The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 212

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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 212

I showed Kim Jaegyu the tai chi research papers that Sandro had found for me.

Since it was a traditional Chinese martial art, I thought there would only be papers from China, but surprisingly, many such experiments had been conducted in the United States as well.

Unlike South Korea where blood pressure medication costs very little with medical insurance, hypertension patients in the US would find the cost of lifelong medication burdensome. That’s why various research into alternatives was being conducted, and patients seemed willing to participate.

“Ooh.”

Kim Jaegyu nodded as he listened to my summary of the research content.

“That looks cool?”

When I showed him the videos too, he seemed quite interested.

Even if the ambiguous pace of light jogging felt frustrating, thinking of it as training at a martial arts school made it seem fine.

“Should we really give it a try? I don’t have much else to do anyway.”

Perfect!

“Register right away when you leave the clinic today! You need to start managing your lifestyle bit by bit.”

I strongly urged him to start exercising immediately.

With things like this, if you delay even a little, it never happens.

Kim Jaegyu readily nodded.

He even asked me to recommend a martial arts school, but unfortunately, I had no connections with any schools.

“I see. I should ask the vice principal to go together when he gets off work today.”

“The vice principal?”

“Ah, Mr. Shin Yongmin. The person who introduced me here. That teacher also has pre-hypertension.”

“That’s right. It would be even better if you two went together!”

Will Shin Yongmin come today? If he does, I should tell him about this too.

Seeing that his motivation for treatment had improved, it seemed like he listened to that person’s words quite well.

“Understood. Let’s go together and check it out.”

Kim Jaegyu gave a definite answer that he would go today.

Sandro and I made eye contact and smiled. We got through to him!

“I stopped the Western medicine, but is it okay to continue the herbal medicine the same way?”

“Yes. For now, let’s observe symptom changes in your current state.”

“Will I eventually stop the herbal medicine too?”

“Since it’s treatment medicine, that should be the goal.”

There are tonic medicines taken continuously for maintenance, but in Kim Jaegyu’s case, being able to finish treatment would be ideal.

“Let’s go in this order: start exercise first, stop Western medicine, then finish herbal medicine. Acupuncture treatment would still be good to receive occasionally.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“It’s not time to be completely at ease yet, but I think it can be wrapped up in two or three months. After that, just visit once in a while when factors arise like blood pressure seeming to rise as the weather gets colder, or when you’re externally very angry.”

“Two months…”

Kim Jaegyu moved his lips slightly.

We had been treating for two and a half months so far, with about half the journey remaining.

A five-month treatment period was certainly not short, but.

“I never even thought I could get better, so thank you.”

Hope arose for liberation from pain he thought he’d carry until his dying day.

Even though he was still under treatment, being able to see the end was joyful.

“Then let’s go get treatment.”

The treatment was the same as always.

It was just treating the acupoints known for hypertension treatment along with the back of his neck, considering Kim Jaegyu’s occipital headache symptoms.

Still, Sandro meticulously took notes on everything.

“Are you planning to do the same thing for your mother?”

“She’s overseas now so I can’t treat her, but I should learn it well.”

“I hope your mother gets better too. Fighting, haha.”

Kim Jaegyu actually initiated conversation with Sandro and even made small talk.

This was a scene I couldn’t have imagined when he first came for his initial consultation.

The tension in his eyes that had been full of suspicion had relaxed, and with slight exaggeration, even his frown lines had lightened.

At first he had said seriously that he would absolutely never change, but somehow he had changed quite a lot.

‘Indeed, you shouldn’t make definitive judgments about anything.’

There are many sayings like people’s personalities don’t change after a certain age, or old illnesses are hard to cure.

But difficult didn’t mean impossible.

Isn’t treating people interesting precisely because they can change anytime, in any way?

‘Ah, but tai chi really is popular.’

I never thought there would be schools nearby, but surprisingly there were places to practice here and there.

Of course, looking at the videos, the forms weren’t similar to the tai chi techniques and tai chi sword techniques of the Wudang Sect masters.

A quick search showed that modern tai chi originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

But utilizing the principles of yin-yang and tai chi itself is a much older and more popular concept.

So the Wudang Sect pretends not to be involved while secretly taking care of everything they can?

Among the Nine Great Sects, there are quite a few Taoist sects, but the Wudang Sect gives off the most sage-like atmosphere.

Yet they also spread subordinate sects throughout the Central Plains, making them popular and earning lots of money.

Hmm, Wudang really is impressive. I should study and learn from them.

* * *

Sandro observed various patients for a week.

He saw simple muscle pain patients get better immediately or recover within a week.

He also saw initial consultations of serious patients, and patients who had been receiving treatment showing significant improvement.

“Excuse me, are you still seeing patients?”

And now, on the evening of the last day.

Today’s final new patient entered the traditional Korean medicine clinic.

“There are 30 minutes left until closing, so hot compress and physical therapy would be difficult. You’d have to just get acupuncture and leave – would that be okay?”

“Oh my, I’d be grateful even for that. It’s just my finger anyway, so physical therapy would probably be difficult.”

She seemed to have come in a hurry at this late hour.

Even though she came right at the registration deadline, she bowed her head saying she was grateful and treated us very politely.

Let’s see, Park Miseun. 48 years old.

She was a woman with a bob cut wearing an elegant dress.

She didn’t seem like a particularly difficult type, so when I asked for permission to observe, as expected, she readily agreed.

“Oh my, Rome? I’ve been there too.”

She was even pleased about it.

Since there were many people who had traveled to Rome, Sandro also smiled gently and brushed it off.

“Park Miseun, where does it hurt the most today?”

Although the desk preliminary examination noted “finger,” I confirmed the specific location.

Park Miseun placed both hands on the examination room desk and pointed to her left fingers with her right hand.

“My finger joints aren’t good. Usually there’s some throbbing on and off, but it’s particularly bad today.”

“Do you do work that uses your hands a lot? Nothing particularly strenuous, right?”

“I’m a pianist. I have a recital tomorrow, so today I played a bit… well, quite a lot.”

“Ah.”

“I was worried it might hurt like this during tomorrow’s performance, so I came in a hurry even though it’s late.”

A recital? If she’s giving solo concerts, she must be a successful pianist.

Being a pianist belonged to professions that use finger joints extensively.

“All eight fingers except the thumbs hurt, and the left index finger is the worst, right?”

The location Park Miseun pointed to was the Distal Interphalangeal Joint (DIP) of each finger – the joint farther from the body among the two joints where fingers bend.

“Yes. I try my best not to apply force, but I can’t help but put pressure on them.”

Park Miseun said with a deep sigh.

“It seems like many musician friends come here – have there been patients like me? Beyond just throbbing, my left hand is even swollen…”

Musician friends? She must be talking about Melon Soda Horizon.

Those members did take turns coming to the clinic. Though Park Haru, who actually played keyboard, suffered from hiccups rather than finger problems.

“You came to the right place. With this location, it’s most likely osteoarthritis. How long has it been?”

It wasn’t Park Haru, but finger osteoarthritis is a common condition.

It often develops from household chores even without using all finger joints like piano playing.

“About… that’s right, it’s been about 4 years since it first started hurting.”

It’s chronic.

She was on the younger side among osteoarthritis patients, but the condition had progressed significantly.

“You’ve had rheumatoid tests done, right?”

“Yes, they said it’s not that. They said degenerative changes came early from overuse. That there’s no proper treatment.”

She was also aware that there wasn’t a suitable cure for osteoarthritis that had progressed this far.

“When it first hurt, acupuncture would work like a miracle, but lately even several treatments have no effect. I came wondering if you might have some method, Clinic Director.”

“Hmm, let me first explain the pathology.”

Even I couldn’t miraculously cure such chronic conditions.

“It’s a condition called osteoarthritis (OA). Initially, the collateral ligaments swell from inflammation.”

“Ah, yes. That happened.”

If she had addressed it quickly at that stage, it might have been correctable.

“Then gradually moisture drains from the cartilage, making it hard and causing wear. As the cartilage wears away, the bone underneath thickens, and bone spurs form at the edges.”

Once bone deformation had actually occurred and new bone had grown, it couldn’t be removed without surgery.

Unfortunately, when I felt Park Miseun’s fingers, it wasn’t just swelling.

The ligaments had thickened considerably and joint deformation had definitely occurred.

“Then is there no way to get better by tomorrow? Should I take lots of painkillers and perform…”

Really now, by tomorrow.

Her speech was refined, but she was asking for too much.

When I smiled, Park Miseun covered her mouth as if realizing her mistake.

“I’m not being unreasonable. I’m just dizzy with worry. It’s been a while since my last concert and I want to show my best, but I’m scared I’ll ruin it.”

“It’s fine. You can ask. I didn’t misunderstand.”

There was nothing to apologize for.

“And while complete recovery by tomorrow is impossible, there is a way to dramatically improve the pain.”

I waved my hand reassuringly and took out a knife needle.

It had been quite a while since I’d used this.

“Regular acupuncture won’t have much effect, as you’ve experienced at other clinics. The ligaments are already too hypertrophied.”

“Yes…”

“This needle is called a knife needle – the tip is like a blade so it can cut through hardened parts. We can’t do anything about the bone, but ultimately what causes pain is ligament and joint inflammation. Temporarily, the pain will improve significantly and range of motion will also get better.”

In Park Miseun’s case, the bone was only slightly protruding, but I’d even made fingers move that were completely bent with contracture.

When I said I could improve her pain, Park Miseun’s face visibly brightened.

“Really? That’s such a relief, truly.”

“Since physical therapy is difficult for fingers anyway, I’ll treat you right here on the spot. Think of it as just releasing the adhered ligaments. You can continue the recovery process even after your concert is over.”

“Yes, understood!”

I brought alcohol swabs to the examination room, disinfected, and proceeded with the treatment.

Park Miseun quickly turned her head to one side.

It was just inserting and removing acupuncture knives on both sides of her finger, but it seemed scary to watch directly.

“May I watch from close up?”

Since this was the first time this week Sandro was seeing acupuncture knife treatment, he asked for permission and moved right next to us.

“Oh, of course.”

Park Miseun seemed very pleased to see Sandro and brought up old stories.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve been in pain like this since I was in Rome.”

“Were you in Rome for a long time?”

Park Miseun nodded with a very nostalgic smile.

“That’s right. I studied abroad for a long time, and went there several times for collaborations too.”

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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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