Pro Baseball Player turns to Acupuncture for relief.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 10:57AM 
Colorado
Coors Field has made plenty of pitchers want to stick a fork in their eye. But needles in their body?
After a forgettable finish last season, Rockies right-hander Jason Hammel turned to acupuncture and herbs. He did so at his wife’s suggestion, openly searching for a way to combat a dead arm and lacking energy that he traced to cholesterol medication.
“The medication worked, but one of the side effects was body soreness. Bottom line is that I didn’t pitch well. No excuses. But I wanted to get off the medication,” said Hammel, who went 10-9 with a 4.81 ERA last season. “My wife suggested that I try acupuncture and I was like, ‘Come on.’ But I was astonished.”
The morning after his first session in Providence, R.I., Hammel couldn’t believe how good he felt. Not only were his muscles relaxed, his energy level was redlining.
“Usually at 8 in the morning, I am dragging. It was amazing,” Hammel said.