I feel the same way about both my parents. They had 6 kids, and my mother would tell me if she had known where babies came from, she would not have had so many children. That was one of her most benign statements towards me. The others would get me banned if I quoted them verbatim. So I take it you have a more nuanced opinion of the citizens of The Golden State.
We are a huge grower of fruits and nuts and ship them worldwide. The ancient practice of acupuncture started in China approximately 3000 years ago. The first documentation of acupuncture that described it as an organized system of diagnosis and treatment is in The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, which dates back to 100 BCE. Yep, they are new at this practice....anyone can become an acupuncturist.
Millions have come here from all over the world...good and not so great NOW. Too many illegals. My grandkids are 5th Generation Californians.
I tried acupuncture for my back & neck, about 15 yrs or so ago. A true Chinese practioner. But The only relief I got from it lasted only about a half an hour. The [doc] himself said @ one point , he thought I had bigger problems than he could help. So @ $65.00 p/session, 3 p/week, I decided to give it up. He did both plain needleing, and electro-stimulation. He spoke horrible English, but he was the nicest guy . He said on my last visit, I make you tea ... we have tea together, and a few my wife cookies ..... very good.
Everything that is alernative healing therapaies are NOT covered by our big pharma health insurance. ..
Medicare covers acupuncture for back pain, under specific conditions. It also covers chiropractic visits, with a co-pay. A cursory search says that Supplement and Advantage plans are mostly tied to what Medicare coves, so you'd likely have to go to the private insurance market for more than that.
I get acupuncture. Been getting it since 2003. Car accidents, lots of injuries. So, you know, it is completely recognized by the US NIH, as having proven medical benefits for various conditions. That being said, I think it is a more difficult therapy to work with. It definitely takes me out of pain. The only thing that ends my back pain is acupuncture with electrical stim. By the way, just so folks know, there are basically two forms of acupuncture. One is the very gentle way, in which they try to cause the least pain and discomfort possible. The other way is more like the "no pain, no gain" idea. I have had both. Acupuncture pain, when it hits hard...makes dental pain look very very very mild. Very very mild. I remember getting a root canal and wondering why it did not hurt as much as I thought. Then, I realized...oh, it is because I am used to higher pain levels from acupuncture. Of course, I have a lot of injuries. So, that is clearly a big part of the problem. So, there is that. If you have some kind of injury, even with gentle acupuncture, you might encounter pain...and some real pain. I guess it depends on the injury. So, if you are going to get it, describe the injury to the acupuncturist first and ask directly if it is going to give you higher pain levels. Then, while acupuncture is good at taking you out of pain, how long you stay out of pain is another issue entirely. In my experience, it does not last forever. The first few hours can be total. And then, the first few days can be a lot. Beyond that, if you want to extend its benefits, you really have to commit to daily stretching work, probably a better mattress and take various steps. If you do those things, you are going to make acupuncture much more successful. Then, it goes to the unseen effects. And, I am guessing that those really do go on. I mean, that it somehow supports general health. That is not something I have felt per se, very directly, but I do deeply suspect it. You know, like if I had some problem and I am getting acupuncture anyway, seems like the new problem heals quicker, even without being directly addressed. Also, getting those needles all over your body? There are many folks who are just not going to be ok with that. It is very very very weird. Even 20 years into this, sometimes it still freaks me out and I have to ask my acupuncturist to have less needles that day. So, if you are going to start, just tell the acupuncturist that you are concerned. And, you know, just get needles in your arms, stomach, legs, whatever...and not directly on your face, until you are sure you are going to be ok with it. Last thing, if you can find an acupuncturist with a much larger and especially much wider table, makes a huge difference. You don't want some thin table that you have to keep your balance on, while you have needles all over your body. In my own case, my acupuncturist is a family friend now ...I know her kids....and she will come over to the house and "needle me" right on the bed..so I can stretch out. That makes it tons easier. Most acupuncturists won't do that, but some will have wider tables that make it easier. Of course, I am a big guy...6' and 200'...so if you are much smaller, a regular small sized table probably won't be an issue.
very sorry about the difficulties. Our friend Mary Ann encountered quite a deal of facial pain, while fighting an unusual form of cancer. It was a difficult struggle. While I get acupuncture, the therapy that I have had the most success with, is actually magnetic therapy. But I don't use the regular ones, I use extremely, extremely strong ones. They definitely do relax my muscle groups and ease pain levels. I have sacro-illiac injuries. I have problems with my hip flexors and soas. Other issues as well. Magnetic therapy really helps me tons. The other therapy that I have been doing more recently is lymph drainage therapy. It's just a short series of massage work near lymph nodes. Has also lowered my pain levels. Don't know if these would help you, but I do know that magnetic therapy is recommended for diabetic neuropathy, and by mainstream medical sources. The lymph drainage exercise I do, is from Dr. Perry Nickelston. He's a chiropractor. He has some videos on You Tube. I'm not sure if the one I do is on there. It's called something like the 60 second lymph drainage re-set. I had some kind of pain behind my knees. Apparently there is a lymph node there. I had done all kinds of stretching. Nothing worked. But the lymph drainage exercises did work. As someone who has been struggling with pain levels for many years, I know what the search for pain reduction can be like. I probably went through 20 different attempts before I found something that worked. And it does not work completely. I still have to struggle hard and do all sorts of stretching and many other things.