my trip to the reflexologist

#1. Giant watching the old man work on my shoulders. This was not a private experience as Giant and Jeff were watching the whole time and Giant was translating. Had people been waiting to see the old man they would have also enjoyed watching my pain. He worked right in his living room and had a row chairs set up against wall as a waiting room.


#2. Here he is about to crack my neck. Giant kept saying "relax, you're head is not yours...you're head is not yours" which I think meant "the pain isn't yours" or just give the complete weight and control of your head over to him. Either way it was a successful crack. You'll notice that he's missing the tip of one of his fingers here... I don't think it effects his abilities at all.



#3. Here he is finding all of the sore and tender spots in my arm and digging his fingers right into them.









#4. Here is is working on my feet. What this picture doesn't show is the piece of carved wood that he was often using to scrape against my foot.






Maybe it was fate that had me at the massage therapist last weekend having my body cracked and bent and dug into - as I think it was preparation for my trip to the reflexologist today.

The massage last weekend helped my lower back a bit but I was in a lot of pain with stiffness in my shoulders, headaches, and pain in my jaw throughout the week. Giant told me about an old man that he and his wife Rita have been going to for a couple of years. He's 80 years old and a reflexologist who often makes his patients cry. Giant and Rita both swear by the work he's done on them. They both had some problems that when they consulted western medicine were told that nothing was wrong with them - but nothing wrong with them didn't explain the symptoms they were suffering with. Giant warned me that it REALLY hurt and that when he had taken foreign teachers there before they hated it and never went back. I told him I was up for the experience and that I'd like to visit the old man. When I talked to Rita about it she said "oh no it really hurts - are you sure?" My students also couldn't believe I was going to go as they never went because they were afraid of the pain.

But not me! I looked at it this way. The pain that I was suffering from right now was constant and was only getting worse - a trip to the old man wouldn't last more than an hour and chances are it would make the pain I was feeling all the time a little bit better. I also think - sure it hurts but the Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years - why would they put themselves through such pain if it didn't work?! So off we went.

Giant first took us to the hospital so Jeff could have his bandages changed on his toe wound and then off we went. When we arrived at his house there was not a waiting line - thank goodness. So he went right to work on me. He had barely even touched my left foot when (this is all translated through Giant) he said that I had a bad digestive system - that I have lots of problems there. Wow - was he ever RIGHT!!! Then as he worked his way around he said that I had neck and back problems, suffered from headaches, sore eyes and fatigue. Yep, yep yep! He went on to say that I have troubles with my lower back - the spot he found on my foot for this one actually had my yelping and wincing with pain. He would just barely touch his finger against my skin and I was squirming and almost brought to tears - I think he was laughing a little as he did it actually because it was such an easy spot to get at that gave such a huge reaction from me. He also told me that I have a weak bladder and weak kidneys (they're connected on the same chi channel). This makes a lot of sense to me because I have to run to the toilet every break and between every class. I always have to pee!!

He went on to work on my hands, arms, shoulders, head and back. He worked at the base of my skull for a long time - and oh man does he have strong fingers. It hurt alot and I was often wincing, groaning and yelping - but I tried to breathe deeply and keep myself as relaxed as possible.

He said that I was the bravest foreigner he's ever worked on. Giant agreed. They both were very impressed with how well I handled it. The old man told Giant that because I was allowing him to work very deeply in my muscles that I would definitely see results after just the first visit. He said that my chi (Chi is your life energy - the Chinese believe that there are 12 chi channels in your body and your energy flows along these lines - if there is a blockage in one of the channels and your chi can't flow that is when you start having symptoms of sickness). So anyways - he said that my chi was blocked at the base of my neck and that is a part of my headaches, pain and fatigue. He also said I'm not sleeping very well and that I need to try and sleep more - he said that that will help my kidneys as well.

It was truly an amazing experience. When I got home I layed down and slept for two hours - it had exhausted me. My head is feeling quite light right now - my feet and neck are very tender in a few places - but I would wonder what was wrong with me if they weren't tender as he was working so deeply into my muscles.

He said that I should feel good tomorrow. So - we'll have to see how it goes. If I am feeling better tomorrow I'll definitely consider going back to see him. It cost me $300 NT which is about $12 CDN. Pretty inexpensive by our standards.
I have a real liking for Chinese medicine and I'm so glad that I can experience it here!
Michelle