S'pore woman gets dark purple bruising from wooden board treatment, wellness centre apologises & offers free treatment

After receiving cupping therapy at a wellness centre, a Singapore woman discovered that the bruising from the session did not fade.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Wu (transliteration) said she had been suffering from neck and shoulder pain for many years.

On Aug. 13 at around 5pm, she decided to head to a wellness centre near Blk 254A Serangoon Central.

The 46-year-old shared that she passed by the wellness centre that day and decided to try a moxibustion treatment for S$99 as a promotional offer, hoping it would relieve her aches.

Never done before

After the treatment, a staff member from the wellness centre recommended a "scraping" therapy as her "meridans" needed to be stimulated, Wu said.

Wu shared that she had never tried moxibustion before and had no idea what the "scraping" therapy, also known as "pai sha", was, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The staff did not explain the process to her before they apparently took out a wooden board and tapped her legs.

Wu described the pain as similar to a woman being punished in an ancient Chinese drama.

The whole session lasted about 10 minutes, and after that, her legs were in pain, and she could barely stand.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I definitely would not have agreed to the treatment," she said.

Bruising all over her leg

When Wu returned home, she was shocked to see her legs were covered with large, dark purple bruises.

The pain was apparently so severe that she had difficulty showering and bending her legs.

She also had to wear long pants to cover the bruises, despite the hot weather.

When a Shin Min Daily News reporter called the wellness centre, the manager shared that they had apologised to Wu several times after the incident and were willing to provide free follow-up treatments to help her recover.

The manager explained that while they did not explain it to Wu beforehand, they did explain the procedure during the session, saying it was intended to help expel stagnant blood.

"As she did not indicate that she wanted to stop, we continued with the treatment," said the manager.

Wu's bruises still had not faded by Aug. 17, said Shin Min Daily News.

Wu hopes that her experience will remind the public to understand the details of the treatment and procedures before they carry them out.