It'll get worse before it gets better!

Perhaps I have always had a certain type of patience with physical pain. You can get used to practically anything as the body has a wonderful way of dealing with it, the loss of consciousness in extremis. Mental pain is a different matter and I'm still puzzling over this one.



Most Westerners have trouble coping with even the slightest pain wheras oriental people seem to have a different approach, maybe they are used to enduring hardships while Westerners are often cossetted and anaesthetised to such an extent where nothing should hurt and take pain killers for the slightest twinge. It is my opinion that pain is the body's way of telling you something so on many occasions it is foolish to mask it.



As usual I have gone off track a bit. Doctors in the West treat symptoms, not the cause thereby causing much confusion with their patients who expect instant relief and nothing else. Eastern medicine has a more holistic approach and rather than instant relief, we can expect more pain before the hiatus which brings eventual relief. Sometimes called a healing crisis by the hippies and practitioners of the weirder therapies, this does seem to manifest in many oriental therapies.



I have no problem with this idea and will stoically take bitter herbs, be patient with continuing pain and undergo all sorts of difficulties if the problems will eventually be lessened. It is annoying however not to know how long this process will take. Sometimes when the treatment requires energy manipulation or a gradual process of change this can take a long time. It would certainly be helpful to know how long it will take to run it's course and what sort of time scale we ae dealing with. Some Westerners have difficulty in grasping this concept and stop the treatment when things get worse. To quote a friend "A bit of pain never hurt anyone"! Daft, but I think I know what he is getting at.



I started to write this in the early hours as I have just had jabs prior to travelling to Hainan so feel restless and my arms feel as if they have been kicked and punched. I know that this feeling will pass so there is no point in worrying about it and taking pain killers, no problem. I know what to expect. In eastern medicine we are not aways told if and how long the discomfort will take to go. No wonder people give up if the condition seems to be worsening! A bit more information from the practitioner would be very helpful. We are not expecting accuracy here, will it be days, months or years before our problem is resolved?



My western doctor will tell me how soon I can expect an improvement in my condition and whether my illness may be serious or life threatening. Chinese doctors seem to expect that we have faith in what they do even if it takes a long time and things will temporarily get worse. A difficult concept for westerners as we associate this idea with "faith healing" and new age therapies. I'll try to keep open-minded about all healers of whatever type and, personally, like a combination of Eastern and Western medicine although I do have a leaning towards the Eastern as I find it fascinating and it certainly seems to accomplish things that western medicine can't do.



One thing that I haven't mentioned is the idea of taking charge of one's own health. By this I mean being sensible about diet and exercise and not doing anything to endanger physical or mental well-being. Easier said than done of course as it is easy to get into bad habits. Strangely enough, this is a fairly new idea in the West although it lies at the root of Eastern medicine. I like the idea that doctors are paid while their patient is healthy but the payment stops when the patient falls sick! Prevention is better than cure.