ESPN Yao to meet with traditional practitioners on stress fracture Associated Press Updated: April 4, 2008, 9:42 AM ET Comment Email Print BEIJING -- Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is back in China to consult with traditional medicine practitioners over his NBA season-ending foot injury. Yao Yao said Friday he also plans to see his fellow players on the national team and talk with coach Jonas Kazlauskas on strategy for the Beijing Olympics in August. Yao hadn't decided on a treatment to heal the stress fracture in his left foot, but said he would probably meet with the country's top traditional doctors early next week. Traditional Chinese medicine can range from acupuncture to herbal teas, and is usually less invasive and slower acting than Western medicine. "Traditional Chinese medicine has a history of thousands of years in our country so there must be something to it," Yao said. Yao, who arrived in Beijing late Thursday, hobbled into a news conference on crutches, his injured foot sheathed in a protective guard. He said his recovery was going "pretty well," but he wasn't likely to be back at his best until late June or early July. His injury had sparked a near panic in China, where huge hopes are riding on the Olympics. China's other big man, former Dallas Mavericks center Wang Zhizhi, also recently underwent knee surgery and Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward Yi Jianlian was scheduled to undergo a scan on his sprained left knee. Despite the setbacks, Yao warned against counting the hosts out, saying the team would finish 12th in a worst-case scenario, but was poised for a "historic breakthrough." "It's a testimony to how much these Games mean to us players that we're not just saying 'I'm injured, that's it,' and throwing in the towel," Yao said. "The Games are in our own country and that's special." "The Olympics is a big competition with big pressure. If the pressure wasn't there, you wouldn't have so many athletes trying to get in." Yao had heard rumors he would be selected as an Olympic torch bearer -- perhaps even carrying it at the opening ceremony -- but didn't know anything for sure. "Of course it would be a huge honor to carry the torch, but in my present state, in my present condition I can't even run 200 meters," Yao said. The 7-6 center appeared to have overcome some of the disappointment of seeing his NBA season end. He smiled and joked with reporters and assured them that despite playing in the U.S., he remained Chinese at heart. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press 22 comments on "Yao to meet with traditional practitioners on stress frac..." canadianmoose66 (57 minutes ago) If eastern and western medicine would one day put away their egos away and try to learn from each other... we all might be able to benefit from cures and advances from new and potential research that might solve our issues today and beyond. Shame on you if you're bashing one kind of medicine in favor for another just because you're "western" or "eastern"... you're just fooling yourself. bugboy34205 (1 hour ago) Here's how you treat a stress fracture: You stay off your foot as much as possible, especially when you weigh nearly 300 pounds. Why would he need "traditional Chinese medicine" for something like a broken bone? Baffling. Take care big Fella!!
Yep, and whether it is traditional Chinese or Western, the body will heal at it's own pace.... He will be fine come June. DD
i have a story to tell. it's more hangout material. it involved Yao and some homeless skitzo. theyre not directly involved, but its real good. if you work in downtown, maybe youve seen him before.
I heard China was banning pretty much all their signature concoctions to insure that their athletes would not test positive for any questionable substances. From what I remember, certain animals feet, testicles, herbs, etc... Things Chinese athletes commonly use will be prohibited during the games. This is a China only thing, it doesn't officially apply.
nothing big, but its going to go to the hangout, because its more hangout material. i think you missed the moises alou reference dadakota. i think thats what he was refering to.
And everyone knows that his wife did not accompany him this time on his trip back to China as she is busy with her study.
And does this deserve to be a separate thread such that posters can fruther diss and bash about the value of Chinese traditional medicine? http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=3591481&postcount=325
I am just curious why western medicine first then tradition chinese later? It will heal no matter what. I doubt a surgery will do any better than none. It is just absurd to assume that putting a pin into the bone would prevent stress fracture better than healing by itself. Looking for 2nd opinion on chinese medicine just says something about Yao's upset on surgery, I guess.
No it doesn't show any such thing....it just shows that Yao wants to get healthy and will do anything and everything to do that. DD
Well IMHO there is not contradiction in first the surgery and then use of Traditional Chinese Medicine to expedite the recovery. Yeah, for the stress fracture on his ankle, Big Yao could opt for going the easier way of leaving the fracture to heal by itself, rather than going for the surgery. But he did not, because he would not leave the healing to chance, cos God knows how long it would take for the fracture to heal on its own. That would have costed him to miss playing in the Olympics. And now going back to China to seek assistance/help from the TCM experts is just finding ways to expedite his recovery, because whatever the skepticism/ suspicion the Westerners have on the value of TCM, as correctly put by Yao Ming: there must be something in it as TCM had been prevailing and is still going strong after so many thousands of years in China, and has always been viewed and endorsed by Western medical field as a complementary or alternative Medical system for the conventional Western medicine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine
Looks like the Chinese are becoming skeptical as well... _____ Deer Penis Loses Favor as China's Olympians Fear Drug Testers Deer penis, turtle blood and angelica root potions have joined steroids and amphetamines on the list of banned drugs for Chinese Olympians. While China's top athletes have long sought a competitive edge by ingesting traditional concoctions, those customs are fading amid stricter doping rules and concern that drug scandals will embarrass the host nation during the Summer Olympics in Beijing. The nation's sports stars are replacing millennia-old elixirs with vitamins, protein shakes and Western remedies. link
