I pulled a muscle in my rump today chasing my cat who was up to no good. Here I was thinking I’d go for a walk, and instead am hobbling and unable to bend over. Every injury or health issue I sustain is a gift for clients, because from that moment on I completely and totally understand how badly it feels and how urgently they want relief. So this is what I did.

Cupping! Yes, the Michael Phelps treatment which is, incidentally, one of the tools of Chinese medicine, has been around thousands of years, and is something all acupuncturists do. So I situated myself and cupped my gluteus and hamstring muscles. Not easy! Next I took the rounded edge of a spoon and scraped the area red. This is called gua sha and is another very old technique that removes inflammation and toxicity from the tissue. I worry that I am hurting people when I do it, so it was interesting to see it felt fine. Now I am sitting on ice, and in a little while I’ll insert a few needles to open the meridians and rest the area on a castor oil pack. Castor oil is a great healing agent and also reduces inflammation. I guess we’ll see how I do in the morning. I’ll keep you posted!