Way Back Wednesday - Visiting an Otolaryngologist in Korea

I woke up one cold, winter morning with a shooting pain in my left ear. It was the kind that if I layed my head on my left side, it felt like someone was sticking a crayon into my head through my ear, just awful! Being in Korea, I wasn't too excited about the prospect of going to a doctor.


Korea is a wonderful place. They have a rich, beautiful culture, amazing cuizine, and a complex language to boot, but they really stink when it comes to interacting with new foreigners, especially at a doctor's office. They're already feeling awkward with speaking English. Often they know a lot more than they think they do, but stumble over words and end up saying weird things.


But after a couple of days, my ear pain moved to both ears, and my throat was sore and my nose was stuffy. I knew I needed to go visit a doctor. I had been to a doctor in town before, so Derek and I both thought that we could go visit him again. We bundled up and took a taxi down to the Shi-ne (main street).


We walked into the doctor's office, checked in, and waited. Pretty soon, they called my name and we went in to see the doctor. We briefly explained what the problem was, and he got this really weird, confused look on his face. He spoke basic English, so he was able to ask, "Why did you come here?"


Then it was our turn for a weird, confused look on our face. We said, "Because you are a doctor."


He again replied with, "But why did you come here?"


We told him that we came because we had come there before. Then he understood what the misunderstanding was. He was a specialist. Not a doctor you would go to for an ear infection. We laughed a bit and then asked where he recommended we go. He told us about an Ear, Nose and Throat (Otolaryngologist) doctor down the street. He told us the name of doctor's office which was Korean for Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor, but we didn't really realize it at the time. And we went on our way.


Now as soon as we got out the door, we forgot what he had said. It's really hard to remember Korean words. At least it is for me. A lot of things sound so similar it's hard to remember anything unless it's written down. Maybe that's because I'm just a beginner. So we walked and walked and walked. It was so cold! But finally, Derek saw a sign that said, "Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor," but in Korean of course, and we went inside.


I was immediately impressed or comforted rather, by the waiting room. It wasn't really all that impressive, but it felt very familiar. I was afraid that it would be more third world feeling even though Korea is a first world country with the 11th largest economy. It had good flooring, nice couches, and big wrap-around windows with a great view of Sokcho (it was on the 5th floor of the building).


The doctor must not have been very busy that day--I think it was a Saturday--because I didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes. As comfortable as the waiting room made me feel, the examination room made me feel that much uncomfortable. It wasn't becuase it was unsanitary or anything like that. It was because it looked like a dentist's office and a doctor's private study produced offspring!


The room was rather large. On the right side was a big desk with some chairs and bookshelves filled with doctor books, many of them in English. on the left side were two large dentist-type chairs. In between the two mammoth chairs was a large oval table with TONS of small, pointy, stainless steel instruments. I nearly turned around and ran out of there! But my ears hurt and I was irrationally afraid that my eardrums might explode, so I stayed.


The doctor was a kind man. He spoke a bit of English, but the problem with Korean doctors' English is is they know a lot of medical English and they speak it with a heavy Korean accent. Medical terms are hard enough without the accent. But with his limited English and Derek's limited Korean--actually it was mostly Derek's Korean that carried the conversation, he's a lot better than he'll ever admit to being--the doctor understood the problem.


He asked me to take a seat in the first mammoth dentist-type chair. He told me to sit back and tilt my head back. Then he picked up a pair of mini-forceps and opened each nostril and shined a pen light up them. Then he used the forceps again to spray a little bit of water or saline solution (I'm not sure which come to think of it) in each, and then again to blow some air in them to dry them out?


After spreading open my nose, he looked in my ears and down my throat. Next, he told me to move to the other chair on the otherside of the oval-shaped table. I thought that was weird because the other chair was just as close to the table as the first, but I thought that maybe he was done with the scary looking instruments and was glad.


Once I was settled into the second mammoth dentist-type chair, he raised the chair up so my head was at his height. Then he pulled out a tiny camera. The kind that looks like a straw with a light on the end. He stuck it up my right nostril and pushed a pedal on the floor. I heard a click (not in my nose, thank goodness!), and then he stuck it up my left nostril and pushed the pedal again. He repeated the process with my throat and ears.


I don't remember if he wiped it off, or if there was a cover on the camera, like there is on thermometers. I was so totally freaked out that he was sticking things up my nose to take pictures, I didn't pay much attention to much else. Part of what contributed to this internal freaking out--did I mention that it was internal? I was trying to keep my cool--was the doctor didn't even try to communicate what was going to happen next. I was surprised by his every move!


After taking pictures of the insides of my ears, nose and throat, he took out a laser pointer and started explaining the pictures. He started with the insides of my nose. Here's how the explanation went.


Doctor (pointing to my right and then left nostril pictures): Here is your right nose, and here is your left nose.


Pause while pointing to the gooey inside stuff


Doctor (still pointing to the pictures): And this is your.... um....


Me: Snot... that's called snot.


Doctor: Oh, ok.


This mostly one sided conversation kept going about my throat and then my ears. After a lot of explaining, most of which we didn't understand, we understood that my ears were "too clean" and that I did have an ear infection with a sore throat and stuffy nose. He decided to give me a prescription, and an "injection," and "physical therapy."


I was ok with the prescription part. Korean doctors usually prescribe a bunch of vitamins with the antibiotics. And surprisingly, it doesn't bother me, even though I don't really know what medicines I'm taking. Plus, it's cheap to boot. I think it was $3 for the medicines?


And the "physical therapy" part didn't phase my too much. By this time, I'd been in Korea long enough to know that what they say isn't always as weird as it sounds. I was curious, but it didn't really bother me.


But the injection. Now that's another matter. I've been mortally afraid of shots ever since I was a little kid. I used to scream and cry even before the needle came in the room. I would tighten up my buttocks (I usually got shots there, not sure why. Maybe a doctor's cruel joke) so tightly that my rear end and leg would be sore for the next couple of days.


So needless to say, I was REALLY nervous about getting an injection, in a doctors office in Korea. The doctor told me to go down the hall to an injection room. Well, Derek and I walked down there, and the room was more like a closet with an examination table in it. Like I said before, I was REALLY scared, so I asked Derek to come in with me and hold my hand. He did.


When the nurse came in, she asked me something in Korean. I didn't understand so I looked to Derek. He had sort of a funny look on his face and told me she had asked me to pull down my pants. "Oh, great!" I thought, "just what I need, a shot in my rear!" But I complied and pulled my pants just enough. Just then, the nurse started pinching and slapping my rear like I was a little kid! I was so shocked, but I still noticed the needle.


After this, the same nurse led me to another alcove in the hallway with a bunch of strange looking devices. "This must be my physical therapy." I thought. She demonstrated what I should do with the first device and told me to do it for three minutes.


The first thing looked like a tiny hair dryer, but instead of blowing hot air, it had a tiny heat lamp. I was supposed to hold it over my nose for three minutes. I felt really stupid doing it. My first though was maybe it was some sort of sick hazing this doctor does to his foreign patients, but soon after I started, a young Korean man started doing "physical therapy" too.


After three minutes, it was time to do the next thing. It seriously looked like a bong for smoking drugs! It was a glass teapot shaped instrument that had a hose coming out of the back of it connecting it to something under the counter. There was tons of steam coming out of it. The nurse told me to hold it under my nose and breathe through my nose. I tried to ask her what it was just so I knew I wasn't breaking any commandments. She didn't seem to understand me or Derek, so I just did it. It turned out to be water vapor.


After three minutes of that, I moved on to another steamy, glass teapot where I was supposed to breathe through my mouth. I still felt really silly doing the "physical therapy." I got how it would be beneficial to do it, but not just once for three minutes! Oh well, Korea's an interesting place...


The pharmacy was in the basement of the building, so after we finished up in the doctor's office, we headed downstairs. Service is pretty quick there too, and luckily, everything needed is written on the prescription paper.


The pharmacist handed me my strip of doses. In Korea, they don't give you bottles of medicine with instructions on a sticker. They give you a string of packets, each with one dose. They put all the doses in a little paper baggie and write when and how often to take the medicines. Kind of weird, but easy for us foreigners! After paying our $3, we were on our way home! And I started feeling better within a week!