“When my children left Hyderabad for higher education in 2011, the house suddenly became quiet. For the first time in years, I had time for myself. I thought it was finally my chance to do something I had always wanted. But life had other plans.
For years, I had been living with a severe back problem that often left me confined to bed. I tried everything I could think of, including allopathy, homeopathy and several other treatments, but nothing gave me lasting relief. The pain had become a part of my everyday life.
Someone I knew suggested acupuncture. I wasn’t convinced. The thought of needles was intimidating, and after so many failed treatments, I wasn’t expecting much. But I decided to give it one last chance.
Within four sessions, my pain had reduced dramatically. For the first time in years, I felt like myself again. It wasn’t just the physical relief that stayed with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how something I had been so hesitant to try had changed my life.
That experience made me curious. I went back to my doctor and asked what it would take to learn acupuncture myself. I enrolled in a diploma course, studied with complete dedication and started my practice soon after.
Within two years of graduating, I had treated several thousand people. The greatest reward wasn’t building a practice. It was hearing patients tell me they could finally live without pain, return to work or enjoy time with their families again. Every time someone thanked me, I was reminded of the person who had once helped me when I had almost lost hope.
For years, I encouraged my children to build their identities through education and a profession because I knew what it felt like to put your own aspirations aside. Becoming an acupuncturist later in life gave me something I never expected: the chance to build an identity of my own.
Today, I continue to practise acupuncture with the same purpose that brought me here in the first place, to help someone find the relief I was once searching for myself.”
— Arpitha Vanama, Acupuncturist