In which I spend a small fortune on Health Care - Very - G-Jo Acupressure

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  April, 2002  by Michael Blate

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

If you regularly read this column, you know that I traded my lifestyle of a South Florida natural health educator several years ago, for that of a farmer (sort of) in western North Carolina. No longer are there palm trees in my yard; now there are organic vineyards, blueberry and tea plantations, vegetable gardens ... ahh, nature!

Most of my teaching has gone by the wayside. In its place, I now often find myself seated on our big John Deere genuine farmer's tractor, secretly wishing I had a wad of admittedly-unhealthy chewing tobacco stuck in my cheek -- as do most of the local farmers -- so I could practice spitting at the grasshoppers flying thither and yon before the tractor's huge, unforgiving wheels.

Instead, I content myself by singing bhajans -- sacred Sanskrit chants -- as I tow my genuine farmer's Bush-Hog mower behind me through the fields of wheat and tall weeds: Jai Hare Krishna, Jai Hare Krishna, Govardana Giri Daaaaaaaari ...

... Which is what I was loudly crooning to the world when the angry hornet stung my ear! Fire raced through the side of my head as I waved my Kissimmee Equipment Auction genuine farmer's hat wildly at the pest while at the same time trying to keep "O1' Behemoth" from careening down a steep slope.

I have written about hornet stings and other acute skin irritations (such as poison ivy) I have endured and self-treated with mostly limited success, since moving to the farm. But a new piece of medical equipment recently entered my life -- one I was anxious to try on just such an ailment.

It is a French-made "TheraPik," and came from an outdoors catalog (sorry, I don't remember the details, but you'll surely be able to find this device in camping equipment stores, soon). Plastic, and about the size of pocket lighter, this little critter is actually a micro-heater run by a 9-volt battery.

Instructions on the package told me to place its orifice -- a screened, 1/4" opening -- atop any insect bite or sting (poisonous spiders excepted); press the large button; hold the unit in place for 20 seconds as the tiny heater within the unit warms the sting-site to about 120 degrees; then release the button. The discomfort should then be gone (or nearly so).

I drove back to the house and, shutting the tractor safely down, asked Gail to try applying the TheraPik to my now-inflamed ear. At first, she had a difficult time finding the sting site, since it was already quite swollen. Yet, shortly after applying the unit to the several areas that seemed to be where the stinger hit, virtually all the pain, and most of the inflammation, had eased. Marvelous!

Over the next several days, there were moments of intense itching, at which time I re-applied the TheraPik treatment. Soon, even that faded away, leaving me impressed with its effectiveness.

But that was not the first time I had used the unit. Our area is ripe with poison ivy. Last year, I had a terrible case of it -- one which I could finally relieve only with very hot water poured regularly over the affected areas. And that may have actually helped spread the problem.

So this year, when I noticed a familiar, disturbing irritation in several of the same areas of my body, I hastily checked to see if I might be suffering a return bout of that ailment. Sure enough, I discovered a few, reddened, ferociously-itching pimples -- much the way the problem started last year!

What a perfect opportunity to try out my new toy! I thought. And like the hot water before it, the tiny areas of applied heat -- each just large enough to encompass one pimple -- immediately "erased" the itch! It was not a permanent cure, however; the itching returned to each site every half-day, or so, for the next, two weeks. Yet with just the same, 20 seconds of "TheraPiking," the rash did not spread, nor did the pimples even break (as most poison ivy pustules seem to do).

No one hates to spend money on health care more than I. Only the body-and-mind ("bodymind") heals itself, my education and experience assure me. Doctors, pills, surgery, healing machines and such only assist this natural process. Yet the $17.00, plus battery, (I must admit, Wisely) spent upon the TheraPik would not be the last of my health care expenditures for the year.

I have also written earlier about self-treating my chronically-weak knees. This problem -- which falls under the broad category of "arthritis" -- runs rampant on both sides of my family tree. My son, more than 20 years my junior, had his knees replaced years ago. Others in my family have done the same.

So I take especial interest in easy and simple natural remedies which hold any promise of help for this progressive condition. The pain is unimportant to me; years ago, I learned the art of transcending pain through my training in yoga.

In this ancient, though timeless spiritual science, we learn we are each immortal beings. As such, nothing can kill, injure or even disturb that subtle essence of aliveness which is our eternal core. In fact, pain cannot exist...unless we allow it.