Today we went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital, which was an interesting experience that we don’t learn about a lot in our didactic education. This particular subject was why I was so interested in attending this APPE rotation, so I was very excited for these topics.
The day started with a lecture on Traditional Chinese Medicine, which was taught by Dr. Kowit Kampirapap. We learned all about yin and yang and what they represent in general and in medicine. He went into detail about how to think about the body and which parts represented yin (the vital essence) and which parts represented yang (vital energy). We also learned about how different parts of the body represent the five elements and how they are interconnected, as well as how the disruption between the balance within each other causes illness. This background knowledge helps explain how TCM works and why processes such as acupuncture and massage work.
It was very interesting and eye opening to be able to link this back to health care in the United States. With the new opioid laws that are occurring in Maine, a lot of medical providers are referring people to seek alternative ways to deal with their pain, such as massage and acupuncture, so it’s important to understand the basics for when it comes up in practice with patients. I personally attend acupuncture sessions fairly regularly, so it was very helpful and enlightening to be able to put some knowledge behind some of the routine practices I take for granted each week, such as reading my pulse so intently and the placement of the needles.
After our morning lecture, we got to see examples of the techniques in person and several students volunteered for techniques such as acupuncture, cupping, massage, acupressure via magnets, moxibustion, and herbal wraps. It was interesting to see the difference and similarities between how they performed the techniques in Thailand as compared with the United States. For example, the accupoints between the two countries are the same, but the size of the needles and how deep they get pressed into your skin differs. In Thailand, the needles spanned from 1.5 inches up to 4 inches, depending on the location on your body that is being worked on and the thickness of your skin. However, in the United States there tends to be less variability between the needle size and they don’t go in quite as deep. We also got to witness two different cupping techniques: the still cup technique is generally used on your lower back and is to promote healthy kidney function, and the sliding cup technique is used for sore muscles, particularly on your shoulders and upper back area.
Chelsea getting cupped over her kidneys.
Tom’s cups after receiving the sliding cup treatment.
The small magnets on the inside of my ear to help promote liver and endocrine health.
Marina and Kayla enjoying a bath over steaming herbs.
After our day at the hospital, we had a family style lunch before splitting up. Some of us got dropped off at the Cat Up Cafe, which was a cafe that you could get a coffee and then spend endless time petting and playing with about ~15 cats. After the cafe, we took the sky train back and spent the afternoon hanging out before we went to dinner at Siam Tea House. Overall, it was a very interesting and exciting day. I look forward to the last week we have in Bangkok before we head to Chiang Mai.
My kitty friend from the cat cafe! We named him Nacho :)
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