Traditional Chinese torture session

My knee problem has been pretty bad the past few weeks since I had my little accident during my field trip to Taman Negara. My right leg has been feeling slightly out of alignment when I walk, and whenever I try to run I have to take short small steps or else it feels like my knee will give way. I've been hoping the problem would fix itself, but the clincher came when a few days ago while I was studying, I folded my right leg over my left and then felt something in my right kneecap 'snap'. It wasn't a painful 'snap', but it didn't sound very nice. And it wasn't. As soon as I stood up, I was kneeling over from the pain in my knee. I couldn't put too much pressure on my right leg without feeling the pain. And it lasted til the next day, so i told my dad that my knee problem was getting worse. I know that surgery for a knee problem could cost a whopping RM10,000, so I was hoping it wouldn't have to come down to that, but after that incident, I thought I'd better do something about it. My dad agreed, but suggested that instead of having surgery first, I could try seeing a traditional Chinese therapist first. If traditional Chinese techniques like acupuncture could heal me, it would cost a heckuva lot less than knee surgery...only a couple of hundred bucks! I was, and still am, doubtful that a few needles poked through me would heal the problem, but I thought what the heck, might as well try.

So today I went with my dad to see a Chinese masseuse and acupuncturist. The good news is that I didn't have to endure a single needle. The bad news is that I went through a massage by a female masseuse, which was so painful I think I would've much rather prefered the needles. Apparently my right leg is shorter than my left leg by 2cm because my right hipbone is out of alignment. So they had to massage me first to find where my problem was exactly in my bones, and then straighten me out. So I had to lie on my back while the masseuse pounded and pressed (at some points, til I couldn't breathe!) and rubbed, and the rubbing was the worst. Gosh, she was rub my skin hard against my vertebrae or my bones at the same spot over and over. And the whole time, even though I barely made a sound, my face was contorted into all sorts of grimaces you could imagine and my only thoughts were "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!". I think the rubbing was almost as painful as my knee whenever it gave out - which can only be described as EXCRUCIATING! At one point, the guy masseuse took over and pulled and pressed body in such ways that my bones would make very audible cracks. Sounded scary, but fortunately not painful at all....at least if there was any pain, I didn't feel it after the torture I had to endure during the massage.

The other good news is that after all that, I think all that torture actually did me some good coz' now I no longer walk funny and I can run more properly without feeling like I'm about to fall over. So maybe this traditional Chinese torture has some merit after all.... But I still have to go through a few more sessions before the treatment is fully done. Then I'll find out if my knee will really be back to normal!