Accupuncture

Date: August 29, 2006
Location: Sokcho, South Korea
People involved: Rachel Cheney, Derek Cheney, Mr. Kim, and the Chinese medicine doctor

Well, I finally broke down and did it. A few weeks ago in my advanced class, we talked about acupuncture. They said that it would be a very good way of treating my stiff shoulders (my shoulders are REALLY stiff a lot of the time). So I asked Mr. Kim about it and he said he'd take me. Well, finally we got our medical insurance--yes, you need medical insurance to get acupuncture--and he took us over yesterday morning to get treatment.

Evidently, this acupunturist is very good/popular because when we got there, there was an hour long wait. Now I'm not sure if Mr. Kim made an appointment and the doctor was running late or if Korean's just don't make appointments, but we sat there for quite a while. The funniest part was the two teenage girls who couldn't stop staring and pointing at the two strange white people in the waiting room. They tried to be subtle, but when Koreans see a white person, subtlety flies out the window. :) We get that all the time.

We finally got into the office after about an hour, and I mean we--me, Derek, and Mr. Kim. The doctor didn't speak any English, so Mr. Kim was our translator and Derek was my moral support. Mr. Kim's pretty good at English, but he kept saying sick instead of hurt (When do your shoulders feel sick?). It was a little confusing. The doctor checked my pulse, felt my shoulders, and then felt my jaw as I opened and closed it. We sort of did a "do as I'm doing" game since we didn't speak the same language. I felt really silly, but he stayed completely professional and smiley the whole time. He imediately noticed the "imbalance" a.k.a. my TMJ and told me that was the cause of all my problems.

He then felt around my shoulders and started sticking me with needles. What a strange sensation! You can't really feel the needles go in but you can feel them when he starts moving them around in your muscle. It sounds horrible, but it's really not that bad. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but once I got used to it, it got easier. He stuck me about 4-6 times and then rubbed my shoulders really hard. I felt pretty good right after the treatment; my shoulders felt really really loose. They tensed up again later in the day, but it wasn't as bad as before.