Thursday, September 11, 2008

More TCM


I experienced yet another first in my journey through TCM... yesterday the doctor tried out cupping. Basically what happens is the doctor heats the air inside a glass jar quickly (with, and then the jar is placed against the skin, creating a vacuum and sucking the skin and muscle up into the jar. This is to release the toxins and congestion in an area. This process has a tendency to leave some pretty nasty hickeys on your person. Supposedly, the darker the bruising, the more toxins there are in the area. If my "love bites" are any indication of this, then I would have to say this is true. I had cups all along my spine, from my neck to my tailbone, but the only ones that seriously bruised were over my lower lungs.

I've been having some pretty serious coughing/breathing difficulties for the past 4 weeks. After this treatment yesterday, I figured I'd better rule out pneumonia. So off Iwent to the hospital to get a chest x-ray. Good news, no pneumonia. Bad news, all this living in heavily polluted countries (Kosovo, India, China) is doing a real number on my asthma, which used to only pop up for an hour or so twice a year. It seems that what I thought was a cold, was actually a 4-week long asthma attack. Oops. I'm on an assortment of 8 different steroids, antibiotics, inhalers, antihistimines and anti-asthma crap. I may be feeling a bit tweaky, but man, after one dose of the steroids, I slept through the night for the first time in weeks, and I only coughed twice today!! You have absolutely no idea how exciting that it for me right now.

I feel a little like I cheated, and didn't give the TCM a chance to really do it's thing. But I'm sorry, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was ready to do anything to make it stop. I say attack the thing from all directions!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm not buying it those are hickies! J/k