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“I’m a true believer and I never would have been if it hadn’t happened to me, viagra sales see ” says Barbara Robins, a Forsyth County resident. “I injured my back twisting to pick up my daughter, who was 2-1/2. I’m a registered nurse and knew I had herniated my disk. As an RN, I didn’t have very many opinions, because the medical doctors drug you,” she says, unapologetically. “They would’ve put me on pain killers and, frankly, to be driving around Forsyth County drugged up would not be cool. Other options were to do expensive injections right into the spine, such as cortisone or an anesthesia-type thing, which is $3,000 per injection, or surgery.” In her quest for relief, Robins says she contacted a chiropractor and hoped the adjustment would ease her discomfort, even temporarily. “But, he couldn’t touch me, because I was too injured and swollen, at the time,” she recalls. “He was either gonna suggest bed rest and have muscle relaxers prescribed by someone else until the swelling went down, or, he said there was a good chance he could have me better in three days flat through his acupuncturist.” Despite her skepticism, Robins was desperate to feel better. “I really needed quick relief, because my husband travels and I was alone with two kids,” she says. “At that point, I was desperate. My husband was leaving the next day and I literally could not walk. I had to lift my leg by tugging on my pants. The pain was severe. So I figured I had nothing to lose.” Her pursuit was timely. Prior to July of last year, acupuncture was unregulated in Georgia. However, now the state has approved licensure and the practice is increasingly embraced in medical circles. “Traditional Chinese medicine theorizes that more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body connect with 12 main and 8 secondary pathways, called meridians,” say materials released by the National Institute of Health. “Chinese medicine practitioners believe these meridians conduct energy, or qi, between the surface of the body and internal organs. Acupuncture is believed to balance yin and yang, keep the normal flow of energy unblocked and restore health to the body and mind. Some researchers believe that meridians are located throughout the body’s connective tissues; others do not believe that qi exists at all. Such differences in opinion have made acupuncture a source of scientific controversy.” Dr. Yuxian Liu, the acupuncturist Robins turned to, is one of the very first licensed practitioners in Georgia, receiving License No. 4. Despite 25 years in China as an anesthesiologist and acupuncturist, she has only recently been able to perform the ancient healing practice locally. “No one argues that it works,” says Dr. Joe Alderdice, the local chiropractor who invited Liu to join his practice. “What they’re not sure about is how it works.” Indeed, the process is daunting for those who aren’t wild about the thought of cactus-thin needles being wedged into their flesh. Pressing a tiny plastic tube against a point alongside the patient’s body, the acupuncturist thumps the encapsulated needle’s end, darting it into the patient’s skin. Most say the thump diverts any sensation of pain. When the patient indicates a sensation of pressure, the needle is slowly tweaked until a warm, heavy sensation envelops the body. Removing the needles, generally within 20 minutes, is equally pain-free. “I don’t know if I was scared, but I was really praying it would really work,” recalls Robins of the technique. “I was scared more of the fact that I had this horrible injury and so how was I going to take care of my kids? Dr. Liu proceeded to put a few needles down my back and kept asking, ‘Anything? Anything? Anything?’ and I kept saying, ‘no, no, no,'” she says. “Then she put two needles in my right hand and two needles in my left hand. When she wiggled that last needle around, it was like instant relief,” says Robins. “My hand went numb, but the pain in my hip and down my leg was instantaneously relieved. I would have never believed it, unless it had happened to me. They say the Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years, so there has to be something to Eastern medicine. It has been going on longer than we’ve been here.” According to Robins, she has been pain-free since the conclusion of five acupuncture treatments. While healing is not always so immediate or dramatic, other skeptics say they, too, have found comfort through acupuncture’s results. “I didn’t know what to expect,” recalls John Salyer of Dawsonville. “I had broke my back and so I was willing to try anything. It seemed to help. Exercise was the only other remedy recommended and I swim a lot. “I’m not fully recovered, yet,” he says. “I wouldn’t say it was dramatic, but I did receive gradual relief. Even that was more than I’d hoped for.”