The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 289

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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 289

Since deciding to participate in the audition program, Ha Dohyeon hadn’t let his guard down for even a single moment.

During practice, he gave his absolute best to maximize the abilities he would show to the public.

When cameras were around, he strived to appear both earnest and natural.

– No matter which team he joins, the main dancer position is practically guaranteed. We’ll continue to look forward to his performance.

– All the judges gave him a pass!

He smoothly passed the first round, which was decided by pass or fail.

Watching the first broadcast, he had successfully made quite an impact.

“Dance S, Vocal A. He got a better vocal score than expected.”

His performance in the individual evaluation after the first round, where no one was eliminated, was also excellent.

Since only four people received an S rank in any of dance, vocal, or rap, he drew attention once again.

And finally, the team battles began.

‘Please, please let me have good teammates…!’

Ha Dohyeon had watched quite a few survival programs himself.

Good teammates were those with pleasant personalities who could deliver above-average performances.

It was also important not to have members whose positions overlapped.

‘Wow!’

At first, he thought everything had gone exactly as he wished.

His luck had been absolutely terrible until coming here, but had his opportunity finally arrived?

Even though it was a preliminary evaluation, it was a team with incredibly high average abilities, and position distribution went smoothly.

“I think Dohyun hyung should be the leader.”

“I think so too.”

Even when selecting a leader, a position good for receiving the spotlight, they unanimously supported Ha Dohyeon.

Since there was only one rapper, the sub-dancer and rapper positions were naturally decided.

“Alright, we’ve divided all the parts? Let’s try singing it once.”

There was some conflict in deciding the main vocal and dividing parts, but it was resolved well.

Ha Dohyeon even succeeded in showing his leadership by mediating.

– When fate calls me, I’m already running-.

Moreover, there was an unexpected gain.

‘This is it!’

He hadn’t known if Kim Jooho was a particularly outstanding trainee, having received Dance C and Vocal A.

Kim Jooho’s vocal technique was quite special, despite not even showing greed for positions.

How could he produce such a beautiful voice while simultaneously making it loud and refreshing?

He seemed even better than the main vocal of Berion, who was originally planned to debut.

Even his dancing was surprisingly good, making it unclear why he received a C.

“We won’t have to worry about the mid-evaluation either.”

“Ah, but if we only get praise, we’ll be labeled as boring on the broadcast!”

The initial atmosphere was incredibly positive, enough to create such confident teammates.

And finally, the mid-evaluation arrived.

“Trainee Kim Jooho has a good voice, but since everyone keeps saying he’s doing well, he seems to be trying to play it too safe. Yes, it’s bland. If you’re handling the bridge in this song, you need to know how to explode with emotion or show off your technique.”

“The gap in dance skills is too severe. That doesn’t mean the skilled ones should tone it down. Pull the others up.”

Contrary to expectations, his team received harsh criticism.

At the center of it was Kim Jooho, whom he had secretly considered a secret weapon.

Of course, Ha Dohyeon and the other teammates also received harsh feedback, but particularly severe words poured down on Kim Jooho.

“…”

“Hey, it’s okay. It wasn’t that bad. Just do well on the real stage.”

“Hyung must have been nervous because it was the mid-evaluation.”

The other teammates comforted Kim Jooho, saying it was fine.

But from Ha Dohyeon’s perspective, Kim Jooho hadn’t even displayed half of half of his practice skills in this evaluation.

Was he the only one who was nervous?

Ha Dohyeon and the other teammates were equally nervous. Even so, he thought one should be able to show 70% of their skills, and that would be their real ability.

If this was happening from the mid-evaluation, how well could he perform on a stage with an audience?

While performing on stage, there was no time to worry about other members, but watching the mid-evaluation video, the Dance C grade immediately made sense.

‘I don’t have the luxury to worry about others… but still, if Jooho does well, it benefits the whole team…’

Ha Dohyeon steeled himself and approached Kim Jooho.

In his own way, he was doing his best to help him relax.

“Thank you, hyung.”

But he had no idea how to reduce the gap between practice and actual performance.

“Wouldn’t it be better to change the bridge even now? We even got criticized for it.”

“What are you talking about with three days left? And I think Jooho suits it best.”

“What about you, Jooho hyung? Can you handle it?”

“…I’m okay with changing it.”

After practicing all night, he was going to give this up?

Ha Dohyeon, who was treating this program as his last chance, felt a surge of emotion.

“Jooho, if you’re going to act like that.”

“I’m sorry, hyung. Wait, I need to go to the restroom…”

No, what was he planning to do by just running away like this?

Ha Dohyeon looked at Kim Jooho’s face, intending to hold him back.

But Kim Jooho’s condition was far from normal.

His face turned yellow while his lips turned blue, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Could he have been in this state during the midterm evaluation too?

“Go to the restroom quickly. Let’s talk later.”

Ha Dohyeon first helped dismiss the gathering, then had a conversation alone with Kim Jooho.

Fortunately, Kim Jooho’s complexion looked much better after returning from the restroom.

“Does your physical condition always deteriorate like that when you’re stressed? Did you have severe abdominal pain? Do you have some kind of illness?”

“…Well.”

“There are no cameras here, it’s okay.”

“I get abdominal pain when I’m nervous… It’s gotten worse since the training camp started. I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

“No, the trouble isn’t the issue – what if you have a serious illness? I’m worried it might cause problems with activities later, like my knee.”

Kim Jooho squeezed his eyes shut.

“It’s not a serious illness. I’ve had an endoscopy and it was fine… As for activities…”

“What is it then?”

“…Irritable Bowel Syndrome.”

“…Ah.”

Irritable Bowel Syndrome was a condition Ha Dohyeon knew about.

In high school, the top student in the school had this condition and would raise his hand twice per class period to go to the restroom during exams.

He remembered it because a newly appointed teacher suspected cheating, which made the student burst into tears in front of the entire class.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll manage somehow.”

“No. I’m sorry for pressuring you.”

Ha Dohyeon, who indirectly understood Kim Jooho’s struggles, apologized and calmed him down.

“For now, there are only two days left for this performance so we can’t help it, but let’s go somewhere together when we have a day off.”

“Yes…”

“It’s okay. Just try to be as comfortable as possible. Either way, you won’t be eliminated from the beginning.”

Kim Jooho gave an awkward smile at Ha Dohyeon’s half-joking, half-serious comment.

Ugh, if he had known earlier, he would have suggested going for treatment together long ago.

But what could Kim Jooho have trusted to confide such worries first?

Kim Jooho still blinked his eyes, not knowing what Ha Dohyeon was talking about.

“There’s a renowned physician in Busan who treated my knee.”

Ha Dohyeon tapped his knee.

It was the knee of hope that everyone knew about – all the contestants and even the viewers.

* * *

“…So that’s why I brought him here.”

“I see. You must have really struggled.”

I listened with interest to the off-the-record stories from the audition program that Ha Dohyeon was telling me while examining Kim Jooho’s abdomen.

I felt both sorry for him and proud of how he had endured until now.

– Gurgle

When I pressed the left side of his navel, a fairly loud bowel sound emerged.

Kim Jooho was startled and his face turned red.

On TV, he was portrayed as a calm, mysterious character no matter what anyone said, but in reality he was a friend who got nervous and embarrassed easily.

“How is it…?”

Ha Dohyeon asked me anxiously.

“First, his abdomen is generally cold, and apart from the hardness, it feels soft when pressed. I’d say there’s an underlying Xu Zheng.”

Excess-type abdominal pain makes patients feel discomfort when touched.

But deficiency-type abdominal pain tends to have a cold abdomen, and the discomfort lessens when touched warmly.

“There’s tenderness and bloating in the Zhongwan area above the navel, which means not only is the colon hypersensitive, but digestion that should occur in the stomach and small intestine isn’t going smoothly either.”

“Oh, really? I thought only my lower abdomen hurt.”

Kim Jooho, who had only been thinking about irritable bowel syndrome, was slightly flustered.

That’s why abdominal examination is important.

When one area hurts too much, even the person themselves can’t properly recognize whether there’s discomfort elsewhere or whether digestion is working properly or not.

“The Tianshu areas on both sides of the navel are tense as expected, and I can hear bowel sounds with just light pressure. The intestinal movement is extremely sensitive. There’s also stiffness and spasms in the lower abdomen, just as you felt it was twisted.”

“Yes…”

“Now let’s have you sit up.”

The pulse also didn’t differ much from the abdominal examination results.

There were no special findings in the questioning about systems other than the digestive system.

Sleep and all other aspects were normal.

“Do you also have somewhat poor appetite?”

“Well, I’m always controlling my weight, and I intentionally eat less because I’m afraid something might go wrong if I eat.”

He didn’t even know well whether he had appetite or not.

Anyway, the content I’d heard so far and the abdominal examination were sufficient to obtain the necessary information.

“I have no disagreement with your self-diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. You roughly know what kind of condition it is, right?”

“Yes, when I’m stressed my stomach hurts…”

“That’s right. In a broad sense, it’s part of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and affects the entire body, and among those effects, visceral sensation becomes hypersensitive.”

“Ah.”

As I explained the condition, Kim Jooho blinked his eyes a couple of times.

“Of course, that alone can’t explain everything. There’s also the influence of intestinal microbiome imbalance, and as I mentioned earlier, food coming down to the large intestine without being properly digested in the stomach and small intestine puts a burden on the colon.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve tried probiotics but couldn’t really tell if they were effective.”

“Conditions called ‘syndromes’ are originally like that. Some medication works for some people, but not for others.”

It’s impossible to solve it by finding and eliminating the cause as precisely as with surgical diseases.

Even the aggravating factors vary – for some it’s stress, for others it’s greasy or spicy food, and for yet others it could be tight clothing.

In Kim Jooho’s case, it was heavily skewed toward stress.

But that didn’t mean I could use liver qi stagnation prescriptions like Eokgan-san or Soyo-san from the start.

Shouldn’t I help him be affected as little as possible by abdominal pain in the next round?

The fact that it was progressing as diarrhea-type meant there was definitely dampness present.

“I’m going to use a medicine called Gwakhyangjeonggi-san.”

It probably wasn’t a medication familiar even to the general public.

Ha Dohyeon nodded despite not knowing much about it, and Kim Jooho asked cautiously.

“Is it an anti-diarrheal medication? It won’t cause tolerance, will it?”

“Western anti-diarrheal medications rarely cause tolerance either. They’re different from laxatives. Of course, long-term use can reduce intestinal motility, which isn’t good for people with weak gastrointestinal function like you, Jooho.”

I explained the principle behind Gwakhyangjeonggi-san.

It was quite different from Western anti-diarrheal medications that suppress intestinal peristalsis.

“Substances that enter from outside and cause illness in the body are called Wind, Cold, and Dampness. What’s causing problems now is dampness. You can think of it as waste products accumulated from eating food, which can also be viewed as harmful intestinal bacteria.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Gwakhyangjeonggi-san is a medicine that removes dampness from the middle burner, that is, the abdomen, while promoting the circulation of qi.”

This was a prescription used very frequently in clinical practice.

It was commonly used not only for diarrhea but also for colds that were primarily dampness-related and accompanied by digestive disorders.

Was it the most commonly used medication for diarrhea-type irritable bowel syndrome?

I displayed the composition on screen and explained the formula analysis.

“The herb called gwakhyang is central to removing dampness from inside and outside the body, while banha, baekchul, hubak, and jinpi play the role of eliminating dampness-phlegm accumulated in the abdomen. Daebokpi moves qi downward to help water drain well – daebokpi expels dampness through bowel movements while bokryeong does so through urination. Gilgyeong is originally a respiratory medicine, but you can think of it as being included to regulate the flow of qi.”

Had it been quite a while since I explained things in such detail?

“Since you have overlapping abdominal pain, Jooho, I’ll combine it with Sogeunjung-tang. Jakyak is an herb commonly used as a muscle relaxant that directly controls abdominal spasms.”

“So it calms the stomach pain and also sends down the accumulated dampness that’s causing problems.”

He understood well.

“How long should I take it before it gets better? It’s not something that works immediately like anti-diarrheal medication, but something I need to take long-term, right?”

“Since it includes herbs that directly control abdominal pain, you’ll feel the effects quite quickly. Of course, for Igihwajung to work well and be maintained even without taking medicine, it will take more time for your body to adapt.”

“I see.”

To fundamentally resolve even the autonomic nervous system dysfunction, a second prescription might be necessary.

But just the fact that his abdominal pain would be controlled immediately brightened Kim Jooho’s complexion considerably.

“You’ll be able to demonstrate your skills in the next round. Still, Dohyun brought you here well before it worsened into chronic diarrhea.”

I spoke confidently.

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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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