Chinese Medicine

What’s wrong?

怎么了？

I have a headache. These past few days I’ve been living off painkillers. Man, I feel like my head is going to explode.

我头疼。这几天全靠止痛药撑着。唉，感觉脑袋要炸了。

You should get acupuncture treatment. My mom was always having headache issues and it was acupuncture that cured her.

你应该去针灸。我妈以前总头疼，就是针灸治好的。

The results are too slow. On top of that, just the thought of smoking needles poking into my flesh frightens me.

效果太慢了。而且一想到那些针扎进肉里，我就害怕。

They don’t just randomly stick you, they find your pressure points. The heat allows the body to immediately respond to the treatment, restoring the body’s ”chi”.

他们不是乱扎的，是找穴位。热能让身体立即反应，恢复‘气’。

But I get scared the moment I see a needle. How could I stand having needles in my body for hours on end?

但我一看到针就害怕。怎么能忍好几小时身上插着针呢？

The needles are very thin, and as long as the doctor’s technique is good, and the patient himself is relaxed, it won’t hurt–on the contrary it will actually alleviate pain. Now there are high-tech needles that are micro thin; they don’t hurt at all. However, if you are really scared of acupuncture, scraping or cupping are also options.

针很细，只要医生手法好，病人自己放松，就不会疼，反而能缓解疼痛。现在有高科技的微细针，一点都不疼。不过如果你真的怕针灸，刮痧或拔罐也行。

Scraping is too terrifying. When they finish scrapping, your body is all red, as if you were just tortured. Cupping is the same, your body ends up with red circles all over it–looks like someone beat you up.

刮痧太吓人了。刮完身上全是红的，像被虐待了一样。拔罐也一样，身上一圈圈红的，像被人打了。

This only signifies that the toxins have left the body. Actually, there is only discomfort during the treatment process. Once it’s over you feel very comfortable.

这只是表示毒素排出体外了。其实治疗过程中会有点不舒服，但结束了就很舒服。

Chinese medicine is strange. The patients are already ill, and then the doctor makes them suffer more.

中医真奇怪。病人已经病了，医生还让他们遭更多罪。

This is the only way to get at the problem. Anyway, if you want to relieve the pain, You are just going to have to be tough and do it.

这是解决问题的唯一办法。反正你要想止痛，就得狠下心来。

Forget it. I don’t want to inflict any more pain on myself. In a little while I’ll go and buy some more painkillers and take a nap.

算了。我不想再让自己受罪了。等会儿我去买点止痛药，再睡一觉。