My search for pain relief brings me to, Cupping Therapy

Since conventional medicine has failed to provide me with substantial relief I have begun to explore alternatives. For the past six weeks I have been spending my Thursdays feeling like a human pin cushion at my Acupuncturists office. Along with inserting four-inch needles into my back he preforms a technique called, Fire Cupping. 
Fire cupping involves soaking a cotton ball in 95% alcohol. The cotton is then clamped by a pair of forceps and lit via a match or lighter. The flaming cotton ball is then, in one fluid motion, placed into the cup, quickly removed, and placed on the skin. By adding fire to the inside of the cup, oxygen is removed and a small amount of suction is created. Dark circles may appear where the cups were placed due to rupture of the capillaries just under the skin, but are not the same as a bruise caused by blunt-force trauma. According to my Acupuncturist, the darker the bruise, the worse that area is. It is fascinating how the same amount of pressure is used in all the cups but the ones that are placed over my herniated disc always leave a more prominent bruise, sometimes a small amount of blood is present, which he sweeps up with a Q-tip and then shows me the colour. 
I wish I could say that the results have been amazing but that would be a gross overstatement. I return every week because i do believe that it is doing some good and I have been told that over time it can help improve both my circulation and my pain, plus it is really cool!

The following is the definition of cupping therapy from Wikipedia:
Cupping therapy is an ancient Chinese form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing.^[1] Suction is created using heat (fire) or mechanical devices (hand or electrical pumps).

Her Heart Was In Her Head

Her heart was in her head.She could feel just raw emotion "This is love, but more," she said... It would ache when he was with her. And break when he would go. But the ache was a good kind, more than he will know. Her heart becomes a garden, when the little pieces break. They die and they are fertile, so flowers fill their space. She never wants to be apart. He filled her head up with her heart. She is alright though, she has learned, the fresh heart flowers smell like him.

Pity Time

Last week I was over an hour late for school. It was not because I slept in, in fact I was up before my 6am alarm. I woke up to my sciatic nerve screaming at me and was unable to move my right leg without an immense amount of pain.
The pain started just over 3 years ago, minimal at first but it got progressively worse. After a few very uncomfortable months I went to see my doctor who sent me for my first of many MRIs. Turns out I have osteoarthritis in my spine, which basically means that the space between my discs is deteriorating. The cushioning between my L3 and L4 discs has completely deteriorated, causing them to constantly rub against each other. The constant bone on bone rubbing caused my disc to herniate, meaning it is bulging out to the right and interacting with the nerves in my back. One nerve in particular, my sciatic nerve, causes me the most grief. If I sit down for a period of time, sometimes an hour sometimes only 10 minutes: my leg will go numb, it feels like a million needles are being poked into my skin. To say that is hurts would be a gross understatement, the pain can be unbearable. The morning last week was one of those times and I will admit that my first thought was to cry and spend the day in bed. After a few minutes of self pity I slowly limped to the living room, grabbed my transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine and my pain killers and started to work on making the pain bearable enough to go to school.
I could have given up and stayed in bed all day cursing my feeble spine but I made the decision to get my ass out of bed and quit feeling sorry for myself. I know that my back will not get better, instead it will further degenerate and I may end up in a wheelchair. I could focus on that but instead I choose to believe that advances in medicine will one day be able to rebuild my spine. I believe the moral of this story is, life will always throw you curveballs, it is not "fair" and shit really does happen but it is how you deal with the shit that really matters. It is not easy and I do struggle, almost everyday, but I give myself a little time to throw a pity party then I brush it off, throw on my big girl pants and move forward. Your life will be much more rewarding if you except that it will be hard at times, but it does not last forever and better times will come.