My 7 year old girl Tash was playing, running, jumping through obstacles she and her older brother made themselves. And like all children she got into an accident as she slipped and dove face first to the door and floor. She dislocated her left small finger (pinky) at a horrifying angle I can’t even mimic here for a photo.
First thing I did was to call for bone setters. I remembered our barefoot doctor Sifu Jen Sam. Was he in town? No, he was in Boracay. But he gave good enough advice so we could do this ourselves. Sifu said it was EASY… for him, maybe, but this is all new to us. Sifu’s advice was to gently pull on the pinky and rotate clockwise. Darn, I forgot to tell him if it was the left hand or the right hand. I think if it is the left hand it should be counter clockwise… that seemed easier.
I got first crack at our crying daughter’s pinky. Did the rotations. But her pinky was slipping due to the virgin coconut oil we put. And I wasn’t too sure of myself. I got our nannie Gei Ann to do the rotations while I demonstrated my own left pinky to my daughter, while my sister in law Pam held onto my daughter Tash as counter to Gei Ann’s pulling and rotating.
After a few short minutes, maybe 5 to 10 minutes… it seemed that was the best we could do, finger still swollen, seemed it was aligned… we followed Sifu’s instructions to use a splint and tape the fingers to the splint. We did not have popsicle sticks but we did have chop sticks and some medical tape.
Dislocated Finger Rehab Top View
Dislocated Finger Rehab Bottom View
Dislocated Finger Rehab Child
That was all March 30, 2012 in the evening. The following day March 31, our daughter was scheduled to go with her siblings and grandparents and extended family to go to the beach for 2 days. So she was well enough to head for the beach.
But we weren’t too sure if we got it right so we scheduled for Sifu Jen Sam, the barefoot doctor, to visit us in the soonest possible time. We got a schedule for April 3, 8am. And we now have a video of his treatment using home made Di Ta Jao – Iron Bone Kicking Wine and some medicinal plaster.
A close up picture of the Bone-Building Musk Analgesic Plaster made by Chong Qing Peidu Pharmaceutical Co. LTD.
Bone-Building Musk Analgesic Plaster
So the Chinese iron fists have a secret herbal concoction that makes their hands strong over the years so they can break through hard objects. It’s not just mental concentration and training, it’s also got a herbal component for actually hardening the bones for combat. Cool!
My daughter just had the patience to keep this on for less than a day. This morning she said she didn’t need it anymore. Said the plaster and the herbal rub made it all feel cool.