Friday, October 4, 2013

Traditional Chinese Medicine - Traditional Theatre

A Series - 3


I developed asthma from the air and water pollution in Washington, DC. The belt from Washington to Virginia Beach is the asthma capital of the States. Adult onset asthma is worse than childhood asthma.

My wife is Chinese, and she insisted I try acupuncture. Our first stop was to a man in Silver Spring, Maryland. He had the basement converted into an office, in his split level house with a Jaguar parked in the driveway.
                                                     
His fee, which he asked for at the beginning, was $200 - cash only, please. Each subsequent visit was $55. Cash, of course. He also told my wife that she had to take his treatment. Why? Treating the spouse with herbs is necessary to help the one who is sick. Another $55 plus herbs. He kept notes about us scribbled on a pad, which he kept in a desk drawer. When I asked about his credentials, he showed us an elaborate certificate, in Mandarin. He never showed us a Maryland license.

He gave us a lecture about barbaric western medicine, and how Chinese medicine had the same results without any side effects. After all, he was a doctor in China. He couldn't be a doctor in Maryland, because he could not pay what officials wanted - "They take bribes, you know."

The herbs, which looked like twigs, were foul smelling, and made the house reek even with the windows open when we brewed them. They were vile tasting, and I finally refused any more after two cups. "He said if it tastes good, it's not effective," my wife told me. After several more visits and several hundred dollars, he admitted he could not do anything for me.       

I said to my wife, "I could have told you that for free."                                               

1 comment:

misha trotsky said...

" Acupuncture is an effective form of medical treatment that has evolved into a complete holistic health care system."

Bullshit.