Friday, September 7th

Not a terribly busy day, but I managed to keep occupied. One young mother had neck, shoulder, and sciatic nerve pain. Her neck and shoulders did not seem particularly tense, but the outside of her upper arm and feng chi xue were sore. I massaged her for about 20 minutes then Dr. Xiao gave her a much stronger massage. I think she was there not because it was a serious problem but rather because her relative was getting a pregnancy exam.

One weak looking man complained of lower back pain. He had very light musculature (especially the shoulders/upper arms) and pink cheeks. He didn't seem to like painful massage, as he complimented my even rhythm and complained about another person's sometimes painful technique, but he put up with Dr. Xiao's rough treatment quite well.

Dr. Xiao does seem to follow certain paths as he massages, and said he focuses on painful areas (hole positions) while avoiding bony protuberances.

An old man in his 80s was there quite early and gave us a rendition of an old Commie song. I'll sing something for him next time. His main complaint is joint pain and restricted movement, especially in the knees and shoulders. He has a massive chest with hard shoulder/shoulder bone muscles which were rather sensitive. He is otherwise in good health; strong, good skin, energetic, etc. Rather slow in movement however. Dr. Xiao said there is nothing we can do about the joints.

The other students are mostly new to me, some nursing, some acupuncture 7 years, one bone injury major, and one guy (the Christian) who I know from last semester. They are all quite friendly, but many of them are lazy and inactive. That is fine as it means I get to do more!