I need an energetic tune-up.  Many people go to acupuncture for specific ailments, which it’s great for, but I also think it’s a wonderful way to just get everything working properly again – kind of like an oil change for your car.

Now, acupuncture isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth a try.  It’s inexpensive, effective and has very minimal side effects and risks (none for me). I’m always a little surprised when I go and half of the people there are elderly. I often wonder who referred them, and if they understand what’s happening, or if they care, and if they are getting better. What I do know is that acupuncture has been around for a very long time, but the research on it is undecided. I asked another acupuncturist about that once and she said, which is true of many holistic practitioners, who cares what’s doing it as long as it’s working.  She then said that researchers like to consider it nothing more than the placebo effect, but the fact that acupuncture is highly effective on animals, who don’t understand placebo, means something.

You decide for yourself!  What do you think about acupuncture?