The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 338

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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 338

Im Seunghyun brought up an unexpected story.

A Korean Medicine Doctor, or someone who got their license before the old acupuncturist system was abolished, working as a martial arts instructor?

It was possible, but the likelihood was very low.

“What kind of martial arts school is it? You’re saying you got acupuncture directly at the school? Do other members have similar cases?”

Questions poured out of me without realizing it.

“Ah, yes.”

At my probing tone, Im Seunghyun pulled his head back slightly and answered while avoiding eye contact.

“During times when there are no martial arts classes, he takes members or other customers. He seems to do massages more often… There’s a menu? Ah, something like a price list that includes acupuncture too. I was only learning martial arts… but my shoulder was stiff so I was rubbing it, and the instructor just offered to do it for me.”

“Oh my. And it got worse from the next day?”

“Yes. It felt a bit numb even after getting it, but the next day my arm wouldn’t go up. Before getting it, it just felt stiff from overuse…”

“This guy couldn’t follow along with Taekkyeon at all today, so when I asked what was wrong, I brought him here.”

From the circumstances, it was almost certain he got treatment at a suspicious place.

If it were someone with a Korean Medicine Doctor or acupuncturist license who had changed careers, there wouldn’t be price lists and such at a martial arts school.

There are more unlicensed medical practices in South Korea than you’d think.

If you go to the countryside, there are still people known as quack acupuncturists who do moxibustion and more.

At places like martial arts schools or fitness centers, they sometimes do massage, acupressure, chiropractic, and even acupuncture treatment without massage therapist or physical therapist qualifications.

In more extreme cases, they illegally distribute prescription drugs like Botox for non-medical personnel to administer.

‘I’ve heard stories about aesthetic clinics setting up chiropractic beds and doing something between massage and physical therapy, and even doing acupuncture…’

I frequently hear absurd stories from around me, and I report them whenever I see them.

The government also officially expresses its will to eradicate them through punishment and crackdowns.

But the demand for cheap, underground treatment continues to exist.

Actually, it’s not even particularly cheap, but it seems like people search for hidden places believing there might be some reclusive master somewhere.

Anyway, these things are usually connected secretly through word of mouth from acquaintances, making them difficult to detect.

‘100% eradication is impossible though. Strictly speaking, tattooing by non-medical personnel or massage for profit by non-massage therapists is all illegal too… Oh wait, this isn’t the time to talk about others.’

Suddenly remembering when I did acupuncture on an airplane during my Korean medicine school days, I briefly held my forehead.

Back then, I hadn’t been back from the martial arts world long, so my understanding of the law was blurred.

“Ahem, try raising your arm as high as it will go.”

For now, since there was a patient sitting in front of me, I had to treat him first.

I had him try raising his right arm to check his exact condition.

“It gets difficult around here.”

Looking at the pattern, it wasn’t completely paralyzed and unable to move.

It went up stiffly as if it might or might not, with strength not working well around the middle.

“Try to relax. I’ll lift it.”

Im Seunghyun frowned even when I lifted it up, and there was no problem with range of motion during passive elevation.

“Is there pain when you try to lift it?”

“Yes. It hurts and tingles.”

I nodded.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be paralytic muscle weakness, and was presumed to be movement restriction due to nerve root irritation.

“Do you remember where you got the acupuncture?”

“Here on my neck and shoulder and arm. Oh, I think it might be worse because I was tense when I got it…”

Im Seunghyun pointed to several spots on his neck, shoulder, and arm.

“That alone wouldn’t make it severe enough to not go up. Did you get it yesterday?”

“On Saturday.”

I examined closely where Im Seunghyun had pointed.

In a situation where only a day or two had passed, you can see the acupuncture holes if you look carefully.

Moreover, whether they used needles thicker than the commonly used 2030 or 2540 specifications, there were quite a few marks left on the skin.

“Did you also get it in the middle of the back of your neck?”

“Yes.”

“…The shoulder and arm are one thing, but why did they mess with the Du Mai?”

The Du Mai is a meridian located at the center of the posterior aspect of the human body, positioned along the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae from the back of the head to the tailbone.

Depending on the situation, the therapeutic effect of Du Mai can be excellent.

But when Korean Medicine Doctors compose routine treatment points, they often use Huatuojiaji points that are slightly off to the left and right from there rather than Du Mai.

The spinal cord, which is the central nervous system connected to the brain, is located in the space in the middle of the vertebrae, and if you place needles in the exact center, if they go wrong between the spinous processes, they could stimulate it.

“Is it something serious?”

When I muttered in disbelief, Im Seunghyun seemed to have gotten scared.

“You don’t have headaches or dizziness, right?”

“Not really.”

“And you have sensation when I touch your arm like this.”

“Yes.”

Then it’s not serious enough to worry about cerebrospinal fluid leakage or direct spinal cord nerve damage.

“It’s not quite serious. It seems like the dura mater surrounding the spinal cord was touched. When this happens, the nerve roots become sensitive and can cause numbness, tingling, and stiffness in the shoulder and arm area.”

I searched for ‘spinal cord’ on the internet and found a diagram showing the structure of the spine and spinal cord.

It showed the structure where there’s a spinal canal between the vertebrae, with spinal cord nerves inside and nerve roots coming out.

“Ah, then what should I do?”

I had said it to mean it was okay, but perhaps the wording was a bit scary.

Even Kim Jaegyu’s face darkened.

“It’s okay. It’s not seriously dangerous. You must have been very startled that your arm wouldn’t lift today, but if we loosen the stiff shoulder and arm muscles today, it should be able to go up.”

“Ah.”

“However, it will take a bit more time for the nerve to recover, so the tingling sensation will continue for a while. When nerves are slightly stimulated by acupuncture, it typically takes 2 to 3 weeks for natural recovery.”

Even during normal treatment, there are cases where needles unintentionally graze nerves causing a tingling sensation.

In such cases, if you remove the needle immediately, there’s usually no problem.

But if you endure the pain and leave the needle in for 20 minutes of retention, damage can occur and you might suffer for 1-2 weeks.

Im Seunghyun’s case involved the dura mater area, so the situation was worse than peripheral nerve damage, but it didn’t seem to be damage severe enough to prevent recovery.

“That’s a relief.”

Im Seunghyun’s face relaxed upon hearing that it would get better.

I thoroughly palpated his trapezius, rotator cuff, deltoid, biceps, and triceps muscles.

As expected, not only was there a nerve problem, but the muscles involved in lifting the arm were also tense as a result.

“Let me also take a look with ultrasound.”

I checked with ultrasound in case there might be damage to muscles, ligaments, or tendons.

While it would be nearly impossible with regular acupuncture stimulation, they might have used injections or knife needles without Im Seunghyun realizing it.

“Hmm, there’s no problem here. We just need to loosen the muscles.”

Fortunately, no particular damage was visible on the ultrasound.

“The best approach for the nerve is to wait for natural recovery, and let’s do acupuncture treatment today for the shoulder and arm muscle tension. I’ll stimulate much more gently than what was done on Saturday, so it won’t hurt.”

“Yes… thank you.”

“Thank you, Clinic Director.”

Although he had suffered from improper treatment, fortunately he didn’t seem to be afraid of acupuncture itself.

In any case, Im Seunghyun seemed greatly relieved to hear that it would get better.

“From now on, don’t get acupuncture at such strange places! If you have any pain, come straight here.”

Im Seunghyun made a tearful face at Kim Jaegyu’s scolding.

“Ha, I didn’t want to get it either… Yes, I should have firmly said I wouldn’t get it.”

He was very much blaming himself for receiving treatment at a place that practiced unlicensed medicine.

Usually, patients who have problems after receiving such improper treatment are mostly middle-aged or older, so I wondered how a minor ended up there.

“How did you find out about that martial arts school?”

Im Seunghyun hesitated before opening his mouth.

“Oh, just. I wanted to learn some kind of hip martial art. Not taekwondo, kendo, judo, hapkido, those kinds.”

“Did you go in after seeing the sign?”

“Yes.”

Kim Jaegyu sighed.

“You’re at an age when such things would be appealing. Still, it’s fortunate we found out before something really serious happened. Teacher will report that place, so let’s learn Taekkyeon from now on.”

“Report… Ah, I understand.”

Still, perhaps because he had taken classes there for a while, Im Seunghyun seemed a bit reluctant.

“Seunghyun, your case ended with recovery in 2-3 weeks, but there’s a reason why the state only allows licensed practitioners to perform medical procedures. If left unchecked, patients could develop permanent damage.”

“Oh, I wasn’t saying not to report it. There were other strange things besides acupuncture.”

So I had explained it to him, but Im Seunghyun waved his hands saying that wasn’t what he meant.

“What kind of things?”

Kim Jaegyu, who apparently hadn’t heard about this either, asked.

“Medicinal herbs they said they grew in their hometown? There were things to eat and apply. Even middle-aged women who weren’t there to learn martial arts would come separately to buy them.”

“No way… there are really a lot of problems. What’s the name of that martial arts school?”

I think I asked at the beginning, but did he not answer? Did I forget?

“It’s Daehan Unjangdogwan. The dojang master is a descendant of Guan Yu, who came to Korea during the Japanese invasions… Well, something like that…”

I’m certain this is the first time I’m hearing this.

He hadn’t answered before.

Im Seunghyun’s face turned bright red as he spoke.

“No, why on earth did you go to a place you’re embarrassed to even talk about!”

Kim Jaegyu had become much calmer though.

In the old days, he would have been extremely angry even at the victim student, but now he was just hitting his own knee in bewilderment.

“When I say it, it sounds really strange, but when that instructor said it, it somehow seemed plausible… He even did things like circulating energy…”

That’s exactly a swindler’s technique.

When you just hear the content, it’s really nonsensical, but when someone creates an atmosphere and speaks with a strong tone, even people with normal intelligence tend to fall for it.

“Alright, I understand. Thanks for telling me, and don’t go there starting today. If they call, just don’t answer or pass it to an adult.”

“Yes.”

I counseled Im Seunghyun well.

What would be the point of yelling at a student who was already sufficiently reflecting on why he stupidly went to such a place?

I should focus on treatment.

“Let’s do heat therapy first, then acupuncture treatment. You haven’t had any surgeries or taking any medications, right?”

“No, none. Thank you so much.”

Even though I hadn’t treated him yet, Im Seunghyun already bowed his head gratefully.

I patted his shoulder and sent him to the treatment room.

The student must have suffered mentally quite a bit seeing his arm unable to lift.

Coming with his teacher instead of his parents probably meant it was awkward to tell them.

“Kim Jaegyu, wait a moment.”

I held Kim Jaegyu back for a moment and closed the examination room door.

“Could you hold off on reporting it for now? I’m thinking of going to scout it out on a holiday.”

It would be fortunate if the department that receives the report properly cracks down on them.

I was worried they might just give a warning and end up becoming more cunning.

Wouldn’t it be better to find out what scale the fraud actually is and collect evidence?

If needed, I could even contact the reporter I exchanged contact information with through various incidents.

“Ah, should we do that?”

Kim Jaegyu nodded without hesitation.

“Come to think of it… since a student got injured, we shouldn’t just report it and move on, but conduct a proper investigation. I’ll go with you. As a teacher and as a martial artist, I feel deeply responsible.”

He spoke with determination.

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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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