Pain

Ouch. It hurts. There were times when I wondered why people put themselves through physical pain for the sake of looks. Now, I am guilty as charged.

I have been going to my aunt for acupuncture treatments for the past month or so. Every weekend I spend around twenty minutes looking like a hedgehog, with needles all over my face.

She had claimed that she knew of a treatment used for improving complexion and removing acne scars. She had a couple of successes with patients and would like to continue trying out the treatment. I gamely volunteered to be the guinea pig in her clinical trials.

Whoever said that acupuncture doesn't hurt, lied. It hurts. Especially on the face where flesh is scarce. Still I go to her almost every week to get myself poked at. It does work. So much so that my brother is doing it too. We are skeptical about the degree of her claims, but the improvement is undeniable.

Then, apparently, getting poked at is not enough for me. I now have braces fixed. I have been wanting to do it for a while and finally got down to it. I thought the worst was over when the dentist extracted four good, healthy teeth. But no, that was just the beginning.

Today I got the actual brackets and wire in. It was fine when it first went in. However, it got worse as the day went by. By dinner time, I couldn't eat. Minor biting actions were enough to send a dull but unmistakable pain through me.

Can someone please tell me why I am spending good money to put myself in pain? I cannot fathom it. Is it for the sake of looks? But I never thought I was bad-looking to begin with. Is there a certain notion of beauty and perfection in my head, that I feel I am not up to?