Oriental Medicine is big everywhere, but especially in the east where it has been practiced for over 2000 years. Acupuncture is the form of Oriental Medicine in which needles are inserted into the body and manipulated in such a way to circulate the blood and relieve a number of ailments, as well as help with reproduction (no thanks), weight loss (yes, please), and pain relief (where do I sign?).
I wanted to see an acupuncturist because my feet have been in intense pain for a while. In the states, I sat most of my day ever since I can remember. For transportation, I've always had access to cars or buses (with information in English). I would take my transportation to and from work, walk a few minutes into the building, and sit down. In college, I did a lot of walking, but only in short spurts to and from class, and for no longer than 10 minutes at a time. In Korea, I walk everywhere, and I stand up 7 hours a day while teaching. I can't get out of standing while teaching. As far as transportation goes, sure I can take a taxi, and I do when I am going anywhere that would take over 30 minutes of walking, because 30 minutes of walking is entirely too far to go somewhere on foot. I can take the bus, but I have only done that once and with the help of a Korean. The bus stops have numbers, but the stop descriptions are in Hangul, and while I can read Hangul, it's not worth the effort to me. Also, most places to which I would want to take a bus are along the subway line, so I just take the subway. It's cheaper and more fun. But usually I don't need transportation at all, because everywhere I need to go is within walking distance. Until my feet hurt with the kind of intensity that makes me feel like I'm walking on nubs. Then walking distance must be redefined.
Unfortunately, I live in Korea and walking distance cannot be redefined. Taxi drivers get annoyed when taking someone only a short distance when it seems they could have walked instead. I'm not confident in my bus skills. And walking is just a part of every day life. We all have to deal with it.
So today, I walked myself five blocks to see an acupuncturist to help with the pain I am experiencing in my feet. When I got there, the clinic door was open, but I was informed that the clinic had closed at 2pm. It was about 2:30. Bummer.
The receptionist tried to ask me what was wrong, but a nice man who knew a little English was paying, so he translated for us. A minute or so later, the doctor appeared and asked me what was wrong, and walked me back to his office. (This is why I love Korea. The people here are so nice.) Even though the clinic had been closed for thirty minutes, the doctor took me back, talked to me about the pain I am experiencing, and treated me.
The treatment was new for me, but I've heard it can help so I wanted to give it a try. The doctor tapped about 20 needles into my feet - tops, sides, bottoms - manipulated the needles around a bit while applying pressure to certain areas of my feet, and then let me rest for 15 minutes with a hot lamp shining on my feet. During the whole process of sticking the needles in my feet, I only felt about 6 of them. It was a very minor prick, nothing painful at all.
I wanted to take some pictures, but as the clinic was already closed and the doctor was treating me out of the kindness of his heart (and the look of pain on my face, I'm sure), I did not feel it was appropriate.
When the treatment was through, a timer rang and the doctor removed the needles from my feet. (The most painful part of the entire thing was the disinfectant swab over the tiny holes left by the removed needles. Still, that was barely anything to speak of.) I walked to the front of the clinic and paid my W7,000 (about $7) and was advised to return about once a week for the next several weeks.
I took a taxi home, and thankfully the driver understood enough English to know that I was in pain and didn't want to walk the five blocks back to my apartment. I got out of the cab, walked upstairs, and relaxed for a few minutes. When I got up to walk to my computer and write this blog, most of my pain was gone.
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