The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 183

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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 183

 

After a long time, Director Hanyewon sent a patient.

 

She said it was an acquaintance she knew from a game.

 

Doesn’t she engage in social activities in incredibly diverse places and have many connections?

 

Indeed, there was a world of difference between her and him, who had spent his entire life only at school.

 

‘Hemorrhoids!’

 

Director Hanyewon, who had made the introduction, didn’t even know the disease name, so he wondered what it could be, but among all the many diseases, it was hemorrhoids.

 

“Oh my, how much you must have worried about this alone?”

 

Kim Chunsik firmly grasped Jin Baram’s hand.

 

The young man’s eyes were trembling, and cold sweat had gathered on their clasped hands.

 

“Doctor…!”

 

“I understand that pain. It must have been hard to even talk about. You did well to come. You showed courage. Just by doing this, you’ve already come so far.”

 

As soon as Kim Chunsik heard the disease name, he understood everything.

 

From why he couldn’t bring himself to reveal the disease name to Director Hanyewon, who he was supposedly close to, to why he appeared at the oriental medicine clinic looking so nervous.

 

‘It’s like looking at myself from 30 years ago!’

 

If there hadn’t been a patient in front of him, Kim Chunsik would have wiped away tears.

 

Kim Chunsik had also first been diagnosed with hemorrhoids in his early thirties.

 

…Actually, even before that, in his teens and twenties, blood would occasionally come out of his anus, but after a few days it would stop, so he ignored it.

 

Only when it became painful every time he had a bowel movement, and an unpleasant feeling remained afterward as if he hadn’t wiped properly, did he feel a little sense of crisis.

 

Then at some point the pain disappeared, and when he came to his senses, he could feel sagging flesh.

 

It was so strange.

 

He had heard in textbooks that when hemorrhoids develop, congested veins and connective tissue get tangled and protrude, but wasn’t it just flesh sticking out and dangling?

 

– It’s third-degree external hemorrhoids.

 

It was a stage where surgery was unavoidable.

 

– …Yes.

 

Even 30 years ago, there was anesthesia.

 

The surgery wasn’t long either.

 

The pain started after that.

 

First, because of the anesthesia, he had to lie down all day unable to lift his head.

 

Until the surgical site healed, every time he went to the bathroom, excruciating pain would strike.

 

‘Ugh, ughhhhhhhhh!’

 

Still, he thought it had somehow healed.

 

– It’s definitely a recurrence.

 

Less than two years had passed.

 

Blood appeared again, and when a sharp pain suddenly hit and he went to the hospital, that’s what he heard.

 

– Let’s schedule the surgery right away.

 

– I’ll think about it a bit and come back.

 

Still, this time, it hadn’t progressed as much as the first time.

 

Instead of scheduling surgery, Kim Chunsik opened medical books.

 

If it comes back even after cutting it out? At this rate, he would have to have surgery once every two years.

 

‘Huh!’

 

Hemorrhoids were a disease that appeared alongside human history as the price of upright walking.

 

So much so that there are related records from 3000 BC, and the status of surgeons rose dramatically after curing Louis XIV’s hemorrhoids, which couldn’t be treated with internal medicine methods.

 

The Donguibogam also classified hemorrhoids into 9 types and introduced various herbal medicines.

 

‘Bojungikgi-tang? Gamiheangso-san? These aren’t right. I need blood stasis medicine. Rather, Chugeo-tang would be…!’

 

Kim Chunsik selected appropriate herbal medicine for himself and even personally prepared topical medicine.

 

Although it wasn’t easy to obtain commercially, he was a graduate student at the time.

 

Using some medicinal herbs and the decoction machine at school was within his authority.

 

He secretly ran the machine without telling anyone what he was making the medicine for.

 

‘Good. This should be a complete cure!’

 

Even at the hospital he revisited for confirmation, he received a diagnosis that it was clean.

 

How happy he was when the anal pain disappeared like that.

 

‘I couldn’t tell anyone… but thanks to that, I saved many people.’

 

While he was a professor at the university-affiliated traditional Korean medicine hospital, he didn’t often see hemorrhoid patients.

 

When patients who came for other diseases mentioned having hemorrhoids, he would only consider it in his prescriptions.

 

But after joining Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic, when Director Hanyewon decided to create an external decoction room directly, he voiced his opinion.

 

– We must make hemorrhoid ointment and sitz bath preparations. There’s demand for this!

 

Kim Chunsik’s strong suggestion was immediately accepted.

 

Soon after, prototype products arrived for him to prescribe, and even before external advertising went up, existing patients were inquiring about purchases just by seeing what was displayed at the front desk.

 

Kim Chunsik was naturally very happy to prescribe ointments, sitz bath preparations, and medicine when necessary.

 

Of course, after consultation, he would sometimes recommend surgery if unavoidable.

 

“How long has it been?”

 

Having had such experience, Kim Chunsik was confident he could pour his entire heart into treating Jin Baram.

 

“It’s been about 3 months.”

 

At those words, Kim Chunsik’s face brightened considerably.

 

At this level, it should heal without much trouble.

 

“Fortunately, you came right before it got worse. That’s good.”

 

“Oh, did I come early?”

 

Jin Baram, who had endured three months of maddening agony before finally making his way here, was slightly surprised.

 

“Of course. There are elderly patients who’ve had it for 30 or 40 years and don’t even know when it started.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“I know how difficult it is to come to the hospital. But there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Traditional medicine even has a saying: ‘Nine out of ten people have hemorrhoids.’ It’s a very common disease, and it’s not difficult to treat in the early stages.”

 

“Thank you so much for saying that. Actually, coming here… I was scared.”

 

Kim Chunsik patted Jin Baram’s back.

 

“Do you have burning symptoms when you have bowel movements?”

 

“Yes, it often burns, and sometimes it itches too.”

 

“Can you feel any lumps or flesh masses?”

 

“There’s nothing protruding outward, but inside it feels like there’s something bumpy. I haven’t touched it carefully though…”

 

“It seems you have internal hemorrhoids.”

 

Kim Chunsik first gave a brief explanation about the types of hemorrhoids.

 

“Hemorrhoids is a broad term that includes hemorrhoids, anal fistulas, and anal fissures. Hemorrhoids are a type of varicose vein caused by the expansion of blood vessels around the anus. Most diseases commonly called hemorrhoids are this.”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

“Anal fissures are simply tears in the inner wall of the anus. When constipation is severe, stool becomes hard and can sometimes cause tears, but minor ones that happen once or twice heal naturally in a few days, just like skin wounds. However, if they keep recurring, they can lead to hemorrhoids.”

 

“Ah, that’s right. At first I thought it was that, but now it seems to have progressed to hemorrhoids. Ugh.”

 

“Lastly, anal fistulas occur when chronic abscesses or anal gland inflammation develop around the anus, and when they rupture, they create pus channels… In this case, surgery is absolutely necessary.”

 

Anal fistulas, where the anal glands in the buttocks become infected, are a somewhat different matter from hemorrhoids or anal fissures.

 

But just hearing about it made Jin Baram frightened.

 

“It’s probably not an anal fistula. First, let’s check the pain points for an accurate diagnosis. We need to rule out the possibility of upper gastrointestinal bleeding rather than rectal bleeding, and assess the degree of congestion.”

 

“Oh, you’re going to look with your eyes?”

 

“I’ll perform a digital rectal examination with my finger.”

 

As the name suggests, it’s an examination that palpates the rectum with a finger, an essential procedure for anal diseases like hemorrhoids and prostate conditions.

 

Click. Click click.

 

The sound of Jin Baram’s teeth chattering could be heard.

 

“…If you’d prefer to have it examined with a machine, we don’t have a colonoscope here. Rather than doing it twice unnecessarily, you could have it done all at once at a proctology clinic.”

 

“No, no! Just examine me here!”

 

Jin Baram shook his head vigorously.

 

“Don’t worry, mild hemorrhoids don’t hurt much even during examination.”

 

If there are many wounds or severe congestion, patients complain of pain just from inserting a finger, but mild cases have little pain.

 

“I understand.”

 

Kim Chunsik performed the examination quickly to avoid making Jin Baram feel embarrassed.

 

After putting on gloves and checking the rectal inner wall with his finger for about 5 seconds, it was over.

 

“There’s slight congestion in the internal hemorrhoids. Combined with the interview, it’s fine to consider this stage 1.”

 

Internal hemorrhoids are classified from stage 1 to 4 according to progression.

 

Stage 1 is when there’s occasional bleeding but nothing can be felt from the outside.

 

Stage 2 is when hemorrhoids protrude slightly outside the anus during bowel movements, then go back in naturally after defecation.

 

Stage 3 requires manual pushing to go back in, and stage 4 won’t go back in even when pushed, with severe pain and bleeding.

 

“Non-surgical treatment isn’t ineffective for stage 3 and beyond, but it’s inefficient. I generally recommend surgery first, then treatment to prevent recurrence.

 

Medically speaking, stages 3 and 4 require immediate surgery. For stage 2, the standard treatment is to observe progress with non-surgical treatment before surgery.

 

Of course, there are hospitals that schedule surgery for all patients, and hospitals that start with ointments and oral medications.

 

And Kim Chunsik had experience treating patients with stage 4 internal hemorrhoids combined with external hemorrhoids and anal fistulas.

 

When an 80-year-old grandmother said she had lived like this for 40 years anyway and absolutely refused surgery, what more could be said?

 

“I really did come early.”

 

After hearing Kim Chunsik’s words, Jin Baram let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Yes. Stages 1 and 2 all improve if you follow the treatment well. I’ve never failed with stage 1 hemorrhoids in particular.”

 

“I’ll trust only you, Doctor.”

 

From the moment Kim Chunsik took his hand, trust had already reached MAX.

 

Jin Baram once again entrusted everything to him.

 

He revealed his lifestyle patterns and eating habits in detail to find areas that needed correction.

 

The diagnosis was that herbal decoctions were unnecessary at this point.

 

“If constipation continues even after changing to a fiber-rich diet, I’ll prescribe medication separately. For now, let’s start with ointment and sitz baths.”

 

Jin Baram left the Oriental Medicine Clinic with a prescription for pills, ointment, and sitz bath medicine.

 

‘I did it!’

 

Just revealing his entire medical history and getting medicine made him feel like he might burst into tears.

 

* * *

 

Young Master Chungpung, who had visited the Seongsoo Korean Medicine Clinic Songpa Branch, sent numerous messages to the group chat.

 

The content was about how kind and trustworthy Kim Chunsik was, and how fortunate he was to meet this doctor.

 

It happened to be a day when we had a study session and meeting.

 

I asked casually before starting our studies.

 

“Did Jin Baram receive his treatment well before leaving? What was the reason for his hesitation?”

 

– I can’t tell you due to patient confidentiality.

 

Kim Chunsik gave me a firm response.

 

Oh, was there some serious personal matter related to his illness? I had only thought it was just reluctance to go to the hospital, but that was my oversight.

 

“I don’t need to know the diagnosis or medical history, but does it seem like he’ll recover well?”

 

– Mm. It’s a condition I’m very confident about.

 

Just from Young Master Chungpung’s message, it seemed that way too.

 

“After just one consultation, Cheongpung was completely won over, right? He said you empathized so well that he almost cried.”

 

– Heh heh heh.

 

“You’re truly amazing. It feels like just yesterday you were scolding us, but you keep improving day by day, now providing treatment that goes beyond kindness to being truly moving…”

 

I was genuinely impressed.

 

When I reach his age, won’t I become a stubborn old-timer?

 

Even after retirement, keeping an open mind and doing your best every day while continuing to develop – that was definitely not an easy thing to do.

 

– Heh heh heh, this time was a bit special… no, that friend just saw me favorably.

 

And he was even humble!

 

I moved past the patient topic to what I had intended to discuss.

 

“Thanks to you, Clinic Director, we’re always developing too. That’s right, our website has been completed this time! We’re planning to take orders for not just candy but also common medicines from outside the Network, so I was wondering about the hemorrhoid ointment that Director Kim suggested…”

 

– Cough! Kek, kek! Achoo!

 

But suddenly Kim Chunsik was startled.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

– I, I just choked. Cough. That’s all.

 

“Oh, be careful. What were we talking about again?”

 

– Hemorrhoid ointment.

 

– Cough!

 

“Right. We’re planning to take orders for hemorrhoid ointment, purple cloud ointment, coptis detox ointment, and so on together. While we’re at it, we’re thinking of doing some additional Network recruitment too – would that be okay?”

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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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