Over four weeks ago at the Haidong Gumdo competition (Oct 31st) I tripped on the stairs and badly sprained my left leg. My left ankle was swollen badly by at least six centimetres on the outside.
I got a half cast which I finally discard a fortnight ago on Saturday (13th Nov)
My left ankle is still sore on the bit of the ankle that sticks out on the inside.
I have been going to the oriental medicince ‘hospital’ or clinic. Cost is 4,200 won or about US $4.50 per sesson. Compare this to around $50 in Australia !
The treatment in shown in the photo above is designed to reduce the swelling.
The treatment procedure is normally
1. Accupuncture to help the injured area.
2. Then a big machine is wheeled in. Pads attached to the machine are fastened to the injured area and moistened. Then for about 10 minues I get small electrical shocks through the pads.
3. Sometimes and this is what the picture shows, the ‘bad blood’ must be removed.
Since my ankle was the area having a problem they need to reduce the size of the swelling. How?
By first, pricking the area with a small pin until my ankle was bleeding from multiple puncture wounds. This is as painful as it sounds.
Then a plastic cup is attached the wounded area and on top of the cup are hand operated vacum pump is operated.
Result: The air is removed fromt the cup which creates a low pressure zone over the pin punctures which then draws the blood into the cup. This is what you see in the picture.
And believe it or not it works! The first time I had this done my ankle was smaller by 2 or 3 cms the next day.