The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 249

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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 249

Park Sihwa introduced a patient to me.

Usually when patient A introduces patient B to me, patient A is someone who has goodwill toward both me and B.

They hope B will get better and trust my skills, so wouldn’t they act that way?

But this case was a bit unusual.

“Um… I’m not really sure what’s wrong with her. She asked which oriental medicine clinic I go to, and I couldn’t just not answer, so I told her.”

Since an oriental medicine clinic is a space anyone can access by opening the door and walking in.

Even when introducing someone, they often don’t bother to give me a heads up.

Even so, if they do mention it, it would be to ask me to treat them well.

“There are illnesses that are difficult to discuss with acquaintances. I’ll talk with her during consultation and treat her well, so don’t worry.”

So I reassured Park Sihwa, but.

“It’s a bit awkward to call her an acquaintance… Um… You’ll treat her well, Director, right?”

I got an ambiguous response from her.

It was questionable whether she hoped for treatment or hoped she wouldn’t get better.

But regardless of their relationship, once someone entered the clinic and registered, they were all my patients.

Three days after hearing the story from Park Sihwa, I met Lee Dajeong.

“Hello~ Director~.”

A woman with rather heavy makeup sat down with her eyes curving into crescents.

“Nice to meet you. I heard from Ms. Park Sihwa that you’d be coming.”

Since Park Sihwa said she didn’t know what was wrong, I wondered if some personal issue was involved.

But according to the staff’s preliminary examination during registration, there was nothing particularly unusual.

“You have problems with your jaw joint?”

“Yes, my jaw joint really troubles me. It makes sounds around here, and I get pain occasionally too.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Quite a while now. It’s been about two years, I think?”

Gentle tone with clear pronunciation.

Hearing that her jaw joint hurt, I noticed she moved her facial muscles more than usual when speaking.

Anyway, two years means it’s chronic.

Jaw joint disorders generally don’t have very good prognoses.

Chu Miyoung’s case improved quickly, but that was possible because the cause was relatively clear.

The misaligned joint surfaces were obvious, so I corrected that part and even eliminated the stress factor.

But if someone like Lee Dajeong inevitably uses her mouth for call center work and experiences stress, it wouldn’t be possible to cleanly eliminate all the aggravating factors.

“How have you been treating it so far?”

Acute patients sometimes come to an oriental medicine clinic as their first choice, thinking they’ll get better with just one or two acupuncture sessions, but chronic patients usually come after going around everywhere – other oriental medicine clinics, dental clinics, orthopedic clinics.

Actually, from a patient’s perspective, when their jaw joint first starts hurting, it’s ambiguous where to go.

Thinking it’s a joint so they should go to orthopedics, they go in and get examined.

They prescribe basic physical therapy and anti-inflammatory drugs, and if it persists, they tell you to go to a dental clinic for orthodontic devices.

But neighborhood dental clinics don’t really look at jaw joints.

Since their specialty area is distinct, they don’t have much treatment experience with musculoskeletal disorders, and to get really specialized care, you need to find a hospital with an oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist.

At oriental medicine clinics too… anyone can place needles nearby, but there are surprisingly few places that specialize in jaw joint treatment.

“At first I just left it alone for about three months. When it hurt for one day, it would be fine for three or four days, so I thought it would get better. But when it continued for several months, I couldn’t stand it anymore and went to the hospital. I went to a general dental clinic, but they just gave me anti-inflammatory drugs and told me to go to a specialized hospital.”

As expected, Lee Dajeong missed the initial treatment period.

“Did you go right away?”

“Since the anti-inflammatory drugs made it okay, I waited about two more months.”

Hmm… so she let the condition worsen.

“Anyway, I did go, and they said I needed a custom-made splint. But 800,000 won? That was too burdensome. I declined for the time being and just got Botox and physical therapy.”

If a patient avoided hospitals enough to essentially neglect it for the first five months, 800,000 won in non-covered expenses would be shocking.

Besides, it didn’t always hurt, so how much more so.

“After getting Botox, you were fine for a while, right?”

“Oh my, yes. That’s right. How did you know? I was good for exactly three months!”

Lee Dajeong looked slightly surprised and opened her eyes wide.

It was as I expected.

Botox treatment has been proven very effective for jaw joint treatment.

But like cosmetic Botox, the effect duration is three to six months.

That was both the advantage and disadvantage of Botox treatment.

‘It would be nice if natural healing occurred during that time by resting the jaw and correcting habits, but… it’s obvious what happened. She probably let the condition worsen again thinking she was fine.’

Botox injections use extremely small purified amounts of a neurotoxic protein called Botulinum Toxin, which prevents nerve signals from reaching muscles, relaxing muscle tension and preventing contraction.

When used for jaw joint treatment, it’s injected into the masseter muscle that runs from the jaw up to the cheek, preventing tension in that area.

It’s also used for migraines, muscle spasms, and hyperhidrosis, and is very useful for removing wrinkles or creating a slender face shape.

A treatment method with good immediate effects.

However, over time the nerve endings reconnect and return to normal.

“You haven’t gotten it again since then?”

So some people continue getting Botox every three months.

“That’s right. But….”

Lee Dajeong’s face contorted.

“From the second treatment onwards, the effects weren’t the same as before.”

“Exactly!”

She clapped her hands and nodded her head.

“Yes. And even after receiving physical therapy, it started hurting again. I asked if the first injection was done wrong, but the doctor absolutely denied it. It wasn’t getting better, but he just kept telling me to continue treatment.”

“The Botox probably wasn’t wrong. While the treatment effects do wear off and return to the original state, there’s almost no chance of worsening.”

“That doctor said the same thing. But who knows if he touched something wrong somewhere? I fought with him terribly and transferred to another hospital.”

Lee Dajeong used the expression that she had “fought” with the doctor.

‘This must be a difficult patient.’

I understood why Park Sihwa had said it was awkward to call her an acquaintance.

“But the other dental clinic wasn’t much help either. The machines are all the same anyway, right? Physical therapy was useless too. The frequency of pain increased even more.”

From what I was hearing, the Botox didn’t make it worse.

She probably felt reassured during the period when the treatment was working and did things that would worsen her joint symptoms.

“That doctor recommended a splint again. He said if not that, then surgery was the only option. But I don’t want either. Why would I need surgery just because it makes some clicking sounds? I think it would get better if I just quit my job.”

And she knew what the aggravating factor was.

“I don’t have time to wear a splint because of work anyway. If it were office work looking at computers, maybe, but I work at a call center. I’m talking with my mouth open all day long, so when would I wear that thing?”

“When you sleep-.”

“I don’t have a habit of clenching my teeth while sleeping, and I don’t grind my teeth either. The dentist said my dental occlusion was fine too. I don’t understand why I need to wear it. So I asked if wearing this would really cure me, if he could guarantee it, and he said no to that too. That hospital even charges 900,000 won… How can I spend that much money on something that might not even work?”

Lee Dajeong explained the situation calmly in a gentle tone.

The dentist seemed to have suggested possible treatments, but failed to convince Lee Dajeong.

“I see. A splint might not have been very effective for you anyway.”

Though I still think creating space wouldn’t be meaningless.

Lee Dajeong’s self-conviction was incredibly strong.

Taking the side of a dentist I’d never met would only make me lose her trust too.

With patients like this, a very careful and cautious approach is essential.

Instead of stating my opinion, I nodded and showed empathy for her.

Lee Dajeong’s face visibly brightened.

“Right? I just said I wasn’t convinced, but when I said I wouldn’t use the splint, wasn’t he basically treating me like a mental patient?”

“…Excuse me?”

What kind of sudden outburst is this?

“Since I work at a call center, he said I must be under severe stress or something. I don’t know what he thinks call centers are.”

“Did he say you might have a mental illness? Or just that it might be due to stress?”

“He said some research shows what percentage of TMJ patients have somatization disorders, anxiety disorders, and depression. Then he suggested psychiatric consultation. Isn’t that doctor crazy? I’m saying my jaw hurts, so what depression? I’m someone very far from depression.”

Her previously slow speech became a bit faster, revealing clear displeasure.

I remembered seeing such research too.

‘I thought the causal relationship was difficult to determine, hmm….’

Stress can cause mental illness. There’s no room for disagreement on this.

Clenching teeth due to stress can also cause TMJ pain.

When pain becomes chronic, it can lead to stress too.

Of course, there would be people who actually feel pain due to somatization disorders or mental illness.

But it shouldn’t be that difficult to distinguish with modern medicine.

“Didn’t you say there were sounds at first? Whether it’s clicking or cracking, if there’s no sound and only pain, that might be possible, but if there’s disc displacement, there are definitely musculoskeletal symptoms. You had tests done at the big hospital too, right?”

I hadn’t properly confirmed her symptoms yet because Lee Dajeong had gone on and on about her medical history.

But this point had to be addressed, so I interrupted to ask.

If there were no clicking or crepitus sounds at all, and if all test results were normal, mental illness would be worth suspecting.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

Then it is a musculoskeletal problem?

Lee Dajeong clasped her hands together and looked at me as if praying.

“At first it was clicking, but now it sounds like sandpaper being rubbed. I had tests done every time I changed hospitals, and they said my jaw disc was worn down too.”

Separately from this, there could be mental issues… but….

Setting that aside, there’s definitely a problem with the disc.

“When I explained this to him, he said I was right and wrote a referral telling me to go to a university hospital. Ha, really, how absurd. Isn’t that too irresponsible?”

Lee Dajeong pretended to tear up.

Patients who come to traditional Korean medicine clinics and badmouth doctors aren’t uncommon.

Doctors probably have the opposite experience, right?

But today I understood the doctor a little.

Maybe she looked into too many monsters while working at the call center…. And ended up becoming a monster herself.

Even while I was horrified, Lee Dajeong continued speaking.

“I didn’t receive any treatment after that. So the pain actually decreased. I was wondering if I should just give up and live with the crackling sounds, but while I was giving up, Siha said you were an amazing doctor, so I came to see you.”

Lee Dajeong softened her anger toward the dentist and returned to her original demeanor.

She looked at me politely and courteously, with expectant eyes.

It was dizzying.

In that moment, Choi Eunhee’s warning flashed through my mind.

I also recalled some patients from the martial arts world who, after I had barely pulled them from the water, demanded I hand over my bundle.

She was still showing me favor and smiling.

But I lit up one of my crisis sensors.

“Well… welcome. Let’s start by examining the muscles that could be causing your jaw joint problems.”

“Yes! I’ll trust and follow only you, Director. As you thought, it’s definitely not a psychological problem, right?”

She’s not an easy opponent.

Given her track record, the higher her treatment compliance, the more cautious I need to be.

But… she’s no match for me.

Whatever, I’ll just treat her and be done with it.

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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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