The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 370

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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 370

Although my body felt a bit stiff from the long flight, our plane safely arrived in Rome.

Have I completely recovered from PTSD now? Fortunately, the magician didn’t appear in my dreams.

I wanted to meet Sandro right away, but since the arrival time was awkward.

I stayed at a hotel for one night and moved to the clinic early the next morning.

For some reason, when I think of a foreign clinic, I imagine a kind doctor coming out of a single-story building completely separated from the city center.

But that would only be possible in the countryside.

Sandro’s clinic had a sign reading ‘Seongsuhan Medical Clinic’ prominently displayed on a high-rise building right in the middle of Rome’s commercial district.

They had many discussions about the sign too.

It seems they finally decided to write it large in Italian, with English and Korean written smaller in the corner.

“It hasn’t been long since we last met, but meeting in Rome feels so new!”

“I know, right. It feels really awkward, haha. Thank you for coming.”

Sandro welcomed me wearing his newly tailored gown.

“I wondered if there was still work left to help with, but everything’s finished.”

“It would have been a disaster if it wasn’t ready by today.”

“It would have been close without Manager Seo, haha.”

According to the photos he showed me, there were still plenty of boxes just 2-3 days ago.

But the clinic was now neatly organized.

The interior was done in sophisticated white, and they hung safe choices like flower paintings in frames.

Still, it was obvious they had spent money on various things.

The flow from examination room to treatment room was good too.

Unlike our Oriental Medicine Clinic where we hang curtains between treatment room beds, each section was separated by partition walls, which seemed great for privacy protection.

“It’ll be quiet today, right?”

Perhaps still not relaxed, Sandro’s face looked slightly tense.

“It would be. Originally, even in South Korea, it’s common to not exceed ten patients on the first day of opening. It’s still a time when patients don’t really know about the opening yet.”

Since it’s right in the middle of a commercial district with heavy foot traffic, if it were a regular hospital, someone might drop by while passing.

But since people wouldn’t know much about Oriental Medicine Clinics, it’s better not to expect walk-in patients for now.

“That’s right. Our headquarters also had few patients for quite a long time.”

Seo Inae chimed in agreement.

Come to think of it, among the current staff at Seongsuhaneui Clinic, only Seo Inae has been with us since those days.

The days when we saw three or four patients seem like yesterday, and now we’ve come all the way to Rome together.

“I want to build up slowly.”

“That’s how it will be. At first, even if it takes more than 30 minutes per person, listen to their stories well and put effort into consultations. Well, don’t feel pressured that you must make them bring referral patients. If you provide good necessary treatment, patients will naturally increase.”

If you do your best for each person, patients will naturally accumulate.

Accordingly, conversation skills for quickly catching necessary information and skills for placing needles quickly will improve, and you’ll naturally become familiar with it.

“ajdkfa. jlkss!”

A staff member knocked on the door, came in, and exchanged a few words with Sandro in Italian.

They seemed to have hired a staff member with a bright impression well.

From the situation, it seemed like they were saying it was time to open.

And less than 10 minutes later.

Ding~.

The first customer opened the clinic door.

“Oh, a patient came already?”

“Maybe, maybe they’re asking for directions?”

Sandro was very flustered.

But the customer had a brief conversation with the staff outside, and soon a name appeared on the reception screen.

It was indeed a patient.

“That’s great. Manager Seo and I will be in the break room, so examine them calmly.”

“Ah, you’re leaving… I understand.”

Sandro seemed to want me to stay with him.

But since he’d have to conduct the examination in Italian, I wouldn’t understand anyway.

Even if he wanted to ask for my opinion, wouldn’t he have to respond first, send them to the treatment room, and then discuss?

Well, maybe it’s just a cold patient who dropped by and doesn’t need acupuncture treatment.

“Oh, aren’t you Doctor Han? Are you also in Rome, Teacher?”

But contrary to my expectations.

As soon as In Ae and I left the examination room to go to the break room, the patient recognized me.

The patient was a very tall white male who somehow looked like a sculpture.

Even though Westerners tend to look similar to my eyes, I would definitely remember such a distinctive appearance.

It was definitely a face I was seeing for the first time.

“I’m Korean Medicine Doctor Hanyewon. How do you know me?”

“Mison talked about you a lot. I’ve been waiting just for today because I wanted to try herbal medicine and acupuncture too!”

“Aha?”

It seems her promise to introduce patients wasn’t just empty words, but this quickly?

This wasn’t someone who just happened to drop by, but a patient with genuine needs for traditional Korean medicine treatment.

“Welcome, nice to meet you. If you’re comfortable explaining your symptoms in English, would it be okay if Doctor Han observes?”

Since we were talking in front of the examination room door, Sandro also stood up and greeted him.

“Oh, it would be great if both of you could see me.”

First of all, the patient seemed to speak English much better than me.

Since he came after hearing about my reputation(?), he readily agreed.

More than that, Sandro was peculiar.

Usually, wouldn’t you be more nervous when someone is watching during treatment?

Perhaps because he had been observing Director Kim Chunsik’s treatments for a while, having someone beside him seemed to feel more familiar instead.

‘Well, anyway, when I leave, he’ll have to see patients alone whether he likes it or not.’

For the week I’m staying in Rome, it would be fine to let him observe beside me for patients who consent to observation.

In the end, only Seo Inae waited briefly in the break room.

I put on the gown I had prepared just in case and came to observe Sandro’s treatment beside him.

“Dr. Lucarelli, Dr. Ha-an. Nice to meet you. I’m Enrico Salvi. I sing in the Sistine Chapel Choir.”

In a typical doctor-patient relationship, the conversation would be more formal than this.

But since Enrico came through a friend’s introduction, he introduced himself quite warmly.

“Sistine?”

Sandro was surprised.

I briefly wondered if he was a famous person, then belatedly recalled that the Sistine Chapel was the Vatican’s cathedral.

So, the Vatican choir?

“Yes, though I’m taking a break right now. Mison and I became friends while studying at Santa Cecilia, and we’ve performed together before. I heard Doctor Han fixed her fingers.”

“Ah! So you came through pianist Park Miseun’s introduction.”

Since Sandro had also spoken directly with Park Miseun before, he responded warmly.

With talk of a mutual acquaintance, small talk flowed and Sandro’s tension gradually eased.

“In university, I thought I’d stay healthy forever. I believed I had steel vocal cords, but as I got older, both Mison and I… Phew, we suffer a lot from occupational diseases.”

“Overuse is inevitable. Is it a throat-related problem?”

“That’s right.”

Enrico nodded.

I thought his speech endings trembled slightly, but it seemed that was his main symptom rather than a habit.

“When I speak, the endings shake slightly like th-this, you see? It gets worse when I’m not paying attention.”

“Oh, yes. Are there any other accompanying symptoms?”

“When I speak low, it’s fine, but when I use operatic vocalization, my voice becomes hoarse frequently. When that happens… no, even now my throat feels tight and stuffy.”

“Oh my… that must be very troublesome. What kind of treatment have you tried for this?”

Now that I was consciously listening, it bothered me more.

For a vocalist, the throat is an extremely important matter.

“Actually, I had vocal nodules once four years ago. So I thought this might be a recurrence and quickly went to the hospital. But they said my vocal cords were clean? They said I had slight reflux laryngitis, so I took anti-inflammatory medication, but even after taking it, this str-ange trembling and voice remained the same.”

Enrico explained the situation well in order.

But the regretful emotion was clearly evident in his face and voice.

“So I went to another hospital, and they said it was Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD)? They said my vocal cords were fine, and perhaps because I took anti-inflammatory medication, my larynx was also clean. In such cases, they can suspect spasmodic dysphonia and muscle tension dysphonia, and in my case, it was closer to the latter.”

Sandro nodded calmly, but he seemed to be getting nervous again.

Neither spasmodic dysphonia nor muscle tension dysphonia were well-known diseases to the general public.

Had I treated them about twice before?

As Enrico said, there are no problems like inflammation in the vocal cords and larynx.

Spasmodic dysphonia is caused by involuntary and repetitive contractions of laryngeal muscles, while muscle tension dysphonia is a condition where vocalization becomes abnormal due to overall muscle hypertension.

Spasmodic dysphonia is more troublesome as it’s related to abnormalities in central nervous system motor control.

But muscle tension dysphonia was equally difficult to treat.

‘Well, in our country, 80-90% of oriental medicine clinic patients have musculoskeletal disorders, but in Europe, people who try other treatments first and don’t get better would come from far away… there would be many intractable cases.’

Voice disorders appear in textbooks and had to be included in manuals.

But Sandro wouldn’t have had the opportunity to observe me or Kim Chunsik treating them.

“I see. If there are no abnormalities on laryngeal endoscopy, I agree with the diagnosis. As you know, muscle tension dysphonia is a condition where vocal cord movement becomes rigid due to hypertension of surrounding muscles, and in Italy, voice therapy is usually the main treatment.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you only take medication? Have you tried Botox or voice therapy?”

But unexpectedly, Sandro knew muscle tension dysphonia well.

He naturally continued the treatment.

“I tried everything they told me to do. I stopped the laryngitis medication when they said all the inflammation was gone. Botox was fine at first, but after two weeks, it became the same again. They said it would last three months, but I wonder if it’s just me…”

“That’s not the case. Originally, many people say clinically that the effect wears off in 1-2 weeks. It’s a primary procedure, but satisfaction isn’t very high.”

Enrico nodded.

“After that, I started voice therapy too, but this is also ambiguous. I’ve received six sessions now, and it seems better than at first, but I don’t think it will lead to complete recovery like this. But when I heard from Mison that a traditional Korean medicine clinic was opening in Rome, I’ve been planning to try treatment together.”

Hearing the story up to this point, I roughly got the picture.

‘It seems like lung qi deficiency.’

There were parts I could infer from what he was saying.

But what stood out most to me was the unstable breathing.

Inspiration wasn’t working well when he breathed.

Not only was there a difference between expiratory and inspiratory volume.

When I looked at his throat, the way his larynx was pulled up didn’t look natural at all.

Probably during voice therapy, they would try to correct this part while vocalizing.

But for various reasons, the effects hadn’t appeared yet.

‘How will Sandro lead the conversation?’

Even without deep knowledge of breathing techniques, there are many ways to make a pattern identification through questioning.

I watched Sandro’s treatment without showing my thoughts.

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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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