Although it won’t be covered by your medical insurance, you may want to consider trying traditional Chinese medicinal cures during your stay in China. Keep in mind that Chinese traditional medicine is best for treating chronic conditions such as obesity, hepatitis, skin diseases, chronic pains and headaches- if you need an appendectomy we suggest going to a Western doctor.
Nonetheless, treatments such as acupuncture, herbal medicine and moxibustion (burning herbs near the skin) and suction (a suction cup made from bamboo is placed on the skin and a burning piece of cotton is briefly placed inside the cup to use up the air. As the air inside the cup cools, a partial vacuum is created). This leaves a dramatic looking but harmless red mark on the skin.
While living in South Korea, one of the founders of Footprints- Ben Glickman- badly sprained his ankle, and in a highly sceptical state was taken by a Korean friend to a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. Treatments included acupuncture and a compress made from a ground radish. To his surprise, the treatment worked and the swelling and pain subsided. While many treatments used in traditional Chinese medicine are unverifiable by western methods, or are yet to be understood completely, 5,000 years of tradition can’t be completely wrong. For more information about traditional Chinese medicine, refer to this website: http://tcm.health-info.org/
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