The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 124

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 124

“Are you going to suture with that?”

Cheonwon-il asked, looking at the thread embedding needle.

“No, I’m not directly suturing the torn area. The thread will go in along the muscle fibers like this. It strengthens the muscle while supplying blood to induce natural healing.”

I placed the thread embedding needle against his shoulder and roughly showed him how it would go in.

“I’ll insert it right away then. It only hurts a little when the needle pierces the skin.”

It wasn’t long like the barbed thread embedding I’d used before, nor did it have barbs protruding from the thread.

The needle inserted with the thread was just slightly thicker than a regular acupuncture needle.

I inserted two thread embedding needles along the supraspinatus muscle fibers, and another one into the trapezius muscle.

It was a method of inserting the thread connected to the needle into the muscle, then withdrawing only the needle.

“It’s bearable, right?”

“Mm… Yes. It hurts more than regular acupuncture though.”

“The supraspinatus is all done. I’ll also treat the other muscles of the rotator cuff. The supraspinatus is torn, but this tearing is a result, not the cause.”

“So they all get overworked and the weakest one tears?”

“In your case, that’s how we can see it.”

If a young person’s rotator cuff is torn, it’s an injury. But if it’s someone of a certain age who uses their arms a lot, tears are often discovered like this even without any injury.

Damage accumulates from wear and tear over a long period.

I conversed with Cheonwon-il while inserting thread embedding needles into the infraspinatus and teres minor as well.

The four muscles that make up the rotator cuff.

Supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.

Among these, the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor aren’t difficult to access with needles.

Even though they’re covered by the trapezius, they’re located above the scapula, so you can penetrate from the back side.

But the subscapularis is located in front of the scapula, behind the lungs, so you have to enter very carefully from the armpit side.

“This hurts too, right?”

I gently rubbed and palpated his armpit.

Most people with shoulder pain stiffen up here too, but it was a location that rarely loosened up even when the trapezius was released.

“Ugh!”

Cheonwon-il let out an involuntary scream.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. The lungs…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just do one herbal injection, so when you do shoulder stretches, please loosen this area too.”

Since he wasn’t a patient I could see daily, I had to do all the treatment I could today.

I pressed and examined not only the rotator cuff that was the problem this time and the acupoints for treating shoulder pain, but all the muscles of the neck and shoulders to find painful spots.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Now that needling the pressure points was finished, the last step was electroacupuncture.

Applying electrical stimulation to areas that needed strengthening.

“Just stay like this for 20 minutes. Nothing uncomfortable, right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I drew the treatment room curtain and came out to the waiting room.

Of course, Kim Chunsik, Jeon Minji, Yu Gyeonghun, and Seong Myeongin, who had all followed along to watch my treatment, were there too.

“Don’t worry too much. Even though the tear is larger than the patient initially thought, it’s not incurable. I think he’ll improve.”

The energy I felt from Cheonwon-il wasn’t weak.

If I could just draw out that energy and add some tools for strengthening, recovery would definitely be possible.

“Thank you so much.”

Seong Myeongin bowed his head deeply.

“Wow, there’s really nothing you can’t do.”

“So that’s how you read ultrasounds… My knowledge was lacking.”

“Hehe, I need to work hard too so I don’t fall behind Doctor Han.”

“Me too! I’ll work hard on both martial arts practice and studying!”

Jeon Minji and Yu Gyeonghun exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

Why is even Clinic Director Kim Chunsik acting surprised?

Just showing off because new friends came!

“Yep. Let’s all do our best.”

* * *

When drawing, it’s very common for somewhere to hurt.

When you fall into a trance, you concentrate in one position for hours.

Neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, fingers, back, even knees – there wasn’t a place that didn’t hurt.

When he was young, sleeping it off made it okay.

As he got a bit older, he became friends with Traditional Korean Medicine Clinics.

Sometimes he got massages, sometimes he went to orthopedics for injections.

And recently.

The National Art Museum proposed doing an Oriental painting exhibition centered around Cheonwon-il and his students.

Cheonwon-il was of course a master who never missed any domestic Oriental painting exhibition, and had exhibited at that museum before.

But he wanted to introduce his students’ paintings together.

For those whose names weren’t yet known, it was a very good opportunity.

‘It seems to hurt more than usual?’

His shoulder hadn’t been good lately, but he wanted to complete the work he was preparing for the exhibition schedule.

Cheonwon-il pushed himself a little too hard.

“Oh my, you’ve got frozen shoulder. Do lots of stretching while getting treatment. It originally takes some time to heal.”

He received treatment at the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic he frequently visited, but the pain didn’t improve at all.

‘Let me push through just until this month and then rest.’

The exhibition results were very good.

Some students received good reviews, and his youngest student, who was still virtually unknown, received an exclusive contract offer from a famous gallery.

But Cheonwon-il’s shoulder was not the same.

“Hmm… your rotator cuff is slightly torn. Rest is important. Let’s do physical therapy and see how it progresses with rest.”

Even after getting an MRI and receiving all the treatments prescribed by both hospitals, it didn’t get better.

Would he eventually need surgery? If he did, would he be able to use his arm normally again?

General anesthesia and arthroscopy…?

Cheonwon-il squeezed his eyes shut while searching for photos.

“Teacher, how have you been?”

Perhaps because he fell asleep while researching surgery.

Cheonwon-il uncharacteristically complained to his student who was asking about his well-being.

“Make sure you take care of your shoulders from a young age so you don’t end up like me.”

Come to think of it, that gallery director who strongly wanted this friend had recommended some Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic.

Should he try going there? Would there be some method available?

“I’ll take you there right away!”

Seeing Seong Myeongin’s eyes trembling, Cheonwon-il regretted bringing up something unnecessary.

It’s supposedly nothing serious, but he only made him worry for no reason.

“It’s in Busan, they said.”

“Ah… Still, wouldn’t it be good to go once? I also heard about that clinic director in passing at a private gathering. Thanks to her, her grandson even got into Korean medicine school.”

“That must be an exaggeration. Hmm, …still, I should stop by once next month. I have a lecture in Busan anyway.”

“Shouldn’t you get treatment quickly? It’s your shoulder, Teacher! If that place is too far, I’ll look into other hospitals!”

“Calm down. I’m already receiving treatment.”

Perhaps because he was so concerned about it, the guy contacted him again a few days later.

“Director Heo contacted me, and it seems two Korean medicine doctors are interested in my paintings.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“Director Heo said that clinic director she was bragging about also came. How about you come along and have your shoulder looked at?”

Even so, to go together to a place where paintings were being introduced.

Cheonwon-il scolded his student harshly.

“Would you like it if you went to a restaurant to eat and they asked you to draw a picture? There’s a time and place for assigning work, and proper compensation must be paid!”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

He had forgotten about that matter afterward.

“Ah~~ I can’t stand it! Our clinic director says it’s fine, so why won’t you come? This is why Seoul people are like this! Don’t bother with unnecessary courtesy and come quickly when someone offers to help!”

…In the end, Cheonwon-il couldn’t resist Director Heo’s persistent urging.

The diagnosis of rotator cuff tear was consistent.

But 2cm?

Honestly, he couldn’t get a sense of it. Was it big? It didn’t seem that big?

The Korean medicine doctors who came along were amazed looking at the ultrasound, but Cheonwon-il wasn’t particularly impressed by that either.

They said they’d insert threads, but would this work?

He should probably get sutures after all…

But surgery was scary…

“Teacher, could you try lifting your arm?”

But after finishing the treatment and coming out.

“How much could change from one treatment, …it’s lifting?”

His arm went up.

They said 2cm was torn so it couldn’t support itself? But how was it lifting?

It didn’t seem very different from the acupuncture he usually received?

“Wow, the effect appears immediately?”

“That’s fortunate, Teacher!”

The Korean medicine doctors who had made a fuss when looking at the ultrasound were rather casually impressed.

But Seong Myeongin and Cheonwon-il couldn’t hide their amazement.

“How?”

Although he had received intensive treatment for just over two months, it had been quite a while since his arm couldn’t lift well.

Recently, if he lifted his arm just 90 degrees, it would freeze and tremble violently?

“The treatment just went in and is supporting it. This time I asked you to lift it just to check, but you still shouldn’t overdo it!”

Director Han Yewon acted as if she naturally expected this to happen.

“You might feel pain for about a day or two right after thread lifting. Director Kim here is also very skilled, so come back in two weeks for continued treatment. It would be good to continue receiving regular acupuncture in between, but if it’s hard to come here, you can go to the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic you used to visit.”

“No. It’s not that far. I’ll come here every day. I can’t paint right now anyway, so I have no schedule except for lectures.”

“Don’t worry too much and please repeat rest and treatment. Since there was an immediate effect, we can expect good changes.”

“Thank you so much.”

Director Han Yewon returned to Busan.

Cheonwon-il received three thread lifting procedures at two-week intervals according to her treatment plan.

He received acupuncture daily, and occasionally received herbal acupuncture as Director Kim Chunsik recommended.

The pain improved quickly.

The burdensome feeling when lifting also reduced significantly.

“On the ultrasound, it’s also slightly reduced. It’s healing. Both the test results and clinical symptoms show great improvement, so you don’t need to consider surgery.”

“It’s still too early to paint, right?”

“It’s fine as long as it doesn’t hurt. However, never do it for long periods at once, and please rest at maximum 30-minute intervals.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Cheonwon-il picked up a brush after a long time.

Even when he positioned himself properly, there was no pain.

Though it wasn’t completely healed, just feeling the sensation of the brush touching paper again made his heart flutter.

He suddenly wanted to give a small gift.

To Director Han who first examined him, and to Director Kim who was kindly treating him as his attending physician.

* * *

Some time after returning from the Seoul business trip, I heard about Cheonwon-il’s progress during what had become a regular online meeting.

Fortunately, his shoulder was recovering well.

The opening of the 4th branch was also progressing smoothly.

Luckily, we met an interior company president who absolutely loved martial arts novels, and he put his heart and soul into a major renovation.

With magnificent paintings hung up as well, it was the perfect office for the Martial Arts Alliance Leader and Cheonma.

‘Though there’s no such thing as an office in the actual Cheonma Divine Palace…’

The costumes exceeded expectations too.

The gorgeous costumes prepared for video shooting were one thing, but the modified martial arts clothing designed for wearing in the examination room also looked quite convincing.

‘A hundred times better than the Martial Arts Alliance Leader who just throws on anything.’

The martial arts videos… people’s reactions weren’t bad, but honestly to my eyes, it was a victory of modern video editing technology.

Rather, the quality of the disease introduction videos that Yu Gyeonghun scripted and asked me to review was excellent.

As the couple expected, the view counts were overwhelmingly higher than most doctors’ YouTube channels, and the official account gained quite a lot of followers even before opening.

[Holy shit, Cheonma treats headaches? By putting needles in your head? That’s terrifying.]

[I’m gonna go and see if I get controlled by demonic arts]

[Oppa, let’s stop by here when we go to Jeju Island! @muhyeoplove12321]

Finally, when they opened, visit reviews started appearing one by one even though we didn’t request any advertising.

Stories about how the treatment was surprisingly and ordinarily good, how their jaws dropped seeing the interior, how Director Cheonma was an incredible martial arts novel fan, how they discovered out-of-print martial arts novels in the waiting room, and so on.

Well, whether this would lead to catching the remaining rabbits instead of ending as just a happening would depend on their skills.

I left a word of encouragement on Seongsumullim Oriental Medicine Clinic’s official SNS and closed the internet.

Ding~.

Just when I thought I’d rest for a moment, another patient had arrived.

The chart showed two patients had registered.

Kang Jaekyung, new patient.

And Song Wonjong, re-initial visit.

Re-initial visit refers to cases where someone visits the clinic after a long time, and though it’s actually a follow-up visit, it’s treated as an initial visit in the system.

Since there’s a high possibility that the type or pattern of illness has changed over time, I examine them anew like an initial visit.

‘Oh, Mr. Song Wonjong?’

Wasn’t this the restaurant owner who suffered from gastroesophageal reflux disease last time?

He moved away and there was no contact for a while, but had his illness relapsed again?

As soon as I had that thought, I heard Song Wonjong’s voice from outside.

“Oh? That, the person who does band! You’re the drummer, right?”

“No way, what brings you here, boss?”

“Haha, my wrist hurts so I came. I’ve been overworking it lately because we have so many customers, and the condition isn’t good at all.”

“You too, boss? I also came because of my wrist. How do we all end up meeting at the Oriental Medicine Clinic?”

It seemed they had coincidentally met someone they knew in the waiting room.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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