After endless nagging by well-meaning frens and personally running out of patience for 'natural healing', i sought out a few sinsehs recommended by frens..one in yishun, one in bt batok..hmm..not exactly very near to me..
I had half-convinced myself to visit one the next day when i was making one of my regular visits to the library. As i was walking in, i spotted this familiar-looking uncle walking out from the library..'Hello uncle, you're the..the..oh, the sinseh from next block!' As luck would have it, he's actually a die da yi shi(so i thought) whom i met some time back when searching for a new office unit..'Uncle, i injured my shoulder, can i come see you?' Uncle sinseh :' Sure, you want to come now?' 'Ok!'
And so, i followed Uncle Sinseh back to his clinic a block away..the moment i approached his clinic, my heartbeat increased a little..cos his shop signage says ' Accupuncture Centre'..
Inside his tiny little consultation room, he asked for the details of my injury..'Ok, put your arm here..i will take your pulse(ba mai)' So exciting..i never really visited a TCM before..ba mai sounds very 'wu xia xiao shuo'..
Next he proceeded to stretch my arm..tug it a bit..swing it around(rather vigouriously). After repeating this drama for a few rounds, he declared 'I already put your shoulder back into position'..and i didn't even realise it was 'out of position'..Uncle continued 'But it's not totally ok yet, as there are some internal injuries..it's inflammed..let me do some accupuncture for you, it'll really speed up the recovery process' By this time, i guess there's no way i could say no, so i could only meekly ask, 'will it hurt?' Uncle assured me it'll only feel like ant bites..i hope it's not the red ants' bite..
Uncle took out his needles..and started poking, no, tapping is more like it, the needles onto my shoulder..5 needles and 20 secs later, i felt this intense nauseous feeling..'Uncle, i want to puke..' And he swiftly grabbed a plastic bag(as though he already anticipated this) and passed it to me. My cough isn't helping and i buried my face into the plastic bag..I think uncle realised that there's no way he can proceed and removed the needles 'Are you not feeling well?' By now, i can feel my face turning white 'Ya, having flu and am on medication' 'Oh maybe that's why..come over here and rest a bit' and motioned me over to the bed. I weakly climbed onto the bed and laid there as though i just finished a major op.. Oh, did i mention i was breaking out in cold sweat too??
About 15 mins later, i slowly felt life coming back to me..
'Uncle, i think i'm better now'
'Ok, let's try again'
'Again??? What if i puke again??'
'Oh no, you won't..it will only happen once'
'Err..you sure..? ok lor'
And so there i was..held 'captive' with no choice but to submit to uncle's bidding 'turn to the side..raise your shoulder a bit..' But thank goodness, there was no puking this time..
Just when i thought needles poking out from me are scary enough, he took this contraption which looked like a battery charger and announced 'i'm going to add some electricity to aid your recovery..this is as effective as coming for 2 or 3 treatments' I wanted to say i'm not really in a hurry but decided it was to no avail..
'Now i will on the electricity and you will feel some throbbing'..And sure enough, i could feel this strange sensation of electric currents dancing under my skin..'Ok, you will lie here for 40min' Wat?! 40mins..my goodness..
10 mins later, uncle popped his head in 'You're getting used to the electricity already right..can't feel it anymore right..time to increase the intensity' @_@
Yet another 10mins later, he did the same thing..by now, i was feeling quite stiff from lying on one side..i didn't dare to move too much in case it shifted the needles or wiring and i was trying to my darnest not to cough..not easy..
Trying to fish for some sympathy from fish(pun intended), i smsed her 'it's quite scary to see needles poking out from my body', her stoic reply 'You won't be able to see the needles if you keep your eyes shut' This coming from a practising nurse..sigh..
At the end of the 40mins session..i wouldn't say the soreness is completely gone..more like..it's being replaced by another kind of soreness..?! Uncle reassured me 'you'll feel better in 1 or 2 days' time, if really not better, you just come back for another session'
Hmm..i think i need to think carefully..very carefully..
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