The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 18

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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 18

“Since I was in middle school… it’s been about 20 years now.”

“Has it been continuous since your first period?”

“Yes.”

I conducted the interview calmly, but as soon as the word “menstrual cramps” came up, her face darkened.

“How severe is it? Do painkillers work?”

“Very severe. Deadly severe. Painkillers do work when I take them.”

“How many do you take?”

“About two Tylenol.”

“Per day?”

Once in the morning, once in the evening would be normal among patients with menstrual cramps.

“Two at once. One doesn’t even make a dent. When I take them like that, it gets better, but after 2-3 hours the pain comes back. They say not to exceed 8 per day, so I basically take 6 at mealtimes, and if it’s too severe at night and I can’t sleep, I take one or two more.”

“Does it get worse at night?”

“I feel like I’m going crazy all day long. I barely endure it by wrapping my stomach with heat packs.”

Ah… Yu Minha was among the very severe cases.

This was on the level of the princess of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace who had mistakenly consumed Ten Thousand Year Snow Ginseng that didn’t suit her constitution, wasn’t it?

“There are no underlying conditions like uterine fibroids or endometriosis, right?”

“No. I would have rather had something like that so I could have it removed. All they give me is painkillers, birth control pills… I had hope when they said it would get better after childbirth, but that was wrong too. Oh, but I haven’t been to the emergency room since having Seyeong. I used to get IV drips sometimes before.”

Yu Minha bit her lips tightly. Even though it wasn’t her menstrual period now, just thinking about it seemed terrible.

“Is your cycle regular?”

“Not completely regular… sometimes it’s delayed by a week or so.”

“What about the flow and color?”

“It seems a bit heavy, and it’s dark… though I’m not sure if it’s all dark.”

“Please describe the pattern of your menstrual cramps. Does the lower abdominal pain spread to your chest and back, or is it just stabbing pain in your abdomen?”

“The former. My back always hurts too, and it feels like something is pulling from below.”

I nodded. I had roughly determined the direction. To increase accuracy, I checked a few more aspects of her overall condition.

“Do you have a good appetite?”

“No. I’ve never really liked eating since long ago. I don’t digest well either.”

This was confirmation, not a question.

“Do you sleep well?”

“So-so? I do sleep 7 hours, but no matter how much I sleep, I’m tired.”

“You probably don’t sweat much, right?”

“No matter how much I exercise, I don’t sweat.”

“You’re very sensitive to cold, and your hands and feet are cold too…”

“Yes, yes! That’s right.”

“Do you have any discomfort with bowel or bladder movements?”

“I get slight diarrhea when I eat cold foods.”

All of Yu Minha’s symptoms pointed in one direction.

“There can be various causes for menstrual cramps. Since you said you’ve been tested for the conditions I mentioned earlier, we’ll exclude those. Your pelvic structure also doesn’t seem to have any major problems visually. And you said there wasn’t much change after childbirth.”

“Yes.”

“In cases like this, we ultimately need to look for the cause in the five organs and six bowels. Problems with menstruation are indicators of internal problems. Let me also check your pulse.”

But still, I had to check the pulse. No matter how good a medicine I could prescribe, I needed to give her confidence to make her want to purchase it, right?

I took Yu Minha’s wrist.

“How is it?”

She asked me before even 5 seconds had passed.

“It’s slow. This is the pulse pattern that appears when cold dampness is accumulated in the lower abdomen. This means your kidney qi is weak… to put it simply, you’re very sensitive to cold, right?”

“Yes!”

“Even healthy people can differ in how much they’re affected by cold or heat physiologically, but in your case, it’s at a pathological level. When this happens, signs that your body is cold appear everywhere. Menstrual cramps are one of them, your pulse is slow, and you have a lot of white coating on your tongue. Please stick out your tongue.”

Pulse and tongue were good tools for showing indicators and building trust.

I picked up a mirror and handed it to Yu Minha.

“Oh my!”

Indeed, Yu Minha’s tongue had quite a lot of white coating. She blushed slightly, seeming a bit embarrassed.

At the same time, the one remaining wrinkle between her brows disappeared.

“In traditional Korean medicine, we classify the causes of primary dysmenorrhea like this: qi stagnation and blood stasis, liver and kidney deficiency, cold dampness stagnation, qi and blood deficiency.”

I wrote the Chinese characters on paper and circled ‘stagnation,’ ‘deficiency,’ and ‘cold.’

“Qi stagnation and blood stasis means poor blood circulation due to stress. Cold dampness stagnation is coldness in the lower body, and the two with ‘deficiency’ mean the body is weak, with some differences in the organs involved. Do you know which category you fall into?”

“Cold dampness stagnation.”

Despite the complex explanation, Yu Minha began to listen attentively to what I was saying.

“That’s correct.”

Yu Minha nodded as if she understood.

“Then… I need to take medicine, right?”

Still seeming somewhat anxious, she asked cautiously.

“Yes. If it were like your husband’s case of untangling and loosening what’s knotted and hardened, we could do it with acupuncture or exercise, but for your body, you absolutely need to take warming medicine.”

She hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Do I have to take it for a long time? I don’t have to take it for like a year, do I?”

“Usually the first effects appear in the first or second month, and depending on your body’s condition, treatment ends after 3-6 months of medication. When was your last period?”

“A week ago.”

“Then you’ll feel the difference right away with your next menstrual cycle.”

I stated with certainty. Having treated hundreds of cases of menstrual pain, I could say this with confidence.

Yu Minha’s constitution was among the types that responded very well to herbal medicine.

“And it will continue like that?”

“As long as you don’t overwork your body. Since childcare will be tiring… after treating the cold constitution, please come for acupuncture once a month. I’ll help you maintain it.”

Once I fill what’s lacking, maintaining balance isn’t very difficult for me. I can do it as much as needed.

“Please take good care of us!”

Kang Chulkyu said loudly.

But Yu Minha still seemed to have lingering questions.

“…”

“Is there something else you’re worried about?”

Is this phase 3 now?

When I first started treating patients after entering the Martial Arts World, I used to get angry at people who asked about this and that.

Compared to high officials who claimed to be the emperor’s in-laws’ distant relatives and questioned the origin of medicinal herbs, or demonic sect leaders who threatened to kill if their disciples were harmed, this level wasn’t even troublesome.

Rather, as someone who had witnessed countless women’s suffering, I wanted to help with treatment no matter what.

Such severe menstrual pain drastically reduces quality of life and naturally makes people sharp-tempered.

“Well, I’m curious about what kind of medicine you’ll use. The last time I took birth control pills, the bleeding was so severe that I’ve only been taking painkillers since then.”

Yu Minha asked cautiously.

Was she worried about side effects?

“Herbal medicine doesn’t directly interfere with hormones like birth control pills, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

While reassuring her, I also clearly explained the specific composition. Some keep it secret as a special formula, but what does it matter?

Anyway, if you give the same medicine to 100 menstrual pain patients, only about 20 will see effects. The other 80 would call you a quack.

“I’ll use a medicine called Banchongsan. Let me show you.”

I actually typed the medicine name into an internet search and showed it to the couple.

The Traditional Medicine Dictionary only had the medicine’s composition along with a one-line explanation citing the Donguibogam.

‘Ugh.’

But modern people have even less knowledge about medicinal herbs than martial artists.

I roughly explained the roles of the medicinal ingredients as well.

“Here, ingredients like Changzhu, Gancao, and Fuling are medicines that tonify the spleen and stomach, while Rougui and Ganjiang directly warm the body. There are also ingredients that improve circulation. The reason ‘chong’ is in the name is because of an ingredient called Congbai.”

I circled the characters that read ‘Congbai 1 stalk’ as I spoke.

“In simple terms, this is scallion root, and it plays a subtly important role when combined with other ingredients. It induces sweating and opens a path for cold energy to escape. Food can become medicine depending on how you use it.”

“Oh…”

“Of course, I won’t use exactly the ingredients and dosages written here. This isn’t enough, so I need to significantly increase the warming medicines.”

Yu Minha stared intently at the screen.

Is this the end now?

…If she revives again? That’s fine. Even if she asks me to explain the origins and effects of the ingredients listed there from A to Z, I’m confident!

This is all thanks to studying excessively hard for graduation exams, isn’t it?

Go ahead and ask me anything.

“…Thank you. You’re the only one who has looked after me this thoroughly, Clinic Director.”

But that wasn’t it.

Finally, Yu Minha had made up her mind. She bowed her head deeply and murmured.

“…I’ve tried everything. I’ve done every test there is, tried all kinds of painkillers they said were different types. I’ve used sanitary pads, menstrual cups, even cotton pads. I tried various teas, pelvic correction, and even ate Swiss chocolate.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

Even without her saying it, I could sense her struggles. It must have been really, really difficult.

“Nothing worked. I was so afraid of getting my hopes up again that I didn’t even want to come to the hospital.”

I silently took Yu Minha’s hand.

A tear from Yu Minha fell onto the back of my hand.

“I’ll try it. I really want to place my last hope on this.”

She made her decision.

“You’ve made a difficult decision. I will definitely meet your expectations.”

I provided a few more instructions and finished the consultation.

Yu Minha’s face was filled with hope that was completely different from when she came in.

“You did well coming here, right? You’re going to get better.”

“Yes. …I think it’ll work out this time. Thank you for bringing me here, honey.”

They completed the payment very happily.

And I quickly wrote out the prescription.

‘Now I just need to prepare the medicine.’

A role I had always left to my disciples. Starting from weighing the medicinal ingredients myself felt like returning to my beginnings.

I happily completed the medicine while smelling the sweet licorice fragrance.

* * *

A whole month.

Yu Minha diligently took the prescribed medicine without missing a single day.

Following the Clinic Director’s instructions written in the dosage directions, she cut out cold foods and went for acupuncture treatment once a week.

Right after receiving treatment, she had been filled with hope.

But as that elation subsided, she became somewhat anxious.

With a child already born, was it right to spend such a considerable amount of money on herself?

‘I should have been more frugal, maybe it was too hasty a decision…’

However, her worries didn’t last long.

About a week after taking the medicine, she could vividly feel her body getting better.

“So the sensation of waking up refreshed was actually possible.”

Her appetite improved, and she slept soundly.

But more than anything else, it was amazing that air conditioning wasn’t painful anymore.

She could go to cafes without wearing a cardigan.

The separate bedroom arrangement with her husband that repeated every summer was also resolved.

“Thank goodness, honey. Really!”

“Don’t get too excited already. Your period hasn’t even started yet.”

“I can tell just by looking at your complexion that you’ve gotten better.”

In fact, the days Yu Minha suffered from severe menstrual cramps were only 3 or 4 days out of the month.

But for the week before, she would worry anxiously about how much it would hurt this time, and for 3 or 4 days after it ended, she would cry in frustration wondering why she had to suffer so much pain.

She essentially spent 2 weeks out of each month struggling.

“Well, …still, it’s about time.”

“As soon as it starts, you’re going straight to the Oriental Medicine Clinic. You know that, right?”

“I was part of the consultation too.”

But this time was different.

She had a very good feeling about it.

She was actually looking forward to seeing how much the pain would be reduced when her period started.

If the menstrual cramps really got better.

The days of crying and screaming while popping painkillers would be over, and freed from that terrible pain, she could even get a job again.

“Ah!”

A few days later.

Exactly 28 days from her previous menstrual date, blood showed on her underwear.

Her period had started without the usual warning signs of her stomach and back aching uncomfortably from the day before.

“Let’s go to the Oriental Medicine Clinic right now!”

Kang Chulkyu was ready to lift Yu Minha up and fly off, but today was Sunday.

“Calm down. Let’s go first thing tomorrow morning.”

“How is it, does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all yet.”

“It should be okay… Oh right, I’ll get you a hot pack!”

The two spent the night nervously wondering when the pain might start.

But even after the sun had completely set and past midnight, her stomach didn’t churn.

Yu Minha fell asleep peacefully in Kang Chulkyu’s arms.

It was the first time since her first period that she had fallen asleep without painkillers.

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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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