Ayurvedic massage

For the last 6 months I have been having trouble with my knee. It was getting a lot worse and I was having difficulty walking and unable to get up and down stairs - having to go baby style, one stair at a time. I had seen 2 orthopaedic doctosr in Goa, had an X-ray, MRI scan and was given medication. There was no improvement so I decided to consult an Ayurvedic Doctor in Cochin. Ayurvedic medicine is traditional medicine native to India. I was prescribed 2 types of tablets which contain many different types of herbs and also a series of Ayurvedic massage. You are massaged with hot medicated oils and then have a steam bath with medicaterd vapours. As we were leaving India the next day I was only able to have one full body massage treatment. I was told to return for the massage in 2 hours. I have often had massage in the UK and really enjoy it so I was looking really forward to it.
Believe me, this was very different. There was no soft lighting and music, privacy to undress and only exposing the part of the body that is being massaged. I was taken into a room by a lady dressed in a sari and a big rubber apron. there was no soft massage table but a bit plastic rectangular table with the sides about 4 inches high - almost like a big shallow plastic bath on a high plinth. She indicated that I remove my clothes while she stood there. I stripped down to my bra and knickers and she pointed at me to take off my bra. A bit red in the face, I did what I was told but there was worse to come. Braless, she then pointed at my knickers. I thought she was having a laugh but she was deadly serious. Horrified, I removed my knickers thinking things couldn't get any worse - wrong. She then got a paper loin cloth and told me to straddle my legs so that she could put the cloth between them and secure it round my waist.
She told me to sit in a chair, and to add insult to injury, it was facing a mirror. So now I can see myself in the mirorr, naked except for a wee tiny piece of cloth, not even covering my pubic bone or buttocks! While I sat there horrified she heated up the medicated oil over a gas burner and I'm thinking 'how hot is that going to be'. Fortunately it was not too hot. She started by massaging my head and also pulling her fingers down through my hair with quite a bit of force - not enough to scalp me but not far off it. She then told me to climb onto the plastic bath. At first she was gentle but soon started getting stuck in. No part of my body was sacred - legs, buttocks, back, tummy, boobs, face and even my ears. Due to the oil and the plastic bath I was sliding all over the place.
Next I had to sit in a steam bath with medicated vapours for 20 minutes. I sat on a small stool, encased in a wooden bath with a small hole at the top where my head was fortunately exposed. It was really weird and I kept thinking that the stool was going to topple and I was going to garrotte myself. I have never sweated as much ever before. She asked me if I was enjoying it and I politely said I was. 'Oh well, I'll give you a bit extra time then' she said. I couldn't believe it!
She finally let me out of prison and told me to have a shower and then it was all over. I must say that when I walked out of there I don't think I have ever felt that relaxed in my life. I went home and slept for hours and for the next 24 hours I felt completely drained. I have now been taking the medication she gave me for 10 days and not only can I walk on flat surfaces but I can walk up and down stairs. The only downside is that one of the herbs in the medication is also used to treat severe loss of appetite so now I can't stop eating. At the rate I'm eating I will eat so much that I'll become obese, put extra strain on my knee and the problem will re-occur!!
On a more serious note maybe we put too much faith in Western medicine and should consider alternative forms of therapy.