A case of bad posture. Curse you, slouchiness!

I am a girl with bad posture.  This is due to many factors, not least of which the way my body is built.  Never did I imagine that with that posture, I would also be getting a spinal problem!  While yesterday I thought I wouldn't be able to see a doctor until Friday, my sleepless, painful night last night convinced me to take off from work early to go to the Samsung Pain Clinic in Beomgye before it closed.  And I am sure glad that I did so!

When I got there, by myself, I had a few minutes of awkward translation time.  I don't speak Korean, and the receptionists didn't know any English.  So I used my handy dandy Google Translate app on my iPhone to say, "I need to see a doctor. My shoulder hurts."  They said, "Ahhh," and proceeded to get my necessary paperwork done for me.

A few minutes later, I was ushered into a pleasant office where a young-ish doctor greeted me in Korean and said, "I'm sorry. My English is not very good."  Luckily, I think he was being modest, because he communicated quite well.  After examining me briefly, he said best-case-scenario it was a muscle issue in my left shoulder.  But since I was experiencing neck pain and headaches, he called for some X-rays to be done.

After my X-rays, I returned to his office, and the doctor immediately said, "So... it is not good."  Apparently my cervical spine has lost its c-curve and straightened out almost completely.  WHOA.  When I looked at the X-ray compared to a healthy spine, it made me feel sick.  He told me that my vertebrae were being compressed by all the pressure, and I've got a slight herniated disc.  Also, the muscles in my neck and shoulder are overcompensating for the pain and pressure by contracting, which is causing the stiffness.

Through all this, the doctor was very kind and genial, and he sentenced me to muscle relaxers, pain killers, and three days of physical therapy.  On Friday, if I'm not better, I'll be getting a "shot."  I have no idea what that will entail.

My physical therapy was VERY interesting.  I'd been to chiropractors before, and I've even been hooked up to a sonic-powered machine for a therapy session.  This PT takes the cake on intensity.  They led me to a curtained cubicle and had me lie on a bed face down.  There were tons of people already getting therapy in other cubicles, and you could hear them clearly.  The woman first massaged my neck and shoulder with the sonic machine (not sure if it has a special name), and then she wrapped me up in hot wraps.  HOT wraps.  As in, almost scalding.  That lasted for a while.  Then she put suction cups on my shoulder and neck, and I had an electrotherapy massage.  (It felt like fingers doing an actual massage sometimes, then it seized up my muscles at others.)  After that, they hooked me up to a traction machine.  This meant putting my head in a harness which pulled up my skull at long intervals.  This was to readjust my spine, and I feel like it was the most painful of the procedures, after the fact.  Right now, I'm just aching all over, and I feel pretty pitiful.  Mehhhh.

I hope that assuaged your curiosity about PT in Korea.  Ashley, this one was dedicated to you.