Military neck.

Healing in Huê.

CW: needles, war

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There’s been a change of plan.

Originally, I was going to work my way south in Vietnam, city by city—Huê, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang. But once I got to Huê and tried walking to a café as usual, I just couldn’t ignore my pinched nerve. Or whatever it is, now a pain all down my left arm. I was gasping the whole way.

I’ve had this pain before. In fall 2023, I sought out acupuncture in Galway. (I didn’t have a choice—there was an eighteen-month wait to see a neurologist.) The doctor was great—he didn’t speak much English, but we managed—he did some massage, then stuck the needles in, covered me with a blanket, and left me in a warm room that smelled like spearmint. Did it work? I don’t know. I can say that, though I didn’t feel much in the way of immediate effects, the pain and tingling went away soon after I finished treatment. So at the very least, it didn’t make it worse.

I’d like to avoid surgery in my left arm if possible, like I had in my right three years ago. So I started looking up acupuncturists in Huê. I found a clinic whose website hadn’t been updated in 2010. Was it reputable? Or even open? I called a taxi and showed up on their doorstep, having no idea what to expect.