Woke up slightly in pain today, but not as bad as expected. Got a fairly decent sleep last night, despite waking up a few times.

I felt so terrible yesterday, so by comparison, feel good today.

Work fine, and I think I can have a day where I’m not stressed about stuff, which is good because I need that for my back.

Managed to find a few acupuncture places near us. Apparently that is a good treatment for AS, so I decided to book myself an appointment.

I’ve got one for 12:30 later. I know that acupuncture has worked for me in the past, so looking forward to this. I think it’s about making a bunch of small changes to my life to try and improve things.

Went for a long-ish walk on the way to the appointment. The acupuncture session was somewhat strange. The practitioner was a quiet, nice guy, but the consultation was punishingly quick. He didn’t asking any questions about medical history; just wanted to know where the pain was. It didn’t feel like a detailed introduction and certainly wasn’t worth the £10 they slapped on my bill extra at the end.

I actually do feel a lot better after it, so I can’t disregard it completely. The needles part was pretty painless, and while it was boring lying there for half an hour, it was fine.

I had the Chinese medicine bit as well. I could hear him using a mortar and pestle to grind it as I was lying there. He then applied this very cold paste onto my back, and the coldness was quite pleasant. A bit like he was slathering yoghurt from the fridge on there, but nicer (because that sounds awful)..

When he had finished with the needles and the medicinal yoghurt, he gave me a massage which felt quite effective. There was one bit where it felt like he was just pinching my liver relentlessly. 15 minutes or so of being pinched and prodded by a slender man in a white lab coat.

Felt a lot better as I was walking home. He said he wants to see me again on Monday, possibly because he thinks there’s more work to do. It’s hard to tell if he’s just saying that to secure more business as I’ve not been told I’d need such a quick followup before. It’s not the best venue in the world because inside a marketplace behind a curtain with no soundproofing, The guys in the shop close by were blaring out bad 90s R&B. Not the most calming environment to have a treatment.

The rest of the day was fine, I went out for another walk later. Kat and I had some drinks this evening which was nice, but my back is really starting to hurt again.

We had to put the chair which cushions my back down at the end of the sitting room where we normally hang out as I was a bit out of sorts.

I didn’t have a lot to drink but alcohol always seems to wear some of the drunkenness off for some reason. Didn’t stay up late because my back was hurting and thought I just needed to get a decent sleep and feel good for tomorrow.