Since a fall last year I'd suffered an acute lower-back pain caused by a displaced and twisted coccyx. My GP had suggested acupuncture, so I threw my scepticism - and crippling fear of needles - to one side and booked four sessions with a British Acupuncture Council practitioner called Mike. He wasn't too confident that he'd be able to rid me of the discomfort in my coccyx but was adamant that he could make a difference to other back pain I felt.
I didn't feel a thing as Mike placed the needles along my spine. When a herb, moxa, was placed on some points and left to smoulder, it felt as if a hot-water bottle had been slipped under my skin. After one session I could jump out of my seat without so much as a wince.
But how long would this pain-free mobility last? Mike suggested I go home and run a bath. I went to the pub instead, but by the end of the night I still felt fine.
In the following two sessions Mike worked on my back then, in the final session, told me acupuncture could prevent PMT and period pains. I was doubtful but the following week my period came and went in just two days with no cramps to speak of. I've been converted.
