The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 248

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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 248

Since Park Sihwa was very concerned about treatment costs, I first mentioned insurance-covered herbal medicine.

“There are two main ways to prescribe herbal medicine that can be covered by health insurance. There are prepared medicines that match the medication, and decoctions that match the disease.”

“Oh…”

These probably aren’t familiar terms to ordinary people.

I’ll skip over decoctions since I won’t be using them right now.

“When you think of herbal medicine, you usually think of decoctions tailored to your constitution, right? That’s actually true, but for convenience, we also prescribe medicines made by pharmaceutical companies like Western medicine. Among these, the country has verified the effectiveness and safety of several types and applies insurance coverage to them.”

Most oriental medicine clinics that use insurance preparations utilize them for acute and mild conditions like indigestion, colds, and muscle tension.

You need to take medicine right away, and the effects are sufficient even if the prescription isn’t perfectly precise.

Of course, many oriental medicine clinics don’t stock insurance herbal medicine at all, saying the effects are weak or there’s no profit since there’s a set upper limit on the medicine costs they can receive.

When I first opened my practice, I considered stocking several types of insurance preparations from other companies, but stopped because the effects were ambiguous.

I just made emergency medicines myself, and after An Juhui came, we made them at the external decoction room and prescribed them for 2,000 to 3,000 won per packet.

But this time, thanks to PK saying they would include all the medicinal ingredients I wanted to use, I ended up stocking even preparations as emergency medicines.

“Ah, so it’s not very expensive because it’s mass-produced and even covered by insurance.”

Park Sihwa let out a sigh of relief.

Having calculated even the monthly treatment costs in her head, she was completely at ease.

Of course, chronic diseases or constitutional illnesses require tailored and precise prescriptions.

In fact, if there was economic leeway, I would have recommended that approach.

But there are cases where lower costs are important even if the treatment period extends by a month or two.

“That’s about right. Don’t worry too much about treatment costs, and receive treatment consistently until I say it’s okay. It’s not a big problem right now, but frequent ovulation means the ovaries are overworked, which increases the possibility of developing diseases.”

“Gasp…! Could it lead to cancer?”

Given her family history, Park Sihwa took it very seriously.

“The possibility is higher than for people with regular menstruation. It’s like how people who drink alcohol daily and stress their liver have a higher possibility of getting liver disease than those who don’t.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll try to get proper treatment.”

Park Sihwa nodded and strengthened her resolve for treatment.

“Would it be possible to visit once every 10 days?”

Medicine would be the main treatment, but I’d also like to do acupuncture treatment and monitor progress.

“Once a week is possible.”

“That’s fortunate. Then let’s have you come weekly for acupuncture and prescribe one week’s worth at a time.”

I was worried that frequent visits might be difficult due to her busy schedule.

Fortunately, she said she could visit once a week.

I also briefly explained the medicine I would prescribe.

“It’s a prescription called Gamisoyo-san. It’s a famous medicine in gynecology. It’s widely used for women’s diseases regardless of symptoms.”

Menstrual pain, excessive menstruation, frequent menstruation, infrequent menstruation, premenstrual syndrome, postpartum depression, various physical and mental symptoms of menopause, etc…

It’s really used in many diverse ways.

It’s even very good for sleep disorders, skin diseases, or people who are very irritable, even if they’re not gynecological conditions.

When prescribing herbal medicine, you can’t exclude the main symptoms, but pattern identification that grasps the state of qi, blood, yin, yang, and the five organs and six bowels takes priority.

It might seem strange that the same medicine shortens intervals when used on someone who menstruates too infrequently, and lengthens intervals when used on someone who menstruates too frequently.

But since it’s fundamentally medicine that resolves liver qi stagnation, it’s natural that symptoms recover when that’s resolved.

“I see… I think I’ll get better. Thank you for considering my situation and thinking about treatment methods.”

Park Sihwa blushed slightly and bowed her head.

For me, this was also an opportunity to confirm the effects of the newly introduced preparations, so I consulted excitedly.

But receiving praise like this made me feel a bit embarrassed.

“Acupuncture treatment, and give her 14 packets of Gamisoyo-san.”

“Yes~.”

After giving prescription instructions to the staff, I moved to the treatment room.

“Have you ever received acupuncture before?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ll place needles from your neck and shoulders down to your arms and legs.”

By generally releasing muscle tension and facilitating the flow of stagnant energy, the pulse pattern also improved considerably.

“It looks like nutritional supplements?”

Herbal medicine in the form of squeezable soft extract.

She was curious as she took the medicine packet.

Now, how long will it take to recover?

* * *

Park Sihwa squeezed and took one packet of Gamisoyo-san in the morning and one packet in the evening as instructed.

Since she was also recommended to take iron supplements for the time being, one nutritional supplement pill and one medicine packet became her morning and evening routine.

“Sister, how was it? Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic is good, right?”

A few days later, Min Juyeon grabbed her and asked.

“Yeah. The director was really kind. It’s the first time I’ve had such a long consultation at a hospital.”

“Right? When I go to the hospital for skin problems, they always say the cause is unknown and just give me steroid ointment, but that director asks very detailed questions and looks into it together with you.”

Actually, if you just talk about the conclusion, it’s the same.

The cause is stress, after all.

But after thoroughly palpating from shoulders to abdomen and listening to my situation, the satisfaction was much greater.

“But how’s your menstruation? Is it getting better?”

“I’ve only been taking it for a week now, so I don’t know yet. I’ll have to continue treatment for a while, right?”

On the first day I went to the Oriental Medicine Clinic, it had already been over a week since my last menstruation.

Ovulation had probably already occurred, right?

Now I was menstruating, and maybe it was just my imagination, but the menstrual pain seemed less severe, though the situation was still ambiguous.

“Yes. Trust the Director and continue treatment. You’ll get better!”

“Right. Thanks for the recommendation. Since becoming friends with you, this place feels less suffocating too.

“Oh, don’t mention it~.”

But why does Min Juyeon, who does things like fitting model work, come to the call center?

Anyway, it was good for Park Sihwa.

In this space where every customer felt like a potential troublemaker and things were awkwardly uncomfortable with coworkers too, she provided some breathing room.

Exactly one week after starting treatment.

To pick up her refilled medicine and get acupuncture treatment, Park Sihwa went to the Oriental Medicine Clinic as soon as work ended.

Thanks to the evening clinic hours, she was able to receive treatment.

“How was your condition this week? Did you have menstruation by any chance?”

“Ah, today is the first day of my period, and my condition isn’t bad. I think it’ll gradually improve.”

“I see. Let’s keep records and observe the progress.”

“Yes.”

Park Sihwa nodded in an awkward position while receiving treatment.

“About how long will the treatment period take?”

During the initial consultation, I was too scared about ‘they won’t recommend expensive medicine, will they?’ and completely forgot to ask.

Park Sihwa took this opportunity to ask while receiving acupuncture treatment.

“It’s difficult to say definitively. It would be good to continue taking it for another month or two once your cycle extends to 21 days or more. About 3 to 5 months.”

“Ah, yes. I was just curious. It’s easy to take, so I think it would be fine to keep taking it.”

After receiving acupuncture treatment, I definitely felt refreshed.

My shoulders were always tense, so I didn’t even realize they were tense, but it felt like taking off a backpack I’d been carrying?

“I’ll give you the same prescription. If you have any questions, please ask anytime.”

“Yes. Thank you, Director.”

Even though I couldn’t see well from the prone position, hearing Director Hanyewon’s voice was reassuring.

The following week, and the week after that, Park Sihwa came to the Oriental Medicine Clinic on scheduled days.

After receiving acupuncture treatment twice, three times, and consistently taking medicine, her condition definitely improved.

“Maybe because I’m sleeping well, I’m less tired. It’s much better when I wake up.”

“Right? Your sleep probably wasn’t 100% normal originally either.”

“Ugh, I thought mornings were hard for everyone, but I guess I had it especially difficult…”

During the initial consultation, the Director had asked about meals and sleep too.

I answered that I slept 7 hours and slept well.

Only after improvement did I realize how tired I had been back then.

‘So this isn’t how everyone else lives.’

Setting 7 alarms at 2-3 minute intervals, whether it was a work day or school day, it felt like being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

Surprisingly, it was possible to feel happiness from the warmth of morning sunlight as soon as I opened my eyes.

Sleeping so well naturally made me less tired during the day too.

“Yes. Sihwa, you said you were fine, but you seemed to have neurological symptoms too. It’s natural with liver qi stagnation though.”

“Yes…”

“While working, or before bed, please check and observe how your body feels and what your mind is like. Whether your breathing is fast, whether your muscles are tense, whether you’re angry, whether you’re feeling small joys, things like that.”

“I will.”

I check my schedule and bank balance daily, but I’d never checked the state of my body or mind.

‘Ah, I’m just in class, so why do I feel unpleasant? Hmm… It’s because that professor is up there. When he told me not to work part-time but study and get a scholarship, that was really infuriating. He didn’t even know that only one person per department gets academic scholarships! I’ve felt unpleasant every time I see him since then.’

‘The cat is cute. Ah, maybe my heart warmed up a bit just now?’

‘I’m tensing my shoulders again. This professor isn’t even someone I dislike. I must be getting nervous already thinking about going to my part-time job after this ends.’

Following what the Director told me to do, Park Sihwa reflected a little.

I had definitely been too neglectful of myself.

School was okay enough, and the logistics center was psychologically fine too.

The call center was the most difficult.

‘No, but actually there aren’t that many crazy people at the call center either.’

The person who used to call every day had disappeared now.

People who caused such extreme stress weren’t frequent.

Actually, most were ordinary people living their lives – exchange and refund inquiries, clothing size questions, or elderly people who didn’t know how to place orders.

Of course, once or twice a day there would be troublemakers who didn’t understand or threw tantrums… but if I let my emotions flow and responded like an automatic answering machine, it would end within 10 minutes.

“I might have been creating stress for myself.”

Looking back after getting better, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

But the Director shook her head at Park Sihwa’s confession.

“As your physical and mental health improved, you became able to think positively.”

So it’s thanks to the medicine?

Of course the medicine’s influence would be significant.

But it seemed like getting comfortable was also due to the Director’s careful counseling each visit and being able to completely relax at the Oriental Medicine Clinic.

“How’s your menstruation? You didn’t have it this week?”

“Uh… Ah, yes! I didn’t! Even if I start tomorrow, it’ll be 21 days now!”

I had completely forgotten about menstruation while examining things like shoulder tension.

Come to think of it, it’s been 3 weeks now.

From symptoms I didn’t even know I had to the periods that used to make Park Sihwa most angry, everything was getting better.

“That’s fortunate. Let’s see if it maintains at this level for the next month and the month after.”

“Yes!”

With a peaceful mind, the call center became somewhat bearable to attend.

Just ignore the troublemakers, pretend the uncomfortable people at work don’t exist, and only talk to decent human beings, right?

The salary is pretty good, so maybe I shouldn’t transfer after all?

“Sihwa, you’ve become really bright, haven’t you?”

Just when the stress from the part-time job had significantly decreased, Lee Dajeong approached me.

Lee Dajeong was the type of person who promoted friendship by inviting various coworkers to drink.

She was originally a difficult type to get close to.

But after she believed the words of someone who had framed Park Sihwa as a liar and said “I’m disappointed!” she had risen to the TOP 3 most disliked people.

“Yes. I’m being treated for frequent menstruation and it’s getting much better.”

But Park Sihwa wasn’t the type to ignore someone who approached her to talk.

“Frequent menstruation?”

“I told you before. That I get my period twice a month.”

“Ah!”

Since they hadn’t talked after that, she could have forgotten.

But… her face might as well have had “That was real?” written on it.

“So traditional Korean medicine clinics treat things like that too.”

Lee Dajeong expressed brief admiration.

“Yes. Our Clinic Director is really skilled.”

Park Sihwa felt proud for no reason.

Her muscle tension had also relaxed, and she slept well so she was less tired – she added a few more unnecessary words.

Speaking carelessly, talking with this person was no longer uncomfortable.

Had she overcome her trauma? She was rejoicing alone when.

“Could you tell me where it is too?”

Lee Dajeong, who had been listening and reacting enthusiastically, suddenly asked about the clinic.

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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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