As we entered the building, we had to walk to the second floor. The clinic was located across from a dance studio so hip hop music with a strong bass was booming loudly. The clinic was pretty full and we had to wait for a while to be seen.
I had an initial cousuultation with the doctor. He spoke a bit of English but Jasmin came in with me to help translate. He began by asking “how did you get here?” I was slightly confused and said that I walked from my house… Jasmin laughed. I didn’t understand why but she told me that in Korea, that question also means “what’s your primary concern, or what do you want treated?” After some discussion, we agreed that he would work on my lower back (I have really been missing my chiropractor the last few weeks here).
I was led to a treatment room and was surprised when I saw 12 beds next to each other and several ladies lying down with needles dispersed amongst various body parts. This was not the typical medical room you would find back home, but rather it had a fairly ‘communal’ feel.
I laid down on the bed and a nurse lifted my shirt up and pulled my pants down a bit to expose my back. The doctor then came in and put tiny needles in my lower back, on my legs and my ankles. They put a red lamp over me and I just laid there for about 10minutes and enjoyed the warm heat from the lamp. The needles didn’t hurt at all… they’re so small you can barely feel them.
After about 10 minutes, the nurse took the needles out and then put four suction cups on my back that were attached to this machine. She turned the machine on and the cups started massaging my back. It felt so nice and relaxing… very enjoyable.
That lasted about ten more minutes and then she removed those suction cups and placed two new cups on my back. These cups weren’t attached to anything but she used a ‘reverse pump’ to suck the air out of them and they were firmly suctioned to my back. Apparently this is really healthy and is supposed to help relax the muscles.
There is an option to do this where it draws out blood (it’s supposed to remove toxins) but I don’t think I can handle that.. . it seems a little intense.
The whole treatment lasted about 30 minutes and when I went to pay, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it only cost about five dollars! I’m writing this blog about ten hours later and I can honestly say that I’m feeling pretty good. Maybe acupuncture will be my new thing!
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