I have never been to an acupuncturist nor relied on acupuncture to treat anything. I've had this muscle pain on the base of my right neck, towards the back, in between the base of the neck and shoulder, and the pain radiates down to my right forearm. it was like having a tennis elbow, and it felt like there was a knot by the neck/shoulder area, that would also cause pain around the right shoulder blade. I've had this pain for 2 weeks. Saw my primary care doctor after the first week of using thermacare and ibuprofen. Doc prescribed pain medication and muscle relaxants. She said they were muscle spasms and will go away eventually. I had gone through 2 deep tissue massages and the back pain would go away but the pain in the neck/shoulder and tingling/dull pain on my forearms persisted even after the massages. My coworker suggested Dr Powell after her positive treatment (1 treatment for pelvic pain). I was desperate to try anything at this point, tired of the hot water bags I would carry at work, the salonpas patches, thermacare. The clinic was closed yesterday, Thurs, but I left a message and Michelle, the receptionist/assistant therapist, called me first thing today to schedule an appointment. I asked to be squeezed in today, if possible, I couldn't go through another weekend. As luck would have it,somebody cancelled and Michelle called me right away. I saw Dr. Powell this morning, at 9:30am. She said that it was my back neck muscle that was causing the pain on my neck/shoulder and radiating pain all the way to the forearm. She asked me to get on this tilting bed and felt around my neck area. She felt for the muscle that was the cause, and recommended a few things to get the kinks out. Her assistant Michelle, felt for the trigger points and did these deep tissue type massages. Then she applied this menthol like ointment on my shoulders and neck and used the ultrasound to basically use sound waves to break down the tension/tightness in the neck/shoulder area. It was very interesting/amazing to find out what this equipment/treatment can do/has done. She uncovered the tightness on my left shoulder (that i wasn't aware of but definitely felt the tightness go away when she massaged them out using what I call a "shiatsu" technique. After the ultrasound, I was asked to lie down on a hospital bed and Dr Powell did acupuncture on my right hand, knees, and right foot. These were the points that will relieve the pain on my neck/shoulder/shoulder blades/forearm. She showed me the energy path that linked these points together. The needles weren't painful at all, and I'm averse to anything with needles. My forearm was painful at first, then my elbow, then the triceps area. It was the energy working itself to the top. So I just laid down, very still, because I was afraid of disrupting the flow. Oh, Michelle had given me this warm shoulder thingy to keep my shoulders warm. It was nice. After 20 minutes , needles taken out. And my forearm doesn't hurt. My right shoulder felt sore, like achy but that was it. I could tolerate it. It was 11 by the time I got out. I was conscious to keep my neck aligned with shoulders and trying to relax. Went around to do errands. Picked up kids around 3pm, my forearm started to hurt but it went away. Dr Powell suggested to put an ice pack (using 1 gallon ziplock and fill with ice, about qtr full, then add water and fill with air, then put around my neck so the nerves on the side of my neck would "chill") while driving. well, I shouldn't be driving so I had my hubby drive me around this afternoon. Took a nap around 4pm and I'm still pain free and it's 6pm. i'm a convert. Acupuncture works! Dr. Powell and Michelle were pretty awesome! I told Michelle they should get more of their patients to add yelp reviews :) I have an appointment set up for Monday, just in case but if I'm pain free, Michelle said to call and cancel the appointment. Liking that! btw, treatment not covered by insurance. this is out of pocket folks. cost about half an ipad4 16G model, figure out the math, it's 8/2013. but let me tell you it was worth it. Dr Powell did tell me to take it easy this weekend, no jumping, jogging, anything that would irritate the vertebrae. walking is fine. but next week, i'm back in boot camp :) read more