Cultural Immersion: The Controversial Practice of Coining
Ethan Norng
West Coast University

Abstract The medical practice of “coining” has been around for a very long time, yet it is still something that the West has not gotten used to. Originating in China and spreading to South East Asia, it has gained great popularity amongst the Asian community. It can easily be practiced in the comfort of your own home, all that is required is the right substances and tools. The practice is a controversial one mostly due to the fact that it leaves marks and bruises. Children who are admitted to the hospital with the marks that coining leaves behind, may be suspected victims of child abuse. Healthcare workers are very suspicious of this method. …show more content…
If I believe that I feel cooler and that my fever has gone down, I will ultimately feel better. Many health care professionals have backed the claim that it actually doesn’t have any physiological benefits for the body however there have been actual side effects from using specific oils in the practice. Some patients have developed toxicity and contact dermatitis from the use of the specific oils. Ravanfar and Dinulos report that, “Such oils including camphor, menthol, wintergreen oil, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, and cinnamon oil. The use of these heated lubricants has been associated with burns, contact dermatitis, and toxicity.” Contact dermatitis occurs when the skin becomes inflamed and irritated due to the use of a skin irritant. Toxicity happens when the substances enter a break in the skin and gets into the bloodstream, which can lead to complications. Camphor is a substance that is found in Vicks which happens to be the only product that I choose to be coined with. Camphor toxicity can lead to neurological effects such as such as involuntary muscular contractions, confusion, coma, apnea, and seizures (Ravanfar/Dinulos, 2010). Although these risk factors associated with coining may seem very dangerous, it all depends on how hard the stroke is and the damage it causes to the skin. Personally, I request my mother not do it so hard because often times I …show more content…
Because of the bruising and suspicion of abuse, many healthcare workers have sparked controversy over coining. Some ask the question of it being “torture or treatment?”. For fear of being accused of child abuse, many families who practice coining tend to avoid going to hospitals to treat their sick (Ravanfar/Dinulos, 2010). In fact, when my mother was a child, my aunt would indeed avoid taking her to hospitals in fear of being reported to child services for child abuse. This was more frightening as both of them spoke little English at the time. My family was not the only ones who would experience this feeling. As many more refugees came from Cambodia due to the Khmer Regime of Pol Pot in the 1970s, coining became more and more popular in the United States. Ironically, during Pol Pot’s reign, all medical practices and treatment were restricted in the prison camps except for coining due to the fact that it was so common that it was not considered a practice of a higher intelligence (Bentley, 2013). Pol Pot tended to target those who were skilled and