I am excited about this post because I feel obliged to share what I have learnt from my visit to Eu Yan Sang recently!
I have always felt that I am a healthy and tough cookie,
but it was only weeks ago when I heard of a new term called “sub-health problems”.

Yes. I know you are scratching your head now thinking about what on earth sub-health problems are.
In layman’s term, sub-health is the state between health and actual illness.
For instance when you feel unwell, you’re always tired, you suffer from insomnia, stress,
irregular menstrual cycles etc, but the doctor cant find anything particularly wrong with you…
these may be symptoms of sub-health.
You can actually still live with and function with sub-health but if the symptoms are leave unattended,
they may gradually evolve into more serious medical conditions.

I know. Sounds very scary. Haha!

I shall lighten the mood a little with some pictures I took
at the Eu Yan Sang Premier TCM Centre at Camden Medical Centre,
which is just a stone’s throw away from Regent Hotel at Tanglin area.
I never knew Eu Yan Sang have a chain of clinics before this!

For my first visit, I met up with Physician Zhou Yan and she did a regular check for me
to understand my body condition and health state better.
The simple check up was made up of her checking my pulse, some neck and shoulder assessment
(because I have neck pains)
and simple questions about my general health and well being.

It was my first visit to a Chinese physician and it was quite a refreshing experience for me.
Very different from the typical visits to our neighborhood GPs where
they would normally just do all the work with a stethoscope.

I had problems with perpetual neck aches and insomnia.
I always take a very long time to drift into sleep and because of my bruxism problem,
I often wake up feeling tired and have neck pains every single day.
I’m always bothered by indigestion whenever I have heavy meals or oily food too.
It’s pretty annoying because I can almost never get a good night’s rest.
No matter how long or how early I sleep, I still wake up tired with persistent neck aches.
It’s really annoying!

After my first visit, I was prescribed some medication.
I always had the impression that everything related to Chinese medicine is very old school and outdated.
But look at this, they are super high tech ok! Haha.

Just like that, the satchets of medicine is ready!
No need for brewing of herbs, just mix with warm water and drink, super convenient!
Can even drink it as a beverage as I blog lor!

When I was just halfway through the 1-week course, I can feel that my neck was feeling more relaxed than before!
Apart from that, I fall asleep sooner at night, and I no longer have to read boring stuff in bed every night
trying to bore myself to sleep.
The neck aches in the morning did not go away right away, but the meds seem to have alleviated the problem.
I basically feel more refreshed in the mornings!
To be honest, I always had my reservations when it comes to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
because they always struck me as a very “slow recovery” way of treating ailments.
But mmm! I have to say I’m surprised!

The second visit to Eu Yan Sang was a little more exciting!
Because I tried ACUPUNCTURE!

It was my first time doing acupuncture and I was a little worried at first.
Luckily Physician Zhou Yan talked me through the process,
told me a little more about TCM and about how acupuncture can provide a more immediate relief to my sub-health problems!

AND TIME FOR ACUPUNCTURE!
I know the idea of putting needles into our body is very scary and sounds painful, but it really isn’t that bad at all.
Look at the needles, they are all really fine!
(In fact they are so fine you cannot even see it. Haha!)

I received needles on my head, face, and limbs.
The main purpose of the acupuncture treatment is to relax my body and take away the undesirable tension.
Physician Zhou gave me one needle on each side of my face to relax my jaw muscles too.
Hopefully, the acupuncture treatment can help me lessen the teeth grinding habits I have. 😦

And here’s a retarded one. :p

I’m feeling all perked up after the treatment! It’s really quite remarkable!
No pain at all, all I felt was a little bit of muscle ache feeling
that tingles only for like 5 seconds after the needles went in.

The entire treatment lasted only about 20 minutes, then I was left alone for half an hour to rest (with the needles on me).

Looks like it’s not as scary as I imagined it to be. :p

Went to bid Goodbye to Physician Zhou before heading home.
She also gave me some information about TCM and sub-health problems to read when I’m back home.

Sub-health problems may not seem to bother us right now because we are all young and healthy
but they may cause more serious problems if we don’t take care of them while we can.
For instance, simple indigestion problem might lead to stomach ailments,
and since our organs are all related and depend on each other to function,
other organs in our body will eventually be affected to a certain extent as well.
Very often, sub-health problems usually affect working professionals,
and they most often arises from work stress, imbalance diets or improper lifestyle habits.

From what I learnt, sub-health problems can be easily reversed with Chinese medicine
and it works in a way where we improve and condition our body conditions instead of taking medicine to stop the problems.
So in a way, if coupled with good daily habits and care, it can be a permanent and lasting way to maintain good health!

Everyone only has one body! Better take good care of it!

Feeling all recharged and perked up after my treatment and looking forward to my next visit!
If you are also facing problems like insomnia, frequent indigestion or fatigue problems like myself,
they may be signs of sub-health.
Take action now too!
It is hard to determine what the main problem is so the best way is to
get a professional physician to find out the root of the problem!

Alright, here are some fun facts about Eu Yan Sang! They are 10 years old this year!
And to celebrate their birthday this year, they have appointed non-profit voluntary welfare organization,
Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society as their beneficiary. Isn’t that really meaningful!

Thye Hua Kwan [link to http://www.thkms.org.sg%5D extends help to people of all races, culture and religion,
providing both institutional and community-based services.
Because of the collaboration, there will be a series of initiatives to help Thye Hua Kwan raise funds,
starting with donation boxes in the Eu Yan Sang clinics from 26 June until end of this year.
All donations will go to Thye Hua Kwan.
Eu Yan Sang Clinics has also pledged to donate an additional 10% of the total sum collected to THK.
Do your part and donate generously to help those in need too!

In July, do your part in helping out with Thye Hua Kwan and the earth,
go green and be in sync with Eu Yan Sang’s “Bring Your Own Bag” campaign.
The bags in their clinics used to contain medication are biodegradable which is already earth-friendly,
but less is more, so the lesser, the merrier. If patient request for bags,
they can still get one by putting $1 into the donation box for each bag used.
All proceeds will go towards Thye Hua Kwan! Let’s do our part!

As for me, I’ll be back with more updates about progress on my health and my experience with TCM!

xxx

A and I spotted this cat around her neighborhood a week ago and the cat was really adorable.
It is a black and white cat and looks relatively healthy despite being a stray.
We fed the cat twice, and after some discussion, we were playing with the idea of whether we should bring the cat home.
So after a discussion, we decided to give it a try, perhaps adopt it or foster it to re-home the little fella.

So for the last couple nights, we have been touring her neighborhood in hopes of seeing the cat again.
Here are a couple pictures I snapped while we were out roaming at 3am last night.

While we were roaming around (and meowing periodically), we chanced upon a couple other cats!
We also took the liberty of giving the cats names.

We decided to call this one Nancy Choo. I know that’s a freaking rubbish name for a cat.
Hahaha!
It looks very auntie with centre part fringe. :p

This little fella has a high pitch meow and is one of the most suspicious one.
Good for him!
So he is called Jitters because he is so jumpy!
Very healthy and probably only a couple months old.

This one never eats unless you’re at least 5 meters away.
Handsome boy.

This one here looks quite old and likes to rub against our legs.
He is called “Old Rubba”. Hahaha!

One that caught my attention is this poor little one who was super hungry!
Ate so much kibbles and canned food.

And the little one we went out to look for is this round-faced cat.
Isn’t he beautiful?

After feeding, I was there with the cat while A went back to her house to get a carrier.
The cat was really obedient and followed us, meowing all the way.
While A was away, I stroked the cat and it scratched me. 😦

So I left it alone for a while, then it started to come and rub against my legs again.
After A came back, I told her about the scratching and she said the cat is apologizing already with all the rubbing.
So I stroked it again.
Once, ok.
Twice, ok.
At the third time, it grabbed my right hand and bite and scratch again.

Then it walked away quietly.
It’s so hard to understand cats sometimes.
But I guess what A said is true, they are strays and I guess it’s a good thing for them not to be too trustworthy.

Yes we still love the little fella & we will continue to feed him and his friends.
And no we didn’t bring it home.

We are so lucky to have the three healthy and friendly cats at home.