Acupuncture

As the week filled with great politics, horrible war, suprising sports progressed at its natural pace, my world was moving very slow and on two crutches. Saturday morning came and my ankle had shown very few signs of improvement and I was tired of limping. As the earlier videos gruesomely depict, I have significant and total bruising from my achilles to my toes. It's not a good looking foot.

When 고 returned from work after a long and busy Saturday morning at the office, she came home with a fresh approach to the increasingly interfering injury: acupuncture. I was immediately intrigued and, after finding a nearby clinic, we left the house. The clinic was very nice and smelled great (like food, but I couldn't figure out what kind). The walls were lined with awards on one side and herbs on the other. Although acupuncture is completely legit, I kind of felt like I was seeing a holistic healer. Nonetheless, they took my weight, height and blood pressure. All good.

After a brief discussion with the doctor and my translator (also my fiance), it was decided that we could go ahead with the poking. I laid down on a table and upon completion of some painful excercises, she began the process. I wasn't sure if it would hurt or not. I know that it usually doesn't hurt, but since my ankle was HUGE and filled with dried blood and bruises I was not that optimistic. However, it did not really hurt. There was a little sting, but those needles are so thin that it wouldn't have been painful in any situation. They put the needles in and then they added these things that burn your skin just slightly so you skin can react to it and heal itself. Apparently, I needed this because my skin was very tight due to the bruising and there was a chance that it would have stayed in this odd puffy stage if heat was not applied.

I was instructed to lay there for awhile and that in a few minutes I would start to feel a burning sensation. It was unformtable though. My feet were on this awful padded elevating triangle thing that was digging into my achilles tendon, but I was cautious to move because of, you know, the needles in my foot.

After the burning had stopped and the egg-timer went off, they came in and removed the needles. We stood up, paid five bucks and left. 고 was proud of me for doing it and for "being brave", so she took me to Pizza Hut. While it may sound childish, I was very excited to go there. Afterall, I think an adult can also be rewarded with pizza. But, when we entered the Pizza Hut I was greeted by three screaming students who ran up to me yelling, "George Teacher" over and over again. This kind of took that adult feeling away.

To wrap up, within hours of the acupunture, the swelling had gone down, the bruising had subsided and I could walk without crutches. I'm not sure how much it costs in America, but you guys should try it sometime. I'm sold...

Here's a video...