Chinese Medicine and My Injured Ankle

I injured my right ankle while trail running about six months before I was scheduled to leave for China. I hit a root and twisted my ankle. As I was falling, I heard a “pop” and knew I was in trouble.

I didn’t have any health insurance at that time but, luckily, a good  friend of mine was doctor with his own urgent care clinic. I had torn the lateral collateral ligament and he kindly put my ankle in a cast at no charge. The ligament healed but, because my ankle had been isolated in a cast for so long, the lateral ligament and the Achilles tendon had lost a great deal of their flexibility. Because of this I walked with a limp and was unable to run.

Once I got settled in China, I decided to see what Chinese medicine could do for me. I asked my school-appointed translator about seeing a doctor for my ankle. Instead of taking me to the school’s clinic, he recommended a “doctor” named Long.

Dr. Long did not have an office or clinic. We went to his house which was near the school; a two story building where he lived upstairs with his family. The downstairs appeared to be a tailor shop. When we arrived, Dr. Long’s wife and children were busy sewing and ironing clothes. There was nothing to indicate any kind of medical treatment was available.

After examining my ankle, Dr. Long went to work. He had me take two sips from a bowl of water. Then he took a mouthful of water from the same bowl and spat it on my ankle. He massaged my ankle and leg for several minutes. My translator later made a joke about it being “magic water”. He was clearly uncomfortable with what he obviously thought was superstition. Later, I asked someone why they thought Dr. Long had done this. The theory was that the doctor takes in the water and enriches it with his own Qi and then transfers it to the patient via the water. It is believed that this can speed up the healing process.

After the massage, Doctor Long picked up what looked  like a huge needle about the size of a house nail. He used this to pierce the swollen area of my ankle and draw a drop or two of blood. He then selected what is known as a “plum blossom hammer”.  This device is a little plastic hammer with a flexible handle. It has five sharp needles protruding from one side in the shape of a plum blossom flower and seven needles on the other. The plum blossom hammer is designed to irritate the skin without piercing it. Dr. Long used the hammer to tap around the swollen area of the ankle which quickly turned red and bled a little.

Next, Dr. Long said that he wanted to cup the area.  Cupping, uses a small bulb shaped glass cup with a narrow mouth. The practitioner introduces a flame into the cup, removes it and then places the cup on the patient’s body. When done correctly, the flame burns out the oxygen in the cup causing a vacuum creating a strong suction that draws Qi and blood to the surface  Dr. Long selected a cup and took a small scrap of paper which he lit on fire. He tossed the burning paper into the cup which he then placed on my ankle. I was terrified that the paper would burn me but the flame went out as soon as the cup was placed on the skin and I didn’t even notice any heat. Dr. Long tried several times to put a cup on the area but he couldn’t get a proper seal. That area of the ankle was just too small and bony. He finally ended up using a small pill bottle. To my surprise, the cupping procedure was not painful at all.

While the cup was on my ankle, Doctor Long brought out a bucket of herbs from the back room. He covered the layer of herbs on the bottom of the bucket with an inch or two of boiling water. Doctor Long then removed the pill bottle from my ankle and told me to put my foot just inside the rim of the bucket. He covered the bucket and my ankle with a towel to let the steam rise and soak my foot.

While my foot was soaking, Doctor Long took some herbs and ground them up finely. He added some honey to the ground herbs and made a paste. He applied it thickly to my ankle area and then bandaged it into place. He told me to come and see him the next day and that in four days I would be cured. I had to admit, my ankle felt pretty good for the rest of the day.

After a couple days of bloodletting and poultices, Dr. Long was not happy with my progress and decided to try a different treatment. After massaging my ankle, he took a sewing machine needle and sterilized it. He stuck the needle in the skin around my ankle and jerked the skin up and down for about ten minutes. There was no blood and very little pain. He mixed up another plaster using some additional herbs. Before he place the poultice on my ankle, he drew some Chinese characters in the air over the area. He then gave me some herbs in a bottle of what looked like home made rice wine to take home.

During one visit, Dr. Long asked me to drink an herbal formula. He took a sip to show me that it was not poison. He made a sour face, indicating that it tasted bad. It was not my first time drinking an herbal formula so I knew what to expect. To my surprise and relief, the formula was not nearly as bitter as some that I had taken before. After downing the decoction, we went through the old treatment routine; washing the area with wine, cupping, and drawing blood. Instead of the usual green poultice, Dr. Long used a butter knife to spread a type of orange paste on my ankle. He covered it with a piece of paper and applied a green herb poultice on top. He said that these herbs were too strong to go directly on the skin.

After several days, Dr. Long decided to try yet another poultice that was very strong smelling. He told me that it needed to stay on for six days. If it dried out, I was to come back to see him and he would moisten it.

The next day I noticed that some of the poultice was falling out of the bandage. I wrapped an additional gauze bandage around the area several times to keep it in place. That night my ankle started itching. It got so bad that I went back see Dr. Long first thing the next day. When he took off the bandage, my ankle and instep were all red and swollen. The whole area looked like it was burned. Dr. Long said I had put the additional gauze wrap on too tightly, cutting off the circulation and air supply. He was quite concerned. He immediately squeezed some juice from a green herb onto the area and massaged it in. He then bathed the whole foot and ankle in a hot herbal solution to stop the itching. He said that only the skin was irritated and that as soon as the swelling went down, I should be okay. I felt very foolish.

For the next several days, Dr. Long came to my apartment every morning and evening to bathe and dress my foot. Thanks to his attention, the area healed quickly. One night, Dr. Long brought a man and a woman with him. It appeared to be a consultation of some kind. They all seemed to agree that there was nothing to worry about and that the skin was completely healed. Dr. Long said that he would bring some medicine for me to drink for three days and that all would be well.

After the skin on my ankle healed, Dr. Long gave me a formula to take for my bones. The formula consisted of powdered herbs that were to be dissolved in rice wine. I was to drink it all at once a half hour before lunch.  I don’t drink so slugging down a big glass of homemade rice wine full of half dissolved herb powder was not pleasant for me. When I walked to the cafeteria to get my lunch, I was weaving all over the place.

After I finished with the bone formula, Dr. Long gave me some more powder to be taken dissolved in water, which was an improvement over the wine formula. This formula was supposed to improve the elasticity in my ligaments. I took the formula for five days and Dr. Long said the treatment was complete.

After that treatment, my ankle was not still not 100% but I felt like I was regaining the strength and flexibility in the area. Why wasn’t it completely healed?. One reason was that it had been so long since the original injury. Old trauma is much harder to heal than acute injuries. The other, and probably the biggest reason was the cast. By isolating and immobilizing the area, the tendons had been shortened and once that happens it is almost impossible to reverse without surgery. I appreciate what my doctor friend did for me but I firmly believe if I had been able to see a Chinese Medicine practitioner immediately after the accident that my ankle would have healed completely in a reasonable amount of time.

As for Dr. Long. I have no idea if he was a formally trained practitioner or not. All the techniques he used are part of Chinese Medicine. Even the “magic water” is theoretically a Qigong healing technique though the characters written in the air are most likely Daoist magic. He had probably learned his craft by apprenticing with an established doctor. This was the traditional way in which practitioners learned their craft before the advent of medical schools. I surmise this because at  one point he introduced me to his 70 year old teacher. That and the fact that he had no medical certificates displayed. Unfortunately, because my Chinese was not very good at the time, I was unable to ask the either of them any in-depth questions.

Today I am able to walk and run normally. I don’t have complete flexibility in the Achilles and the joint aches when the air pressure drops but otherwise it is hardly noticeable. And, throughout this whole process of treating me almost daily for at least a month, Dr. Long never made any request for payment. I offered to pay him but he refused to take any money. Instead, I would I bring him little gifts like wine, coffee, and candy. His generosity and caring attitude left a deep impression on me and gives me an example of a true TCM practitioner that I hope to live up to.
Thank you Dr. Long