Healing arts
Traditional Chinese massage eases pain, promotes healing
By KEVIN GARCIA
The Brownsville Herald
June 6, 2005 Its important to enjoy your work, and Hui Pin Chang, better known as Michael Chang to his clients, enjoys making people feel better.
For the past five years, he and his wife Julie Chang have been making their living doing just that.
The first year we tried very hard because they still didnt trust us, said Julie Chang, 63. They were scared because they didnt know what kind of massage it was.
Michael Chang, 64, said Americans are used to Swedish-style massages, which are meant primarily for relaxation. Chinese massages are traditionally used as medical treatments.
I have many patients that go to doctors, but (they say) nobody can help, he said. When I am successful I feel good.
One of their first customers, 46-year-old Mario Reynoso of South Padre Island, had been suffering from accident-related back pain for many years. Chiropractors and medicine werent helping and he didnt want surgery as his doctors had suggested.
He saw Michael Changs booth at the 77 Flea Market and wondered if it might be another option.
I said, well, I have nothing to lose so Im going to try it, Reynoso said. Mr. Chang gave me a massage that I still remember.
Pinching nerves and pushing pressure points while rubbing herbs and salves into Reynosos skin, Chang worked hard to ease the pain although it didnt seem like it at the time.
It felt like he was injecting hot chili into me, Reynoso said. I was angry but he said dont be angry, wait 20 minutes. When I got up, I felt like I was 15 years old with all that energy.
Depending on the procedure used, Changs treatments can also be pain-free, something that is appreciated by cancer patients who seek him out for pain relief.
Although Michael Chang didnt use traditional advertising, customers quickly learned about the traditional massages by word of mouth.
The Changs still hold shop at the 77 Flea Market every Saturday and Sunday, but their main business is in North Park Plaza. Now their business is thriving and new Chinese masseurs have opened up in other locations, such as Sunrise Mall.
Its very different from what my husband does, Julie Chang said, explaining that her husbands family has worked in traditional massages for generations.
My grandfather was very good about traditions and message, Michael Chang said.
Originally from Shenyang in north China, Michael Chang and his wife met 30 years ago while Michael Chang was visiting Taiwan.
A friend introduced us, Julie Chang said. He was honest and quiet. I liked that.
Her husband gave a typically honest and quiet response.
I guess she was OK, he said, still trying to find the right words.
She jokingly asked, what?! Only OK?
After they married he returned to China to attend a medical school in Tienjing to study acupressure. In 1978 they moved to the United States to live with Julie Changs family in California.
When we lived in the big city he wasnt happy, Julie Chang said. In California there is heavy traffic and he didnt like it, but here it is very peaceful.
In California and other areas, traditional techniques are covered by insurance. In Brownsville, where insurance providers are unlikely to recognize such medicine, patients pay about $50 per hour, depending on the services.
Still, many come to experience the healing sensations of traditional Chinese massage. Acupuncture had been offered in Brownsville before, but not acupressure Julie Chang explained.
In Chinese traditional culture it goes back 5,000 years, she said, adding that acupressure is a key part of that culture. Pinching nerves and touching (pressure) points, you have to know all these things.
kgarcia@brownsvilleherald.com
