Planning a trip to Tainan for treatment
Most of the musicians who come here fly in from another country, are working around a concert schedule, and have already tried several other things. This page tells you exactly how the process works, so you can decide whether the trip is worth making before you commit to anything.
Write to me before you book anything
Everything starts with an email. I read and reply to every enquiry personally — this is not handled by an assistant or a booking system, because deciding whether I can help you is a clinical judgement, not an administrative one.
Please include three things:
- Your symptoms, and how long you have had them since they first appeared.
- Your instrument, and what you are currently unable to do because of the problem — a passage, a technique, a length of playing time.
- A short video of you playing, ideally under 30 seconds, showing the moment where the symptoms interfere. Filmed on a phone is completely fine.
Why the video matters more than a scan
An MRI shows me the tissue at rest. The video shows me the tissue doing the thing that injured it. For a musician those are very different pieces of information, and the second one is usually what changes the treatment plan. Please send the video even if you already have imaging.
dr.daniel@gmail.com — please write in English. I reply personally, within five working days.
The clinic
- Clinic
- A Tempo Regeneration Center for Musicians
- Based at
- Chi Mei Medical Center
5th Medical Building, 1st Floor
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
- Address
- No. 901, Zhonghua Road, Yongkang District,
Tainan City, Taiwan
- dr.daniel@gmail.com
- Physician
- Daniel Su, MD, RMSK, CIPS
From your first email to flying home
The sequence below is the same for every international musician. Nothing is committed until step three.
- You email me your symptoms and video. There is no form to fill in and no account to create.
- I reply personally, within five working days. I will tell you what I think is happening, what treatment would probably involve, roughly how many visits it would take, and an estimated cost. If I do not think I can help you, I will tell you that instead — it is better than having you cross the world to find out. Cost is estimated individually rather than published as a price list, because the treatment differs substantially between a violinist with a thumb problem and a trumpeter with an embouchure injury. Ask, and you will get a number before you book flights.
- You decide whether to come. Only at this point are you committing to anything. If you go ahead, we agree dates that fit both the clinic hours below and your concert schedule.
- First visit: examination, diagnosis — and usually the first treatment. Diagnostic ultrasound, assessment of how you use your body at the instrument, and — where it helps — surface EMG. Bring your instrument. In most cases the first treatment is given at this same visit, so a long journey is not spent on assessment alone. If your instrument is too large to travel with (double bass, harp, percussion, piano), bring detailed video instead and we will work from that.
- Then one of two paths, decided case by case. Either you stay in Taiwan roughly another week and have the next treatment before you fly home, or you go home after the first treatment and come back for the next one between two weeks and two months later. Which path suits you depends on your injury, our experience of how you should respond to the first treatment, and your performance calendar. We can usually work out the likely path by email before you book anything — so you can plan flights around it rather than guessing.
- Follow-up continues online throughout. Recovery does not end when a treatment does. Between visits, and after the last one, follow-up is by email or Zoom — part of the treatment rather than an extra.
When the musicians' clinic runs
These are the dedicated sessions for musicians. Appointments for international patients are arranged by email in advance — please do not travel and arrive unannounced, as the sessions fill and I may be teaching or away at a conference that week.
| Tuesday evening | 18:00 – 21:00 |
|---|---|
| Thursday afternoon | 14:00 – 17:00 |
| Friday morning | 09:00 – 12:00 |
Note: some older listings elsewhere online show a Tuesday morning session. That session no longer runs. The hours above are current.
Two ways in from an international airport
Taiwan has two main international airports. Neither is in Tainan, so plan on a connection either way.
Via Taoyuan (TPE) — most flights
- Arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport The larger airport, with far more international connections
- Train or taxi to Taoyuan HSR Station About 20 minutes
- High Speed Rail to Tainan HSR Station About 70 minutes, direct
- Taxi to Chi Mei Medical Center About 30 minutes
Via Kaohsiung (KHH) — simpler if it suits
- Arrive at Kaohsiung International Airport Fewer long-haul options, but much closer
- Taxi directly to Tainan About 1 hour — no rail connection needed
If you can find a reasonable fare into Kaohsiung, it is the less tiring arrival — particularly if you are travelling with an instrument.
Show this to your taxi driver
永康奇美醫院 第五醫療大樓 一樓復健科
Chi Mei Medical Center, Yongkang Campus, Fifth Medical Building, 1st Floor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Most drivers will know the hospital by name; the building and floor are the part worth showing them.
Practical things worth knowing
Bring cash
The hospital accepts cash and credit cards issued in Taiwan. Cards issued outside Taiwan may not be accepted. International patients should plan to pay in cash, and should confirm the expected amount with me by email before travelling so there are no surprises at the counter.
How long to stay
Plan for between three days and one week in Taiwan for the first trip. That covers the examination and your first treatment, and — if you take the first of the two paths above — the next treatment as well.
If the second treatment is better placed later, you will be coming back once, somewhere between two weeks and two months afterwards. It is worth knowing that before you book, which is why it is worth asking in your first email rather than after you arrive.
Either way, the trip is not the whole of your recovery. Recovery continues for months after you fly home, and that part is managed online.
Yes, you can keep playing
This is the question I am asked most often, and the answer surprises people: in most cases you continue playing through recovery, under a structured plan that increases gradually. The plan matters — returning to your previous practice volume immediately is how people get injured a second time — but you are very rarely asked to stop entirely.
Timing around competitions and auditions
If you have a fixed date coming — a competition, an audition, a recital, a tour — tell me in your first email. Treatment can be planned around a schedule, but only if I know the schedule. For a check-up before an important international engagement rather than an injury, three to six months of lead time is the right window.
Accommodation
There are hotels within a short taxi ride of the hospital in Yongkang and in central Tainan. Tell me your dates and I can point you toward the practical options rather than the scenic ones.
Before you write
What does treatment cost?
I give every musician an individual estimate by email after reviewing their symptoms and video, rather than publishing a price list. The reason is that the treatments differ a great deal between injuries — a single nerve hydrodissection and a multi-region regenerative plan across several sessions are not comparable — and a published range would mislead as often as it informed.
You will have a number before you commit to flights. Ask in your first email.
Do I need a referral from my own doctor?
No. Musicians write to me directly. If you already have imaging, reports, or notes from a physician at home, they are useful — bring them or attach them — but they are not required to make an enquiry.
Will I be able to play immediately after an injection?
Not at full intensity, and this is worth planning around. Fascia, ligament and muscle generally need around six weeks to reach a stable stage of healing, and heavier practice during that window risks the result. You will normally be playing — lightly, in short and frequent sessions — well before then, following a schedule set for your specific case.
Is there English-speaking help at the hospital?
Consultations with me are in English. Chi Mei is a large Taiwanese public hospital and signage and front-desk staff are mainly Chinese-speaking, so arriving with your appointment details already arranged by email makes the visit considerably easier.
What happens after I go home?
Follow-up is by email or Zoom, and it continues as long as it is useful. Recovery from a performance injury is measured in months, not days, and most of that period happens after you have left Taiwan. If you are unsure whether a posture or a practice change is correct, you can write and ask.
Can you treat me entirely online?
No. The diagnosis depends on ultrasound examination and on watching you play in person, and the treatments are ultrasound-guided injections. Online contact is for follow-up and for the initial assessment of whether travelling is worthwhile — not a substitute for the visit.
It is my mission and privilege to help you return to the concert hall.
Send your symptoms and a short video of you playing. I reply personally within five working days, and I will tell you honestly whether I can help.