The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 247

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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 247

Was your cycle originally irregular? At the director’s question, Park Sihwa recalled her first menstruation.

Of course, from elementary school 4th grade, when she first got her period, her cycle wasn’t this messed up.

‘I think it came and went between 24 to 28 days.’

She remembered once seeing that a normal menstrual cycle was 21 to 35 days and thinking there was no problem.

It didn’t match exactly, but when she asked her friends, having a few days of variation was common.

Yes, the first real problem occurred during high school.

Right after hearing news of her father’s cancer diagnosis and hospitalization, she had heavy bleeding.

Unexplained vaginal bleeding.

Thinking this, Park Sihwa immediately rushed to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic.

Could she also have contracted a serious illness? Uterine or ovarian cancer?

“The ultrasound shows ovulation occurred. This is menstrual blood.”

“My period? But it hasn’t even been 2 weeks since it ended…”

“That can happen. When stress is severe, or even without any particular trigger, it can happen once. We could do birth control pills or hormone therapy, but since you’re still a student and this is the first time, let’s observe for now. Come back if the same thing repeats next cycle.”

Park Sihwa was relieved for now.

She thought it was nothing serious, and they didn’t even give her medication.

After that, there was no particular need to go to the hospital.

From then on, occasionally, she would menstruate again around 2 weeks after her period ended, having it twice a month.

Her basic cycle also shortened to about 21 days, though with some variation.

Even so, Park Sihwa didn’t pay much attention to it. Wasn’t 21 days still considered normal?

She must just be unlucky.

And so she graduated high school.

And went to University.

After becoming an adult, specifically from the summer vacation of her first year at University, she threw herself into all kinds of part-time jobs.

This was because Park Sihwa’s family circumstances weren’t very good.

During her first semester, her Mother covered tuition and living expenses, so she didn’t know the family situation well.

– Credit card short-term loan? What’s this? Mother! If you use this, your credit score gets worse!

Soon she came to regret thoughtlessly hanging out with Friends and attending School.

– I have to pay your tuition.

– If you’re going to borrow, you should borrow from Primary Financial Institutions. Credit card companies are Secondary Financial Institutions.

– Mother knows too. The bank won’t give us any more.

Won’t give ‘any more’?

– Then I can get it from a Scholarship Foundation!

– Never mind. How hopeless would it be if you graduated and came out with debt in your name? Mother will figure out a way somehow. This much can be paid back quickly.

Father had fought his illness for exactly 3 years, using up all the little money they had saved, and even left debt when he passed away.

Park Sihwa, who belatedly realized the seriousness, immediately looked for work.

Common Restaurant serving, Convenience Store, PC Bang part-time jobs, as well as various short-term jobs.

She applied for whatever job postings came up.

She wanted to just do one cushy part-time job for pocket money, but whether due to bad luck, it didn’t work out that way.

Due to School schedule changes and business owners’ management situations, she inevitably had to quit jobs and look for new work continuously.

Then about 3 months ago, she started a Call Center part-time job.

During vacation weekdays she worked at the Call Center on contract, and on weekends she went to the Logistics Center.

‘Next semester’s subjects have a lot of group projects… I should earn more while I can’

She expected the mental exhaustion to be significant, but it was better than she thought.

The first few days she received training, and dealing with generally reasonable Customers gave her confidence.

Then one day, Park Sihwa encountered a very malicious problem Customer.

– Why can’t I return these clothes? It says unconditional returns are allowed! And you’re telling me to pay shipping costs?

– Hello, Customer! According to regulations, if clothes have no damage. Unconditional returns are possible within 7 days. Order A123084 was over a month ago, and due to the torn tag and stains left on the back of the neck, returns are not possible.

She of course answered faithfully according to the manual.

– What kind of unconditional is that!

– I’m sorry, Customer. There’s nothing more I can help you with.

– If you said unconditional, you should do it!

– I’m sorry, Customer.

– I’m going to report this to the Consumer Protection Agency. You think I’ll just let this go? I’ll post this all over the internet too?

– Yes, please do that. I’m sorry, Customer.

She had definitely learned this during training.

Listen to the Customer’s demands, but if they make unreasonable demands and threaten to post online, respond firmly.

– Are you crazy! What did you just say!

– The Customer service center has no way to help you. If you need dispute mediation, then please…

– What’s your name! Tell me properly!

– I’m counselor Park Sihwa.

But this problem Customer didn’t give up and hang up despite the firm response.

They yelled at her for another 30 minutes.

– Put Park Sihwa on the phone.

Every single day, really every day she came to work without missing a single day, they called the Customer service center.

“Could we block this person’s number or something, isn’t there some way?”

“I’ll talk to the higher-ups~.”

Even talking to the Team leader was useless.

The Consumer Protection Agency or wherever it was naturally rejected that demand.

Even after that, the troublemaker made her a target for venting anger for a whole month.

‘Really, do I have to live like this?’

Quitting was the answer. That was the only way.

She knew that, but this call center paid relatively high wages.

As she endured and endured like that, eventually even the troublemaker got tired.

Instead, some problems arose with her body.

As it occasionally happened whenever she was stressed, her menstrual cycle had quickened.

“Sihwa~ You worked hard today. We’re going for drinks, want to come with us?”

“Ah, sorry. I’m on my period today so it would be difficult.”

“Aww, go home and rest.”

Even though her menstrual cramps weren’t severe, there was still an uncomfortable unpleasant feeling, and she wanted to lie down and rest.

So Park Sihwa declined the suggestion to go drinking.

Only one or two people were very outgoing in organizing gatherings with workplace colleagues, as the call center belonged to quite individualistic workplaces.

She didn’t even think that anything would happen because of this refusal.

“What? That’s not a lie, is it? You asked to borrow a sanitary pad from me the week before last?”

But someone took issue with Park Sihwa’s menstrual cycle.

“Huh?”

“Ah, what happened was…”

“Sihwa, I’m disappointed. Just say you don’t want to go, why tell such lies?”

She was misunderstood as lying.

The two people who suggested drinks completely concluded that Park Sihwa had lied.

She tried explaining that sometimes it happens twice a month, but they didn’t seem to believe her at all.

From that day on, Park Sihwa felt subtle ostracism.

Really, it truly does happen twice a month sometimes. Park Sihwa herself felt like she was going crazy.

She couldn’t even show them this.

Were they deliberately pushing troublesome calls to her?

Probably not. She was just lucky for the first week.

At least once a day, customers who said crazy things would definitely appear, and the atmosphere among workplace colleagues was also unbearable.

Even when she tried to quit and go somewhere else, work was hard to find.

“Oh my, what’s wrong? Menstrual cramps?”

“Yeah.”

When even menstrual cramps that weren’t severe before started appearing, everything felt resentful.

When she thought it wasn’t a big deal, it was fine, but once she thought it was a problem, it felt like she had contracted a serious illness.

“Ah… so that’s what happened.”

Should she go to the hospital? Or not? While she was contemplating.

The only part-time friend who worried about Park Sihwa recommended a traditional Korean medicine clinic.

* * *

Min Juyeon’s referral?

As Jeong Inseong’s girlfriend, she was likewise a patient who had skin troubles while working part-time.

She works at a call center too. Is she still dating Jeong Inseong well?

“If there’s something you can guess, that’s probably the trigger. You must have been very stressed.”

“Yes. It’s not like crazy troublemakers directly harassing me, but just going to work itself seems too stressful.”

I understood that she couldn’t afford expensive medicine.

In such a situation, most people would quit, but it would be burdensome to spend 400,000 to 500,000 won on non-covered medicine with money earned from such difficult work.

I carefully recorded her current medical history and also asked about symptoms.

“You’ve been menstruating between the 14th and 20th day for three consecutive months. Are there any symptoms other than increased frequency? Are menstrual cramps okay?”

Park Sihwa thought carefully before answering.

“It’s worse than before, but it’s just a slight ache in my lower abdomen and pelvis. When I lie down it’s okay, and if I watch dramas I completely forget about it, but when I’m standing or sitting and working, it bothers me to that extent. So on working days, I just take one painkiller preventively. Oh, the pain is only on the first day. From the second day on, there’s no pain.”

“How about the amount?”

“It seems… quite heavy. It leaks frequently.”

Just imagining it was dizzying.

Cases where menstrual volume increases along with frequent menstruation are common, and Park Sihwa was such a case.

Naturally, it could easily lead to anemia.

“Are eating and sleeping okay?”

“Yes, there don’t seem to be any particular problems. I’m healthy except for this.”

I checked the systemic symptoms I ask about whenever prescribing medicine, but there were no notable parts other than the main symptoms.

“Please stay like that for a moment. I’ll palpate while pressing lightly with my hands.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ll start from your shoulders.”

To check muscle tension, I lightly examined starting from the Gyeonjeong acupoint.

Since it’s also a trigger point of the trapezius muscle, the largest muscle in the shoulders and back, it was good for checking overall tension.

“Aaaah!”

As expected.

Park Sihwa was startled and suddenly tensed her shoulders.

“Please lie down on the bed.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I’ll palpate going down from between your chest to your abdomen.”

“Yes.”

The Danzhong acupoint for diagnosing heart fire.

“It feels a bit stuffy too…?”

Below that, the Juque acupoint corresponding to the lower heart area, right below the sternum.

“This feels worse.”

“I’ll check the left and right sides.”

I stimulated a slightly wider area, below the diaphragm.

The left side was fine, but the right side.

“Wh-what’s there that makes it hurt so much?”

Was not fine.

Park Sihwa frowned as she asked.

“Your liver is there.”

“Is there something wrong with my liver?”

“No. Your blood tests should be fine. But when you’re stressed and overworked, it puts strain on it and can cause this swollen-like pain. In traditional Korean medicine, we call this liver qi stagnation.”

In traditional Korean medicine, stress is viewed as liver qi being blocked and suppressed rather than flowing freely.

Indeed, pain often appears in areas near where the liver is located, from the ribs to the flanks.

The heart is also related to stress, but it focuses more on mental effects, viewing emotional instability, insomnia, and depression as part of heart disorders.

In other words, considering the clear stress factors and palpation results, in terms of organ pattern differentiation, Park Sihwa’s condition was more of a liver problem than a heart problem.

“There’s also a feeling of abdominal distension.”

The diagnosis was somewhat complete, but I continued with abdominal examination.

It wasn’t like there was hardness as if she had indigestion, or that her digestive system wasn’t moving at all, but I could feel a tense sensation.

“Ugh, looking at it this way, there are so many problems…”

I checked her pulse while she remained lying down.

It was the same.

A wiry pulse like a tightly stretched string.

“This falls under the category of early menstruation due to liver stagnation. In such situations, it’s difficult to clearly identify the cause from a Western medical perspective. We can think of it as stress causing hormonal changes.”

“I see… Can it be treated with acupuncture?”

Park Sihwa nodded.

Quitting work to avoid stress wasn’t possible, and spending a lot of money was also difficult.

Whether treatment was possible even in such circumstances was what she was most curious about.

“Acupuncture treatment is also necessary. Your body is tensely strained from shoulders to abdomen, so we need to release that tension. But acupuncture alone would be difficult.”

Fundamental treatment for liver qi stagnation was needed, and in that regard, herbal medicine had the advantage over acupuncture.

“Ah…”

Park Sihwa’s eyes wavered greatly.

I quickly continued speaking before she could become disappointed.

“Not all herbal medicines are expensive. In fact, most are cheaper than Western medicines, but the difference lies in the duration of use and health insurance coverage. We can use the prescription closest to your symptoms among those available in prepared form with insurance coverage.”

If I prescribed the medicine I was thinking of in prepared form, the patient’s copay would be about 800 won per packet.

Even taking it twice a day for an entire month would cost less than 50,000 won.

I showed her the Gamisoyo-san preparation and explained the treatment approach.

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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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