Letter from Boston Chinese Medicine Store By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
中国漢方薬局 手にできた吹き出物がなかなか消えず、いくつも薬を試してみた雅子さん。最後の手段として大学の近くにある中国漢方の薬局を訪ねてみました。すると、土曜日の朝だというのに店内は大繁盛の様子。アメリカでは、西洋医学に比べて評価が低い中国漢方ですが、どうやら最近、注目を集めているようです。

I knew that things were not quite right when I got a rash on my hands that didn't go away for over six months. At first, it seemed like dryness of the kind that comes with the winter weather, but then my skin started to get blisters that itched and flaked and cracked. Because they didn't heal on their own, I thought I had some kind of fungal infection.

I tried five different over-the-counter ointments, but none of them helped. I was afraid that it was spreading and that I might even infect others, so I went to see two different doctors at the Boston University infirmary. They both prescribed the same medicine, but this was also ineffective. I was told that I had some kind of allergic reaction that I would have to live with. When I protested that I had never had any major allergies, I was told that such allergies can suddenly pop up during one's lifetime. This was not very reassuring to me.

I picked and scratched at the rash so often that my boyfriend got upset watching me. He was also upset by the treatment I got at the BU infirmary, and he suggested that I try a more holistic healing method, such as Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine is considered "alternative medicine" in the States. Many Western doctors and scientists look down on remedies like acupuncture, reflexology or herbal mixtures. However, as a Japanese, I had no trouble accepting his suggestion. We decided to visit a Chinese medicine store on Harvard Avenue, a bustling street located near BU.

I had gone to this store once before, but I didn't really look carefully that time, since I knew what I wanted and I found it right away. This time, though, I took a better look, and I was astonished. The store was busy on a Saturday morning, even though it's located nowhere near Boston Chinatown. There was a waiting room in the back where customers were lined up to be treated by the Chinese medicine doctors. There were many people of different races and ethnicities. In fact, many of the employees of the store — including one of the Chinese medicine doctors — were non-Chinese. Since many of the people were minorities, it made me wonder whether they are more open to treatments that are off the traditional Western path.

I have read before that many people are turning to alternative medicine in spite of warnings from health professionals. I don't know how many of those people in line had already tried Western medicine for their ailments, but it seems that many people who turn to alternative medicine do so because they feel betrayed by conventional doctors. I also know that some people prefer a more natural approach to treating their bodies.

I didn't feel that my rash required a visit with the doctor, so I looked up my symptoms in a guide that they had in the store, and I tried finding the medicine recommended for the rash. Unfortunately, the particular recommended medicine was not in stock, but a couple of the employees helped me find another ointment. It was in a Western-style package, and it was quite pricey -- not all Chinese medicines come cheap, as people who buy royal jelly, ginseng, exotic dried mushrooms or animal parts well know — but it was still only half the price of the medicine prescribed to me by the doctors at BU.

We continued to browse the aisles even after I got my medicine. I was happy to see commercially manufactured pills made of herb mixtures, since I've used such remedies for colds, diarrhea and pimples before. These are easier to use than crushing a mixture of herbs using a mortar and pestle and making tea, but they still seem more natural than the medicines I see in the drugstore. The store had bins and bins full of dried herbs and animal parts, too. I saw some of the salespeople handling objects that I couldn't recognize.

The store also had some fun products such as soaps and shampoos made with jasmine, ginseng or other Chinese herbs. It also had a wide selection of teas that are not quite medicine, but are therapeutic, nevertheless. We bought a kind of tea made with ginger, jasmine, chrysanthemum flowers and ginseng.

I haven't used the medicine long enough to know whether it'll work, but I have tried the Chinese tea, and I must say that it's delicious.

Shukan ST: May 28, 1999

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