The Chinese Sinseh

I was still having a dull pain in my outer knee today. I decided to pay the Chinese Sinseh (doctor) near my home a visit. It was at this clinic that I got my twisted right ankle (from playing soccer) fixed last year. As I clearly recalled, one pull and a neat twist was what set my twisted ankle back to its original position, and it took me about 1 month before I was up and running again.

The long queue formed during lunch have dwindled by the time I took a queue number. I waited for just 15min before being served by a lady sinseh. I told her my ITBS symptoms, and immediately she went about showing me a chart of the human skeletal and nervous system, and telling me the cause of my problem. She told me to lie down, facing up. In came a male doctor, who mentioned that my legs looked of the same length (I told him to check as it might cause ITBS and other associated problems). He lifted my left leg, gave a pull, and there was a crackling sound...'there' he said, 'fixed. Your knee was off position slightly, causing the nerves to rub against the bent knees when they were heated up during exercise. He then moved to the next room to attend to another patient.

The lady doctor then told me to lie over, pulled down half my pants, and said she was going to do some acupuncture. She inserted a needle into my lower buttocks, and told me to indicate if I could feel pain in my toes. I went 'huh? Am I supposed to feel pain in my toes?'. Shortly, I could feel a tingling, painful sensation to the whole left leg all the way to my toes, like I was given electric shocks...wow, it was uncomfortable, and I was sweating quite a bit... She then poked a few more kneedles around my knee regions, and while doing all these, she was explaining the procedures and about how many people with similar problems like myself have got treated successfully this way... after a while, she applied suction cups to the buttock and knee areas, which were inserted by needles...she said to suck out apparently bad blood.

I have always believed in Chinese medicine and tui-na, and although I was prepared to go for western sports medicine consultation, I wanted a relief from the Chinese doctor too. Who knows, it may just work. After the treatment, I felt very loose on my left leg. Immediately the ITB wasn't tight, and maybe because my knees has been set back to their original position. The doctor's advised me to rest for at least a week, for the 'loosened' cartilage and tendon to strengthen, before doing hard running and exercises again. A few hours later, I no longer feel any tension nor pain in my knee and ITB areas, just that little 'numbness' from the needle poke at my butt...haha. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will resolve my ITB problems, and I can continue to run again pain-free after a few days rest... Let's see.