Back to Reality

After literally years of avoiding my issues of a dodgy back and sporadic neck and shoulder pain, I finally bit the bullet today and hit up the doctor for a diagnosis.

Having the distinct feeling that the problem is linked to old sporting injuries coupled with my shockingly bad posture, I felt my first port of call should be to what my wife calls her 'herb doctor'.
I suppose we in England would call it 'alternative' or 'Chinese' medicine, and whilst it may be a foreign-fangled or mostly ignored area of treatment for us, it is entirely normal over here in Korea.
Seen by most as equally as important as 'western' traetments, many Koreans have a herb doctor, who they see regularly for general checkups and lifestlye recommendations, or the treatment of any ongoing ailments they may have. That said however, many will visit the 'western' doctor instead, and perhaps have removed the idea of the herb doctor from their life altogether.

Ever since a friend I was visiting in Canada performed acupuncture on my painful recurring shin splints (and cleared them right up) I've been an exponent of the needle-based treatment. She is studying to be a naturopathic doctor, and what i like about it is how it is not seen as a quick fix, but rather a way of helping your body heal itself through changes in diet, certain exercises, or alternative treatments. I find with western medicine that the solution can sometimes be to treat the symptoms (often with the use of drugs) rather than the root cause of the problem, and whilst of course naturopathy is not a replacement for conventional treatments, i feel the two can work well side-by-side - sometimes the western way will work best, whilst others the Chinese ethos is a better solution.

The diagnosis from the doc was a tad shocking, but at the same time not unexpected. She spoke passable English and her description of the condition of my back was to call it 'a disaster'. Bad posture has caused excess muscle in my shoulders, which in turn forces the shoulders to be more slumped, which in turn causes worse posture...and so on. Tendonitis is rampant, my spine is curved, and one bone of which i forget the name is supposed to run parrallel to my spine, but is in fact running away from it at a forty-five degree angle (when she pressed on it i almost hit the ceiling).
She didn't say as much, but i could tell from her demeanor that she was shocked and amazed to see such a ridiculous mess of a back, especially as Koreans both young and old are perhaps the planet's most flexible humans.
As she ran her thumbs over the areas she said were most effected, she would press her thumb into the bad spots and the pain was excruciating - these are areas where I should be feeling no pain at all. Just these painful 'thumb massages' caused quite a lot of pain relief, and the bad areas of stiffness cleared up significantly.

The good news from all this is that these problems are totally reversable. With regular acupuncture, some simple exercises and, a bit more dauntingly, regular yoga, my body can rectify all of these faults.
My wife is pretty awesome at the whole yoga thing, and I've wanted to get into it for a while. I've always knocked on the head sharpish when I've tried though - the sheer inflexibility of my muscles and limbs making it basically seem impossible.
Now though, I have that badly needed kick up the arse, because to do nothing is to set myself up for some pretty spectacular problems as I age.
And if this guy can do it and change his life completely, then I have no excuse. (I highly recommend you click that link - it is definitely the greatest thing you'll see today).

The treatment above is where cup-like implements are heated on a flame and placed on the affected area (creating a kind of suction) to encourage blood flow. Blood is then drawn to reduce inflamation (i think), and they then followed that with two rounds of acupuncture.
I also have some brief stretching exercises I need to do on an hourly basis, and the sooner I get my yoga on, the better.



Change yourself and fortune will change with you.
- Portugese Proverb



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