I had been taking ayurvedic medication for my knee since seeing the ayurvedic doctor in Cochin in India and it was improving. After 4 weeks in Malaysia I ran out of my supply and the medicine was not available in Malaysia. My knee gradually started getting painful and swollen again so Lee Sun suggested that I consult the Chinese Medicine Doctor along the road as he was very good. I don't know if I am getting older or doctors are getting a lot younger looking, but he looked like a teenager. He recommended a course of acupuncture. My face must have said it all as I am terrified of needles - i.e. someone coming at ME with a needle, not the other way round. He duly ignored my look of horror, just smiled at me and preceded to tell me via his sister who spoke English that I was to take medicine for 4 days, come back and if no noticeable improvement I would need acupuncture. He then made up a concoction that I was to take 3 times a day and tasted foul. There was a slight improvement after 4 days but he still recommended acupuncture. So, braving my fears, I agreed.
It was nothing like a thought it would be. He put 4 needles around the knee, one on my ankle and one on the top of my foot. I didn't even feel the needles going in so I was feeling quite happy with myself, although I still couldn't bring myself to look down and see them sticking out of my skin. Just when I was feeling quite relaxed, in he came to manipulate the needles - I never knew I had signed up for that! Some of them I didn't feel being manipulated but when he manipulated the needle that was closest to the site of pain, and that was a few inches away, I nearly jumped out of the chair. What was really bizarre was that when he manipulated one of the needles at the side of my knee I felt a sharp cramping pain down the full length of my calf. I let out a squeal thinking something was wrong but the doctor just smiled at me and nodded his head - obviously he was expecting it but you'd think he would have thought to tell me - well I suppose the fact that he didn't speak any English was a good excuse as any, for not warning me. Also when he manipulated the needle in my ankle, I felt the sensation on the top of my foot just below my toes. It was really bizarre.
I had a few sessions, some similar to above and some where he attached a TEN'S machine to the needles. Once when I went there my knee was a bit swollen as I had been doing a lot of walking the previous day. He didn't give me acupuncture that day but instead he applied a paste to my knee, covered it in a bandage and told me to keep it on for 8 hours. The paste he put on my knee would not look out of place inside a child's nappy! After 8 hours the swelling had definately gone down. My knee definately improved so he stopped the acupuncture and gave me oral tablets - at least they didn't taste foul. Before we left Melaka I bought enough of the tablets to last me until we went back to India.
Not to be outdone with me getting lots of medical attention, once again in Asia, Colin developed a problem with his teeth - he must have seen more Indian Dentists in his lifetime than he has UK Dentists. We were sitting watching a movie with Christophe and Lee Sun. Lee Sun was passing around peanuts and, as Colin bit into one, a filling in one of his front teeth fell out taking a large piece of tooth with it. Luckily he didn't have any pain but the next day he went to the dentist to be told that it wasn't possible to put in another filling and that he would need a crown. The dentist was really good and told Colin that he could make the crown but it would be very expensive and, because we would be back in India in a few weeks (hopefully, if we ever get our passports back) to wait until then and it would be a third of the price. He said that the broken tooth would be fine until then. The only problem was that he looked like a gangster when he was grinning! He did threaten to get a gold crown just to make the picture complete. Fortunately he wasn't serious, but I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if that is what he had done.
It was nothing like a thought it would be. He put 4 needles around the knee, one on my ankle and one on the top of my foot. I didn't even feel the needles going in so I was feeling quite happy with myself, although I still couldn't bring myself to look down and see them sticking out of my skin. Just when I was feeling quite relaxed, in he came to manipulate the needles - I never knew I had signed up for that! Some of them I didn't feel being manipulated but when he manipulated the needle that was closest to the site of pain, and that was a few inches away, I nearly jumped out of the chair. What was really bizarre was that when he manipulated one of the needles at the side of my knee I felt a sharp cramping pain down the full length of my calf. I let out a squeal thinking something was wrong but the doctor just smiled at me and nodded his head - obviously he was expecting it but you'd think he would have thought to tell me - well I suppose the fact that he didn't speak any English was a good excuse as any, for not warning me. Also when he manipulated the needle in my ankle, I felt the sensation on the top of my foot just below my toes. It was really bizarre.
I had a few sessions, some similar to above and some where he attached a TEN'S machine to the needles. Once when I went there my knee was a bit swollen as I had been doing a lot of walking the previous day. He didn't give me acupuncture that day but instead he applied a paste to my knee, covered it in a bandage and told me to keep it on for 8 hours. The paste he put on my knee would not look out of place inside a child's nappy! After 8 hours the swelling had definately gone down. My knee definately improved so he stopped the acupuncture and gave me oral tablets - at least they didn't taste foul. Before we left Melaka I bought enough of the tablets to last me until we went back to India.
Not to be outdone with me getting lots of medical attention, once again in Asia, Colin developed a problem with his teeth - he must have seen more Indian Dentists in his lifetime than he has UK Dentists. We were sitting watching a movie with Christophe and Lee Sun. Lee Sun was passing around peanuts and, as Colin bit into one, a filling in one of his front teeth fell out taking a large piece of tooth with it. Luckily he didn't have any pain but the next day he went to the dentist to be told that it wasn't possible to put in another filling and that he would need a crown. The dentist was really good and told Colin that he could make the crown but it would be very expensive and, because we would be back in India in a few weeks (hopefully, if we ever get our passports back) to wait until then and it would be a third of the price. He said that the broken tooth would be fine until then. The only problem was that he looked like a gangster when he was grinning! He did threaten to get a gold crown just to make the picture complete. Fortunately he wasn't serious, but I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if that is what he had done.
No comments:
Post a Comment