Acupuncture in Korea

     If you work at a school, you are probably exposed to hundreds of different bugs. Every day, some student or teacher or administrator is coughing, sick, or wearing a mask.  Last week was no exception. After feeling a sore throat, I decided to brave bad communication and went to the acupuncture clinic that my co-teacher showed me a week or so before.

     By the way, in Korea, if someone says, “I need to go to the hospital,” they generally just mean doctor, not an emergency situation. That was a little confusing at first.  Also in Korea( or maybe just in Gyeongju), if you say you want to go to the acupuncturist, they will ask you, “Acupuncture for what? Are you sick somewhere? What hurts?  What’s wrong?” After getting this several times, by several different people, I proceeded to explain to my co-teacher that in the US, I would get acupuncture for digestive issues and also for general fatigue. In fact, after taking Chinese herbs for so long, I felt my muscles loosening up and I didn't need chiropractic treatments anymore. It’s not that something major was wrong, it was more to feel the best I could feel and to avoid major complications later. I suppose lots of people do go to the acupuncturist for body issues, especially after accidents or things like that, but I went for other reasons.

     Anyway, back at the clinic, I walked in, took my shoes off( probably put them in the wrong spot now that I think about it), put on slippers, and took a few hesitant steps up to the receptionist. I pulled out my Korean National health insurance paper (not a plastic card, by the way, which is way more convenient) and told her my name. Then, I tried to tell her I had prepared a symptom list just like I was asked last time…unfortunately, my co-teacher had said the translations ( from Google Translate…so go figure) were a little off and that I should just try to talk to him. Okay. So, I sat until summoned to the doctor. I did an awkward bow, said hello in Korean and sat down. He seemed nice and made it a point to tell me that his English wasn’t very good. I said, “That’s okay,” and told him my Korean was bad…in Korean.” Then he asked me, “What’s your main complaint.” I had to think about that for a moment. I went for the stomach/intestines and threw in the side effect of tight shoulders. So, it was a mixture of hand gestures and a few Korean and a few English words and we got it handled. For the longest time, I've always wondered how people travel and get along in a country where they don’t speak the language. Now I know. A few people here and there will speak a few words of English, but for the most part, it’s gestures and pointing and Korean here and there.  It seems to be working, but I need to up my Korean. My co teacher keeps reminding me that I've only been here for about a month. She has a point. But, I still feel like I should be speaking more Korean.

     After talk-gesturing with the doctor, he led me over to a chiropractic-like table and did some simple adjustments. I was not expecting that at all. I was also bit curious to why he didn't take my pulse or look at my tongue, but I went along with it.

     Next, he led me over to a patient table surrounded by a privacy curtain and I hopped up, pulled up my pant legs and shirt to my mid- section, and laid myself down. He pressed on my stomach in a certain spot, asked me if it hurt and then proceeded to put in the needles. He popped needles into my legs, feet, abdomen, and hands. He was so fast! It was: unwrap the needle and pop, unwrap the needle and pop. I could feel them working right away. Then, he asked me if I was okay in Korean, which was funny because if he thought I wouldn't understand, I would think that “are you okay?” might be in his English repertoire, but luckily I knew what he said, so I could answer in Korean. He left me for 15 minutes and I just chilled out on the table, eavesdropping on the conversation next to me where a guy was talking on his phone pretty loudly. Unfortunately, it’s not proper eavesdropping if you only pick up every third word or so. Let’s call it practice.

                                    What the herbs came in

     I felt great afterwards, though a couple spots on my body were a little sore( not where the needles went).  That was intriguing. After all of that, I only spent 7,200 won which is about $6.47 USD right now for both the treatment and two days’ worth of Chinese herbs. I’m not sure how much it would have cost me without insurance, but that’s a great deal!