Oriental Medicine: Part 4

To give a little update on the oriental medicine/acupuncture, it has been working quite well.  I will admit that a few days I was really wondering if it was working because I had one day where I had bad heartburn and felt really fatigued.  However, I was very impressed when I went in for a treatment that day.  I couldn't translate to tell him the issue since I didn't have my phone in my hand, but all he did was check my pulse and asked to look at my tongue and he said "no energy".  I don't know what "mapping" he did for the needles that day but it certainly gave quick results!

The one main thing I noticed with acupuncture is that it takes away any stress.  When I'm done, I often feel like I just finished a yoga session -- calm, relaxed, and tired.

I did ask him about getting treatment for seasonal allergies, but the procedures involves sticking a needle into the side of your nostril, moving it a bit, and then taking it out then do the other side.  It then causes the nose to bleed, so you blow all the blood out.  I would've had to do that procedure 10 times over 10 days (like this treatment).  Needless to say, I turned that one down.

Oriental Medicine: Part 3

To give an update on my oriental medicine/acupuncture -- it has been working fairly well though, of course, I have to watch diet along with the treatments.  I have felt a lot more "balanced" than I was when I first came in for treatment.  At this point, the majority of the time I don't feel the needles at this point in the same way as I did at first.  The first two times it felt a bit more sore and tender.  However, I will admit today there was a spot or two that was uncomfortable for a little while.  

Today I kept my phone in my pocket so I could take a picture to show what some of this looks like.  Prior to the acupuncture treatment, they apply heat to the area.  Naturally, they don't use just a simple heating pad but rather this heated-pot looking thing with some sort of incense that they light and put on my stomach with just a little cover the size of a napkin underneath.  I lay there on the heated table (traditional Korean style) with this pot on my stomach with additional heat being pointed at my stomach above the pot.  The smell of the smoke is actually quite relaxing, so I normally take a little nap for the 20 or so minutes that I lay there before they do the acupuncture.  When they do put the needles in (which are actually quite small and thin -- certainly not the size needle for when you get a shot or blood drawn), they keep the heated lamp above the area.

Winter in Korea: Heated Floors

I must say that the idea of heated floors is quite an amazing invention.  Since heat rises, it keeps the room warm AND keeps your feet warm (a problem I would always have in the states).

The down side: You don't have it in every room.  You'll have it in one room of your apartment, but then either need a room heater or something to keep warm in the other rooms of your apartment.

Also, in some schools Koreans will tend to leave windows open during the winter (why?  I have yet to come to the reasoning... but I have learned Korean logic is very different).  So you may be warm when you walk into the classrooms, but freeze whenever you walk in the hallway or go to the restroom.