"Ointment for the Oral Cavity Disease"

I think I'm quite lucky to have a pharmacist that speaks English at a pharmacy near my school.  I can't even begin to imagine trying to act out or gesture medical symptoms to someone who speaks no English in hopes that they will be able to decipher my motions correctly and give me medicine that will actually help my ailment.  Nevertheless, I'm always pretty apprehensive to take Korean medicines that I've picked up at the pharmacy or gotten at a doctor's office.  More times than I can count, one of my co-workers has come back from the doctor's office with a Ziploc baggy of 40-50 unlabeled pills and instructions to take these pills together twice a day and these other 2 pills every third day or something like that.  What boggles me even more is the fact that most of my co-workers begin popping these pills without a second thought about what they might be. 

A couple of days ago, I made my way into the pharmacy.  I've had these terrible canker sores taking over my mouth for the past couple weeks, and I had reached the point where I couldn't suffer through them for one more day.  I walked in and told the pharmacist that I had 4 canker sores in my mouth that were making it really difficult to eat or talk or brush.  He nodded his head in understanding and then asked, "Pill or ointment?"  I looked at him rather puzzled.  I had it in my head that I was looking for something similar to Anbesol or Orajel; something just to soothe the pain while the canker sores healed on their own.  After all I had read pretty extensively that there isn't really any cure for canker sores.  I told him ointment.  I was, then, handed a small box with a tube of ointment in it and instructed to apply twice a day.

Now if I wasn't already skeptical about taking Korean medication, I quickly became so.  I had a real issue with squirting some unknown gel into my mouth twice a day to heal my canker sores.  I fumbled around with the box trying to see if there was any clue as to what this magic medicine was.  It was then that I ran across the description of my medicine, "Ointment for the oral cavity disease."   

I silently thought to myself, "That sounds terrible!  Oral cavity disease...surely this can't be right."  Twenty minutes later the pain in my mouth took over my skepticism and I decided to give this medicine a shot.  I applied a small bit on one of my canker sores to test it out and was more than a little surprised when the gel turned into a malleable wax that clung ever so tightly to gum.  It was not what I expected.  It was weird.  But it worked.  Here I am a couple days later, canker sore free.  I still have no idea what exactly I was applying to the inside of my mouth 2x a day, but I'm still alive.  I guess I should just trust the pharmacist when he so assuredly gives me something to take.

Well I'm off to say farewell to a teacher that is leaving tomorrow.  Enjoy your Memorial Day!!!

It's ALL About Him,

KendallCooke