Bone-setting

A friend of mine sprained her ankle over (as she puts it) - politics. She was out and about, having an impassionate conversation with her husband and getting all riled up, when she accidentally tripped and sprained her ankle.

In great pain, and being local, she naturally went the traditional way and sought out a Teed Da doctor, of which I don't quite know how to explain but to say that she went to a bone-setter.

Bone-setting is a traditional Chinese art of...well, setting bones. It involves applying very pungent-smelling herbs and ointments and rubbing the concoction onto the affected area - all to be done by a Teed Da doctor, and not something you can do yourself.

To mend the sprain, she had to go to the Teed Da doctor to get fresh ointment rubbed in and her ankle bandaged up every day for one week. I went with her on one of her visits and found it to be a most interesting place.

Located in Wanchai, Teed Da doctor Leung Kam-Kay learnt his father's art of bone-setting from a young age. He had no formal lessons, but learnt it through observation and experience. He has been doing this for over three decades and took over his father's clinic when he retired some ten years ago. The clinic hasn't changed and looks the way it did when it first opened in 1964.

My friend getting treated:

Many are sceptical of this traditional healing process because of the lack of scientific support, but many (like my friend), swear by this method to mend bruised joints, broken bones and sprains.

And evidently Pelé did too! Curiouser and curiouser!

For what it's worth, my friend's ankle was right as rain one week later. 

Comments

[Zesty]

Very interesting! Glad to hear our friend got her ankle set right back :-). Zx