The Weekend Wounded

Last Saturday boardgame session saw me with a bandaged right wrist for the second consecutive weekend. I don’t think I have triggered a new medical syndrome called boardgames wrist akin to tennis elbow, so game away in piece. It’s just a niggling discomfort, especially when the wrist was bent 90 degrees in push-up position, that I hoped to fix with the help of the Chinese massage called Tuina.

This was my first exposure to tuina (the practice, not the word, which I have played before in Scrabble). The Chinese physician quickly diagnosed my discomfort as a latent injury that occurred in the past and didn’t completely heal (unfortunately I can’t remember which injury; perhaps cumulative effect of wear-and-tear from misuse instead?), and that my joints (or ligaments?) were loose. Paraphrasing him, he was going to bring out the old pains hidden inside (that caused the discomfort) before it could recover fully.

For the treatment, the physician had me lie face down on the bed and then applied some liquid concoction on my wrist and forearm before proceeding to massage it vigorously, the concoction acting as a much-needed lubricant. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m bony, or because my problem is in a bony area, or it’s the way of the treatment, but I felt the main difference was that unlike massages, tuina doesn’t target the muscles, but the joints and bones. The physician used his knuckles and his elbow to apply strong pressure on a point, or to knead through along a bone.

The first session last week was OK, I did feel some pain when he applied particularly more force, but it was bearable. The second session upped the stakes. Though my pain was on the wrist, he focused quite some time on my forearm, kneading his knuckle hard along the bone, or – I suspect – raking it across a few bones, hence the clacking sound/feeling as it went through a rough surface. That was bad for me. He did forewarn that it was going to be more painful. I was hoping throughout that he would feel some pain back on his knuckle and stop, but no such thing; later on I observed that his knuckle and elbow has a lump, almost like a keloid forming a protective layer across his own joints. Cheater :-/ But seriously, that’s quite a sacrifice to pay for someone practising his art; somewhat like martial artists who thickened the skin of their knuckles by repeated punching of sands or sandbags.

Anyway he proceeded to inflict pain in several other places, but it really was that across-bones feeling that jarred me. He remarked that my nerves had hardened from overexertion and were like metal wires (or so my dearie translated), but I couldn’t imagine that nerves were feelable; perhaps he meant veins, and he raked through my veins instead of bones? In which case then I’m amazed nothing burst.

It was a good whole-body workout for me, as I involuntarily tensed up and then consciously relaxed the curled toes, raised shoulders etc. The 10-minute session in air-conditioned room ended with sweat dripping from my left arm and the back of my shirt wet.

His assistant later wrapped warm cloth pre-soaked with medication, and applied bandage to hold it tight for the next 24 hours. A slight dullness (not really pain, but I can’t describe it) lingered until the bandage was unwrapped. Now with the bandage off, I’m pretty much back to normal (except that I am much more aware of various sensation when I use my fingers), waiting for the ordeal to repeat again every weekend, for I-don’t-know how long. And in the meantime, no arm exercises, so I’m going to lose muscle and gain fat again.