The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 16

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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 16

Examination in the examination room is as important as treatment itself.

Not only does accurate diagnosis form the foundation of treatment, but I also need to make the patient trust and follow me.

Since Kim Ijin mentioned cruciate ligaments, I first checked for anterior and posterior cruciate ligament tears.

“I’m going to bend your knee slightly. I’ll be pushing and pulling, so tell me if it hurts too much.”

“Yes.”

I performed the Posterior Drawer Test, Anterior Drawer Test, and Lachman Test in sequence.

The names sound complicated, but it was simply pulling the tibia back and forth.

“Ugh.”

Unfortunately, when I pulled forward, the ligament failed to hold the bone properly in place and came along with it.

“As you mentioned, there’s a problem with the cruciate ligament.”

“I thought so…”

“Let me also check the extent of the damage with something called the Pivot Shift Sign.”

I performed one more simple physical examination.

With my left hand, I grasped the outside of Kim Ijin’s knee and pushed while fully extending her leg. In that position, I grabbed her ankle with my right hand, lifted it from the bed, and slowly flexed the knee while maintaining internal rotation.

“Does it hurt?”

“No. It feels a bit strange, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“So it’s just an unnatural feeling.”

“Yes.”

Based on this test, it was Grade 1.

“Do you feel very unstable when walking?”

“Um… Honestly, I’m not sure. But I’m generally not good at feeling pain.”

“You were walking a bit awkwardly when you came in earlier. Could you walk to the door and back?”

Kim Ijin walked to the examination room door and back as I instructed.

“I was wearing a brace, and the previous hospital told me not to use it as much as possible, so I think that’s why I was walking with my leg extended.”

As she said, when I observed her gait with the brace removed, the instability wasn’t too severe.

“Does it hurt when I press here?”

“A little. Oh, that spot hurts.”

I completed palpation around the front patella and the back popliteal area of the knee.

Based on what I saw with my eyes.

The sensations I felt at my fingertips during the examination.

And combining what Kim Ijin had told me.

“As you heard from the previous hospitals, it’s reasonable to view this as a partial cruciate ligament tear.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Please sit over here and look at this structural diagram. The cruciate ligament is here, and your pain is in the front of the knee, right? The cruciate ligament has no sensory nerves. When a tear occurs, other structures are strained, and that’s what’s causing problems in the areas that hurt when I press them.”

I displayed a diagram showing knee bones, muscles, and ligaments on the computer screen and explained.

“The pain will improve within a week. But we need to treat the root cause thoroughly. Especially since you’re an athlete.”

“Ah, so that’s why the pain came and went at first.”

Kim Ijin nodded as if she understood. She showed no doubt about my promise to quickly improve the pain that hadn’t gotten better all this time.

“So please rest until I say it’s okay to exercise, and you need to come for treatment every day. You absolutely must not overdo it just because the pain improves.”

“Yes! How long will it take?”

“It shouldn’t take too long.”

Due to its location, the cruciate ligament is more difficult to treat with acupuncture compared to the medial or lateral collateral ligaments.

Normally, it might be wiser to say “let’s see how you respond” rather than definitively stating whether it can or cannot be treated.

“I’ll have you better within a month. You’ll be able to participate in both training and the athletic meet.”

But at least regarding Kim Ijin, I felt confident that I could treat her.

‘It’s partly because I’m skilled, but this girl has a body condition at the level of the Martial Arts World. Someone like this will recover incredibly fast!’

There are patients who recover from a month-long treatment in just 1-2 weeks, and cases that require treatment for over 3 months. Acupuncture treatment ultimately utilizes one’s own vital energy and recovery ability, so unless it’s very minor treatment, there are variations.

And a patient like Kim Ijin was like a triple reputation event for a physician.

Successfully treating such a patient with a difficult condition would earn me praise as a modern Hua Tuo.

“Please take good care of me, Clinic Director.”

Kim Ijin spoke hopefully.

Her eyes were filled with the fervent desire to definitely get better.

“Then let’s go straight to the treatment room.”

* * *

‘Hm?’

Kim Ijin tilted her head upon arriving at the treatment room.

Unlike the hospitals she had visited before, there wasn’t a single patient in the treatment room.

‘Maybe everyone gets treated all at once?’

Having no understanding of how hospitals operate, she naturally interpreted it in a positive way.

“I’ll start with physical therapy.”

A staff member with an indifferent expression attached a machine to her knee.

Shortly after, physical therapy and heat treatment similar to what she had received at the orthopedic clinic were finished.

Finally, the Clinic Director arrived.

“Have you ever received acupuncture before?”

“No. This is my first time.”

“Really? What an honor. When you become a national representative later, will you tell people you were treated by me?”

Kim Ijin smiled softly at the joke. National representative… Somehow it reminded her of when she first met the senior who recommended she start playing basketball.

Was it because their charisma was similar?

Kim Ijin nodded as if enchanted by something.

“When you bend your knee like this, the inner part that curves inward on both sides is called Naeseulan (Inner Knee Eye), and the outer part is Oeseulan (Outer Knee Eye). It means the eyes of the knee – quite an interesting name, right? The needle will go in fairly deep, reaching the joint capsule, and you’ll feel it loosen up when it hits.”

“Yes.”

The indented area looked exactly like a spot meant for needle placement. She had the feeling that touching the problematic area inside her knee through this point would provide immediate, refreshing relief.

“Ah!”

“Does it hurt?”

“No. It feels… penetrating somehow.”

Though she could only express it with vague words, the uncomfortable feeling she’d been experiencing inside her knee was suddenly pierced through.

Inflammation, torn ligaments, tangled muscles. It must have reached something like that, right?

“Like cutting through the Gordian knot with a sword?”

The legend of Alexander the Great that she’d heard in history class suddenly came to mind.

That nagging feeling that couldn’t be resolved no matter what she tried for so long.

That something was refreshingly dispersed by the Clinic Director’s single needle.

“Hehe, it went in well.”

The Clinic Director smiled as if she’d heard an amusing joke.

Following the inner knee eye, a needle also entered the outer knee eye. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt like the two needles were penetrating through her knee and untangling everything that had been knotted up.

“Since it’s responding well, let me do a bit more. This will go deep into the ligaments.”

“Yes. Please loosen everything up.”

Kim Ijin nodded vigorously. Her eyes were determined and resolute.

“…!”

Several needles were inserted front and back without hesitation. Though it wasn’t particularly painful, she flinched each time the needle tips made contact.

“This will release the adhesions in the soft tissue and improve blood flow in the surrounding area. By stimulating it like this to gather your body’s healing power, even the partially torn ligaments will recover.”

A refreshing sensation gradually spread outward. It felt as if the inflammation she’d vaguely imagined was being washed away.

“Just stay like this for 20 minutes.”

The Clinic Director said this and left the treatment room.

“…Yes.”

As if all the energy in her body was truly being drawn to her knee, Kim Ijin gradually fell asleep.

* * *

It had been exactly ten days since Kim Ijin started receiving treatment at the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic.

“You’re really completely healed?”

She drew the Coach’s admiration by showing how freely she could move her knee, which hadn’t been bending properly before.

“Yes. I guess I should have tried the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic from the beginning.”

Though he had firmly prohibited her from participating in training, the Coach had been extremely worried inside.

How could he not be, when there had been no improvement for over a month?

If she had ended up needing surgery, it would have been difficult to bear the guilt of not noticing a student’s injury until it reached that point.

“The doctor said it’s okay to play basketball, right?”

“Yes. It hasn’t hurt at all since the first day I got acupuncture, and after a few more days of treatment, it’s really fine now. I got permission to exercise as much as I want.”

She didn’t seem to be lying. The Coach permitted her to participate in club activities.

Still, just in case, he watched Kim Ijin throughout the entire club activity period.

From warm-ups to running, training, and the final practice game.

There was none of the instability he thought he had noticed last time.

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

Kim Ijin dribbled the basketball as she crossed from one end of the court to the other.

Just 10 seconds before the game ended.

She ran out dribbling without hesitation. She changed positions this way and that while breaking through the defending opposing team players, but there was nothing wrong with her knee.

Fweet!

Countdown, 3 seconds.

Kim Ijin jumped up as if she would soar into the sky.

‘Gasp!’

The Coach couldn’t take his eyes off Kim Ijin for even a moment.

2 seconds. Her arm bent back, and she shot.

1 second. The basketball that left Kim Ijin’s hand cut through the air.

Zero. Finally, it settled into the basket.

“Waaah!”

“As expected of our captain! She’s completely back!”

“That’s insane. At this rate, she’ll be dunking next?!”

She announced her spectacular return by succeeding with a buzzer beater.

Even her landing form was perfection itself.

‘My jumping ability really has improved!’

I hadn’t seen it wrong. Even though I’d rested for over a month, the condition of my legs was actually better than before.

The vice-captain had mentioned dunking as a joke, but maybe it really was possible now?

“It’s all thanks to you guys.”

I exchanged high-fives with my teammates and today’s training came to an end.

“Ijin, are you going for treatment again today?”

The coach stopped Kim Ijin who was changing clothes to go home.

“Yes. He said I only need to come once every two weeks for maintenance now, but I feel like I get better every time I go.”

“What’s the name of the oriental medicine clinic?”

And he asked.

“Are you sick somewhere too, Coach?”

“Not me, but my wife is.”

“It’s Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic. It’s on the hillside behind our apartment.”

“Thanks.”

Actually, there was a patient in his family who was just as concerning as Kim Ijin.

Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic. The coach immediately wrote down the name of the clinic he’d heard about.

* * *

Wow, how is this even possible? What kind of heavenly martial body is this?

She recovered way too fast.

I couldn’t help but be amazed watching Kim Ijin’s knee condition improve day by day.

If I just taught her some basic martial arts… no, that still wouldn’t work, would it?

I had absolutely no desire to appear on programs like ‘Amazing Stories in the World.’

I suppressed my constantly bubbling greed and finished Kim Ijin’s treatment each time.

Since I opened her meridian pathways, she must be even stronger than before, right? Hehe.

“Now I can exercise!”

Two days after I gave her the complete recovery diagnosis.

Ding~.

At the usual time, someone opened the clinic door and entered.

‘Did she come for maintenance again today?’

But the energy I felt was a little different.

“Hello.”

I heard an unfamiliar man’s voice. He was someone with slightly stronger energy than Kim Ijin.

‘A martial artist… of course not, probably an athlete?’

His next words also suggested a connection to her.

“I came on Kim Ijin’s recommendation. Is Dr. Hanyewon seeing patients today?”

Eureka! That cute girl brought me a referral patient!

Delighted, I opened my energy sensing to eavesdrop on the preliminary examination at the desk.

“That’s right. Who will be registering?”

The man answered the desk staff’s question.

“Both of us. My back is a bit stiff, and my wife has severe menstrual cramps, so we wanted to get some consultation.”

It was even two people.

And menstrual cramps were my specialty, weren’t they?

When I was at the Tang Clan, I treated menstrual cramps for maids alone in the triple digits.

Among them were many people who had suffered for years, even decades.

“I’m fine… just treat my wife.”

Women who were dragged in by friends saying exactly that kind of thing invariably became my devoted followers.

I smiled victoriously as I recalled the old days.

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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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