“You have weak digestion,” the reflexology therapist announced with the certainty of someone reading a weather report. She dragged a wooden massage stick up the arch of my right foot slowly at first, then with growing enthusiasm, as though she was unearthing a buried truth with each scrape. I winced, nodded, and silently prayed my confession might persuade her to show mercy.
It didn’t.
If anything, my admission seemed to electrify her. The stick moved faster, firmer, as if my foot held a secret she was determined to pry out. And strangely, somewhere between the discomfort and my curiosity, I realized something: in the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), your body is constantly broadcasting clues about your inner health and your hair, of all things, might be one of the most revealing messengers.