Urgent Care Delivered in a Bowl of Rice

It was a Wednesday evening around 8:30 pm that I took a call from a patient of mine. She said her six year old daughter had been experiencing severe abdominal pain for about 20 minutes and wondered if she could bring her in to see me for urgent care.

I asked if her daughter ate or drank anything cold with dinner and she said her daughter did drink a glass of cold milk. After learning that her daughter was not running a fever and that the pain was in her lower left abdomen, not the right, and thus eliminating the possibility of appendicitis, I told her to try something simple that might relieve her daughter's pain and save her the trouble of driving to my house or office. 

I told her to measure out a bowl of rice, put the rice in a sock, and heat it up in a microwave for two minutes. Then apply this rice bag over her abdomen where it was hurting for five minutes and call me back to report the outcome. She called me back in about 20 minutes and said her daughter's pain went away completely. She was so happy, thankful, and surprised a bowl of rice could provide this miracle remedy. 

Yes, a bowl of rice can do a lot for our health. When cooked it gives us energy. When heated it can help relieve bruises and joint pains. And in this case, a bowl of rice relieved a patient's abdominal pain and saved her a trip to the emergency room, an unknown amount of waiting time, and a stack of medical bills. 

Frank He, L. Ac., QME, DAOM
​Edited by Sarah Tang, MTCM Intern at HeCares

---