Pain and Relief
The one thing that I miss most from my visit to China were the incredible massages. Since coming back, there’s a noticeable tightness in my shoulders and middle back, both of which I think can only be alleviated through deep massage therapy. But they can get awfully expensive here in the States, not the case while in China.
I’ve recently heard this interesting counterpoint – why on Earth would anyone want to pay for having someone else’s touch? This is a thought-provoking question that I’ve been wondering about since having my massage recent withdrawals. I miss that therapeutic feeling of minor pain during the massage, and the luxurious relief the night of and the morning after.
Which leads me to the next thought about the existence of pain-relief therapies, which seem to cause pain when applied, but offers bodily bliss hours afterwards. I then began applying this pain now, relief later mentality in other forms of Chinese healing, such as Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicines that taste as bitter as death, but make you feel ten times better a few days after. I think of them like modern potions. Interesting seeing how we see dramatic brews from ancient Western-civilized alchemists using the strangest ingredients for their potions. Eye of newt might be too stereotypical though. Bleh.
So why have we relegated to using treatments that aren’t so painful/distasteful/unpleasant, but instead are “sugar-coated.” Now, I’m still not a fan of downing a shot of Robitussin, but perhaps these modern remedies are made less bitter and less painful to increase their compliance?
Anyway, I feel there is a usefulness to the yuck. Perhaps it’s a means to dissuade unhealthy lifestyles by making the cure for disease as sickening as sickness itself. Somehow, that seems like an interesting preventative way to keeping yourself healthy, rather than relying on medicine itself as a quick fix.
