Last week in Tianjin!

So it's the beginning of my last week here in Tianjin.... and I finally got to go to the Andryny specialty of the Psychosomatic department! So, the good news is that, unlike a Western Urology department (which is a rough equivalent), I don't have to look at dribbling urine and limp penises all day. I might have to hear about them, but at least I don't have to look at them!

My supervisor, Professor Wang (stop giggling, Discourser), reminds me of my maternal grandfather -- if he'd been a doctor. Oh, and if he'd been Chinese. A little bit gruff, but generally warm underneath that -- and Professor Wang has the same hair and face as Ham did.

Now that everyone not related to me is yawning, let me get back to clinic. It's a lot of prostatitis -- mostly men in their 20s and 30s with dysuria, ultrasounds that often (but not always) show an enlarged prostate, and a history of antibiotics not doing much. Here, we're taking a three-pronged approach -- acupuncture (of the six-to-eight needle variety), herbal medicine by mouth (usually raw and customized), and herbal enemas. (I said, stop giggling, Discourser!) Both of the last two are administered by the patient at home.

I've also gotten treatment plans and formulas for a bunch of the other men's issues, including BPH, ED, prospermia, and so on. Surprisingly (to me at least), using lu rong/ lu jiao jiao (deer antler/ deer antler gelatin) is pretty uncommon for these conditions... but there's a lot of wu gong (centipede) being used insead. I'm going to have to hit the books when I get home and get a good idea of why... and what I can substitute, since in the US wu gong is tough to get and hard to talk people into taking.

As an aside, I do plan to do a quick photojournal for folks who keep wondering about what it is that I'm eating. So far, seafood Æbelskivers are the most interesting, though the guy who makes them is a bit of an ass.

The pace in the men's clinic is a bit slow. But on the other hand, the professor handed me a couple of needles and told me to puncture 足三里 (Zusanli, ST 36)! So I took a deep breath, and....

No guide tube. I'm working with a 3-cun needle (about 50mm) with no guide tube. And okay, so it's thick (diameter of 0.30 mm) -- for an acupuncture needle. But there's no guide tube.

I manage to get it in anyway, and with only the slightest of winces from the patient. Then Professor Wang goes ahead and gives me a crash course in flying needle technique! Okay, you'll have to indulge my acupuncture geekiness a little... it was totally cool. I get it -- and it makes a bunch of the other techniques make a little more sense. Now, it's going to take a year or so of practice before I'm comfortable with it, but that's neither here nor there.... I'm thrilled with the experience. And it makes bulk packs make even more sense, since you don't have to stop all the time to reload your guide tube with a needle -- and I'm convinced it can be as painless as using a guide tube, given good enough technique.

Okay, enough of that. Looking to the future.... tomorrow marks the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Tianjin University of TCM, and it coincides with an international conference held here every year. So I'm going to be going to that tomorrow and Thursday. Then another day in clinic, and then off to Shanghai!

Happy Election Day, everyone. Get out and vote, those of you in the US (which I imagine is pretty near everyone reading this blog), unless you already have. I don't plan to turn this into a political space, but let me mention a few ballot measures in California that matter to me.

YES on Prop 2. Be nice to chickens! The way we produce our food is, as many of you know, one of my pet causes, and this includes humane treatment of the beings we get our food from, whether animal or vegetable (or, I suppose, mineral, though with veggies and salt it's more of an environmental issue).
NO on Prop 4. Too many people involved in healthcare care too much about this issue for me to think otherwise... restrictions on the right to an abortion costs young women their lives and health far more than abortions do.
NO on Prop 8. This is the biggie for me... I've got far too many queer friends to even question this one, and I missed a wedding because the parties involved were too nervous about the result of this.
And lastly, I'm pro-Obama. I doubt anyone's surprised by that one... letting the geriatric generation run the country hasn't been so good for us young 'uns.

But just let your voice be heard. If you knew the hoops I had to jump through to vote overseas, you'd want your readers, friends and strangers, all to take advantage of this basic right (which I've had to explain to several people here in China). Talk to you after it's all over.