A Story from a Korean-American Childhood – How to Heal a Bruise the Korean Way
If you have Korean relatives, you already may know what I’m referring to when I say “how to heal a bruise the Korean way,” and can probably relate all too well to the following.
This is a story of torture befitting Halloween….
I was about six years old when I went to South Korea for the first time. And like any rambunctious six year old, I had lots of scrapes and bruises on my shins. (Actually, I still do. What can I say? I’m clumsy.)
We were staying with one of my aunts in Seoul. Every morning I would wake up to the sound of a street vendor clanging something metallic to signal that they were pedaling their goods. It’s the equivalent to the ice cream truck song here. Only much less pleasant.
It was an oppressively hot summer that called for shorts and lots of watermelon. 😋
As usual I was sitting on the floor in the main room watching Korean cartoons, waiting for the day’s happenings.
I was minding my own business when my aunt popped out of seemingly nowhere (I was probably too in to watching the show) and grabbed my bare legs.
She sat down next me and began to vigorously rub my bruised shin. And by vigorously, I mean dig her meaty thumbs into the center of the bruise! What the heck?!
I screamed in total bewilderment, ‘why are you doing this to me?’. She said that it was good for me because it would make the bruises heal faster.
But I said that she was only making it worse. It seriously felt like she was making new bruises!
I was crying and writhing in pain because it hurt so bad. But she persisted.
Now, as an adult, I know that what she was doing was breaking up the broken blood vessels and getting circulation flowing in the area to promote healing. But at the time, I thought that she was being sadistic.
You Call That Healing?
It seems like a lot of Korean “healing” is like that though. Everything from bruise massaging to medical herb drinks seem to be torturous. But they endure it in the name of health.
It’s not all that different from American culture though. I know lots of people who insist on taking the nasty green NyQuil, myself included, because it just seems like it works better. It’s that idea of having to go through hardship to get something good.
But did my bruises heal faster from the most painful massaging ever? Maybe, but who can tell?
What I can say, is that I don’t ever do that to my bruises now and they seem to heal just fine. However, I must admit that I find myself massaging my son’s shin bruises thinking it’ll help. And the cycle goes round and round….🙄
The lesson here folks is to never show your Korean relatives your bruises!
Try my aunt’s method of healing your bruises if you want. Be sure to really dig in there! 😉 Let me know how it goes in the comments!