The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 265

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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 265

“Pungduseon? Ah, that’s right. That was the name!”

Lee Ahreum clapped her hands after hearing my muttering.

Is that a term not commonly used around here?

“Did you learn it as chemeri?”

“Chemeri?”

Is this the first time she’s heard this too?

“Just… head tremor…?”

Lee Ahreum answered hesitantly and looked at Hwang Sanghun as if seeking agreement.

“The manual you gave me says head tremor. I think I might have heard pungduseon at school before too.”

“Ugh! I must have forgotten!”

I shrugged my shoulders. So I had written it as head tremor.

“What does the name matter anyway? You can forget things. Besides, patients wouldn’t understand if you said pungduseon anyway. More importantly, what kind of person is the patient? Similar type to Grandmother Heo Sunnam?”

Patients who come through referrals tend to have things in common with each other.

If a difficult patient refers someone, their spouse is also difficult, and even their acquaintances tend to be difficult. Of course, there are many exceptions, but it makes you tense up initially.

In that sense, Kim Ijin and Grandmother Heo Sunnam belong to the most reassuring category of referrers.

“Hmm, not really… She was a bit demanding.”

But unfortunately, this time seemed to be an exception.

“She saw Grandmother Heo Sunnam’s head tremor at the village community center and immediately recommended coming to the traditional medicine clinic. She talked about that back story you always mention.”

“Ah, so they’re not very close friends.”

“Right. Since the clinic director wasn’t here, I did the consultation and told her medication would be necessary. But she kept asking several times if it could really be cured.”

“What did you say?”

“That it wasn’t something I could guarantee 100%…”

Lee Ahreum hung her head dejectedly.

“Should I have confidently said, ‘I’ll cure you!’?”

“No. If it’s a condition you’re really confident about and can definitely cure, that’s one thing, but in cases like this, it’s okay to leave yourself some room to retreat.”

This is my first time treating pungduseon, so how could I claim confidence when I don’t have it?

I patted Lee Ahreum’s shoulder.

“Your words were good, but in terms of nuance? With non-verbal expression, you can’t let them catch on that you lack confidence. Even while saying you can’t guarantee 100%, you need to give the ‘feeling’ that you can provide the best treatment better than anyone else.”

But if a patient notices the doctor is scared, even patients who could recover won’t get better.

They’ll conclude it’s such a difficult disease, that it can’t be cured, and won’t even reach for the prescription.

Even if they somehow get the prescription, it creates a reverse placebo effect.

“Doctor Han’s charisma really is amazing. I don’t think I can do that. She was originally Doctor Han’s patient too… While doing acupuncture, I asked if she would get medicine when Doctor Han returned.”

“It’s fine. As you said, she was my patient anyway this time, so you did well. I’m telling you this to help for next time.”

Anyway, her response wasn’t bad, but Lee Ahreum was very hard on herself.

“Hello~ Oh, Doctor Han! You’re here!”

As we were having this conversation, treatment time was approaching and patients started coming in.

“Hello! Have you been well?”

I should go to the examination room first, see a few patients, and then talk.

“Alright, everyone go to your positions. These are souvenirs.”

I distributed dates and wood perfume while sending away the gathered staff.

Hwang Sanghun wasn’t even supposed to work today but came to see if I was okay, so I gave him two dates specially.

He must have been very shocked after hearing about such an incident on the news.

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy them~!”

“I’ll head in now. I’m really glad you’re safe.”

“Sanghun, you worked hard too. Rest well and see you the day after tomorrow.”

Gong Nari immediately put a date in her mouth.

Hwang Sanghun went home with relief.

* * *

After seeing about ten patients, I had a moment to catch my breath.

I quickly went to Lee Ahreum’s examination room and asked what medicine she was planning to use for Jo Hwasun.

There’s no particular problem with me taking over the patient, but since she already consulted with her, wouldn’t it be good for her to study too?

“According to the manual you gave me previously, when yang-type patients complain of head tremor, it’s viewed as liver wind and treated with Eokgansan and Shiho-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to used for seven emotions damage. For yin-type patients, it’s seen as heart deficiency, meaning symptoms occur due to decreased brain function, and Bosimhwan, Jinmu-tang, etc. can be used according to pattern differentiation.”

Was she very surprised that I suddenly came to find her?

Lee Ahreum recited the treatment method in a tense posture as if taking an exam in front of a professor.

‘She knows it well.’

Whether she had memorized it originally or looked it up thinking about this patient, it was excellent.

Here, yin-type and yang-type are different from Taeyang-in and Taeum-in in Sasang Constitutional Medicine.

It refers to whether someone appears frail or has a sturdy build at first glance.

The physical form itself carries as much meaning as the symptoms patients verbally describe.

“So, which type do you think Jo Hwasun is?”

The distinction isn’t that difficult.

Even with an average build where it’s ambiguous whether they’re yang-type or yin-type, patients whose liver wind is the cause usually have identifiable stressful events. Like starting to shake their head after a child died.

Deficiency syndrome, on the other hand, is just lacking energy and losing strength due to aging.

“Patient Jo Hwasun is a small, thin grandmother. She does building cleaning work and says it’s very physically demanding. She’s always tired and has cold hands and feet. After work, her legs swell so much that she props them up with pillows every night when sleeping. I could see the edema visually as well. So I was thinking of Jinmu-tang to tonify yang deficiency while reducing the swelling.”

“Oh, well done. I also thought she was a yang deficiency patient.”

Actually, while I did write the treatment manual, my thought process doesn’t follow disease-based flow charts.

I just look at symptoms and think of prescriptions.

Anyway, since our pattern identification matches, combining medicines that warm the interior and promote water metabolism should be the right direction.

“She said her digestion isn’t very good, and what about urination?”

Of course, there are countless warming and tonifying prescriptions, so I need to narrow the focus a bit more.

“She just said it was normal.”

“How many times a day?”

“I didn’t ask specifically about that! I’m sorry!”

“Now, don’t be so nervous. Even with visible edema, some people urinate too frequently while others say they don’t go much. If you’ve decided to use water-promoting medicines, it’s better to inquire more thoroughly about water qi. Especially for a patient who neglected head tremor for two whole years – they often don’t know what’s wrong with them.”

“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”

I told her not to be nervous, really.

I wasn’t trying to scold her, I was just trying to help Lee Ahreum grow… Oh wait, I was acting like an old-fashioned mentor.

Did all the professors think this way too?

I quickly wrapped up my words.

“Ahem, let me meet the patient first and then we’ll discuss more about what prescription to use. Sorry for interrupting your break.”

“Not at all! Thank you for the guidance!”

She was already busy, and I gave her more burden during her brief break.

I returned to my examination room and waited for Jo Hwasun while seeing other patients.

Perhaps having worked until evening, Jo Hwasun didn’t register until nearly 7 o’clock.

Whether the front desk said she wanted to see me, the attending physician on the chart changed, and a note saying ‘consultation requested’ appeared next to her name.

“Hello. You came during my vacation and waited a long time. I heard about you, nice to meet you.”

“Hello, Clinic Director.”

When I greeted her brightly, Jo Hwasun also bowed her head.

As I’d already heard from Lee Ahreum that she was small and looked very tired, she was the typical thin grandmother who comes looking for tonics.

And as soon as she sat down.

Sway-. Sway-.

Like tree branches swaying in the wind, her head moved left and right.

“I was looking for the Clinic Director, but they said you weren’t here, so I was just getting acupuncture. It hasn’t gotten better yet.”

Jo Hwasun said while touching her head.

Her tone wasn’t particularly blaming Lee Ahreum.

“Looking at the chart, it says it’s been about 2 years, is that right?”

“Yes, I’m not sure if it’s exact, but it’s been about that long.”

“Head tremor that’s been going on this long usually takes some time to improve. Let’s take a long-term view and treat it consistently with herbal medicine.”

If it had been head tremor due to liver wind, using acupuncture to promote qi circulation would have had some meaning.

But for a patient like this who needs tonification for deficiency, improving circulation alone would be very difficult. Unless I could directly infuse qi like I do.

“There are records, but let me do the consultation again. Is that okay?”

“Oh, that’s what I was hoping for. I wanted to be treated by the Clinic Director. Since I’m paying for expensive medicine, I want to be properly treated by the best person when I get treatment.”

It didn’t seem malicious, but I could understand why Lee Ahreum felt dejected.

Actually, isn’t it natural for patients to trust the title ‘Clinic Director’?

“You can’t feel the shaking at all right now, can you?”

“I found out when my husband told me. When I look in the mirror, it’s shaking all over, and when drinking water, it’s a bit hard to control, so it’s inconvenient.”

Let me start with diagnosis.

Paolo, Chairman Lee’s son, also complained of head nodding symptoms, but in tic cases, patients feel the urge to do it.

Unlike that, with head tremor, the head shakes completely regardless of one’s will, and the person doesn’t even recognize it.

“It’s been about 2 years – haven’t you tried any tests or treatments during that time?”

“I haven’t. I thought I was almost ready to die anyway, so why spend money on treatment? I just left it alone, but Sunnam said if I came here, you’d cure it, so I came.”

Actually, head tremor wasn’t a symptom to just leave alone like this.

If she had come during the acute phase, I would have suspected it might be a precursor to brain disease and recommended hospital tests first.

But since there had been no problems for 2 years anyway, it should be fine to approach it as typical head tremor with herbal medicine.

“As Dr. Lee explained, Ms. Jo Hwasun, your yang qi is very deficient, and your fluid metabolism isn’t working properly. So your heart and brain function have declined, causing tremor symptoms.”

“Ah, so it’s because I’m old. I know that too.”

“…Broadly speaking, I’ll use warm tonifying medicine. To tailor it specifically, I’ll ask some more questions that might seem unrelated.”

“Ah, yes.”

As always, questions checking overall body metabolism followed.

“You said your appetite is fairly good – do you eat two meals a day?”

“I eat all three meals including breakfast, but I have no energy. After work, I’m hungry so I eat more than half a bowl.”

“For digestion, is it just a little uncomfortable? Do you get indigestion?”

“I don’t get indigestion, but it’s, how should I say, uncomfortably bloated.”

Starting with digestion and sleep, I asked more detailed questions about parts related to water metabolism.

To supplement a bit more from the consultation Lee Ahreum had done.

“Do you have dry mouth too?”

“Oh, it’s extremely dry. When I wake up, it’s completely parched like this, and I thought it might be because of dust, so I thoroughly cleaned the house, but it’s the same. My husband says he’s fine.”

“How many times a day do you urinate?”

“Four times? When I’m working, I’m too busy to go much. It’s just normal.”

As expected, her urination frequency was less than average.

“Do you sweat very little?”

“Yes.”

“It’s written that your body is cold – let me look at your hands once.”

“They’re like ice.”

I asked various questions while holding Jo Hwasun’s hand.

Indeed, the comparison to ice was no exaggeration.

While holding her hand, I also checked her pulse and had her stick out her tongue to examine its cracked state from severe dryness.

“Your body is really very cold. Among all the patients I’ve held hands with this year, yours are the coldest.”

“I’ve heard that a lot.”

“We need to strongly ignite the heat in your lower body. Only then will the stagnant water qi move, blood circulation improve properly, and ultimately even the head tremors will be resolved.”

“Can it really be cured?”

As soon as I let go of her hand, her fingers began trembling as well.

Wanting to gain confidence in the treatment, Jo Hwasun leaned her head forward.

Swaying, swaying. Her head still trembled back and forth.

I followed her eyes, met her gaze, and said.

“As the Clinic Director mentioned, there’s no 100% guarantee. But in my experience, 70%… no, over 80% have improved.”

For Lee Ahreum, this would be her first time treating such a patient, so I couldn’t ask her to claim confidence she didn’t have.

But I had seen quite a few patients with head tremors and was fairly confident.

“Symptoms like cold hands or reduced urination frequency have probably been present much longer than two years, with the head tremors appearing later. Since it’s a symptom that developed at the very end, improvement often comes last as well.”

I explained calmly.

“Patience will be required, but I’ll show you that you’re improving by observing your pulse, tongue, and other indicators to confirm progress. With consistent treatment, you will recover. Please follow along even if it takes time.”

I spoke with near certainty, telling her she could trust and follow me.

“I’ll trust only you, Doctor.”

Finally hearing the words she wanted, Jo Hwasun smiled brightly.

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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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