The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 51

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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 51

I was about to start the chuna treatment on Myeong Junsik when I stopped and turned my head. I could strongly feel Chu Miyoung’s gaze from the corner of the examination room.

‘Why does she look like that?’

Shock? Worry? The emotion was ambiguous to guess, but anyone could see it was a strange expression.

“Th-that, wait a moment…”

Following my gaze to see Chu Miyoung’s face, Myeong Junsik suddenly began stuttering.

Unlike Chu Miyoung, what this expression meant was clear.

Fear.

There was nothing particularly frightening about it, but he had become terrified seeing Chu Miyoung’s reaction.

Only then did I realize why Chu Miyoung was shocked.

She thought I was going to execute the techniques I had taught her over the weekend.

‘No, that was just me going overboard to explain the principles!’

It was absurd.

This wasn’t some martial arts world with only wooden beds, so why would I use such techniques on a patient lying on a 2 million won Chuna Bed I had purchased?

No matter how effective it was, if I actually did that, everyone would run away. There’s no way I’d perform chuna on a patient using such primitive methods!

“It’s okay. It won’t hurt at all.”

“Ah…”

“I’ll loosen it very gently, so don’t worry.”

I reassured Myeong Junsik and also gave Chu Miyoung a meaningful look.

Fundamentals were fundamentals after all. This time, it was my turn to show modern standard techniques that applied those fundamentals while being painless yet highly effective.

“Yes.”

Fortunately, Myeong Junsik believed my words and nodded.

However, tension still remained in his body, and it would be difficult to perform corrections in this state.

“I’ll loosen the muscles first.”

That’s fine. I was planning to start with rolfing, that is, muscle relaxation through massage anyway.

I had Myeong Junsik lie on his side, then applied lotion to my forearm.

I lowered my posture and made contact with the quadratus lumborum muscle.

Then, crossing horizontally across the waist, I applied pressure smoothly.

“Ugh…ahh!”

As I gently massaged the muscle, Myeong Junsik’s waist curved and a pleasant moan escaped.

“Relax. Feels good, right?”

“Uah, yes!”

“This area is very stiff.”

“Hueok!”

Since I applied pressure focusing on the knotted areas, Myeong Junsik nodded while crying out. His face looked very relieved.

Chu Miyoung, who had come right beside us, alternately observed me and the patient with great curiosity.

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“It does hurt a bit… but it feels good!”

“I’ll go down to the glutes.”

“Ooh…!”

I loosened the buttock muscles in the same way. The moment my hands touched them, I knew. The lower back was quite tense, but it was nothing compared to the glutes.

True to someone in office work who sits in the same position for long periods, his buttock muscles were incredibly stiff.

“Let’s turn to the other side.”

I loosened the quadratus lumborum and gluteus medius on the left side in the same way.

“I’ll correct your pelvis now. Don’t be surprised when the bed rises.”

Since the tension was sufficiently relieved.

Now it was time for correction.

Clunk!

The bed supporting his waist rose upward.

I first had the disheveled Myeong Junsik lie face down properly, then checked the form of his pelvic misalignment.

“Your left leg is slightly shorter. It’s not a case where the leg length itself is congenitally short. Your left pelvis is lifted up and posteriorly displaced. I’m going to push it down and out.”

Myeong Junsik glanced at his feet and nodded.

“So that’s why the nerve was more compressed on the left? Usually my left lower back hurts a bit more.”

“Yes. That’s usually the case. Of course, it’s not 100% since some people who strain themselves by standing on one leg with the longer side have more pain on the opposite side.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll adjust it right away. You might be a little surprised.”

As soon as the warning ended, I placed both hands.

My left hand made contact with the posterior superior iliac spine to directly press down the pelvis, and my right hand lightly rested on the ischium. I applied pressure with my left hand.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

It was much lighter and more rhythmic than what I had done for Chu Miyoung before, but combined with the bed’s drop function, it wasn’t far behind in terms of effectiveness.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes! It feels like my pelvis is clicking right into place!”

“Your leg length is aligned now too.”

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

While I was at it, I also corrected the sacral displacement and applied drops to the straight spine. Most importantly, since I had opened up the pelvis that had been stiffened in posterior displacement, Myeong Junsik felt a noticeable difference.

“I really feel like my lower back has opened up. It feels like the misaligned parts are clicking right into place.”

“That’s enough. Please get up.”

“Yes.”

As soon as he answered, Myeong Junsik jumped down from the bed.

Unlike when he had entered the examination room awkwardly hunched over, even his standing posture was different now. At this level, he would definitely feel significantly lighter.

“Ah… the sharp pain is almost completely gone!”

“Really?”

“Yes. My left lower back feels refreshed too, and the area you loosened up earlier feels much more flexible. That… even though you didn’t touch there, the dull pain and sharp sensations have mostly disappeared.”

It was exactly as I had expected.

Just by loosening his back muscles a little, Myeong Junsik felt much more comfortable.

“I’m glad there was an immediate response. With this level of improvement from just one chuna treatment, the pain extending to your testicles should be almost completely better within 10 sessions.”

“Oh, really!”

“But you’ll need to continue treatment for your back. How could you neglect it for 10 years?”

“Yes…”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he lowered his head and scratched it.

I explained the future treatment schedule to Myeong Junsik.

“Please come consistently for acupuncture treatment at least 3 times a week. I’ll also give you Yukmijihwang-hwan as an insurance medication. Apart from the immediate muscle tension, there’s a fundamental weakness.”

Myeong Junsik, who had briefly shrunk back at the mention of medication, nodded when he heard the affordable copay of less than 10,000 won.

Having been somewhat freed from pain in one go, he also gave a willingly positive response to coming for frequent treatments.

“Yes. I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Then please go to the treatment room. They’ll start with physical therapy.”

Myeong Junsik left the examination room deeply moved.

Isn’t there a saying about being different when entering and leaving the bathroom? It was exactly that feeling.

The man who had entered hunched over and spoke about his pain with great difficulty walked out with his back straight and dignified.

Now that area that had been tormenting him for so long would feel considerably lighter.

No, saying “lighter” is a bit awkward.

Should I say it would lose its presence?

…Let’s just say it would be comfortable.

* * *

“Clinic Director, you’re amazing!”

As soon as the patient closed the door and left, Chu Miyoung clapped her hands.

“What do you mean.”

“I had no idea you could treat like that. If it were me, as soon as I heard about testicular pain, my mind would go blank and I’d probably say ‘uh, well, let’s try putting needles nearby for now…'”

“That’s right.”

“Pardon?”

“The treatment itself can be done that way. Since you can’t just needle the inguinal area anyway, you would have put needles in the buttocks and lumbar region too, right?”

“That’s… true, I suppose?”

Probably anyone with a Korean medicine license would at least try putting needles nearby first, right? Unless they were someone obsessed with a specific acupuncture method and experimenting to see if they could treat all diseases with just that.

“I did the chuna because that person looked like he was suffering a lot and I felt we should help him get better even a day sooner, and also to show you, Clinic Director. Actually, loosening the muscles beforehand was much more important than the performance of adjusting leg length.”

“Ah…”

Perhaps remembering when she received treatment, Chu Miyoung placed her hand on her chin. Certainly, when I fixed her temporomandibular joint, I had only performed very simple-looking movements.

“Don’t panic when you encounter an unfamiliar type and speak confidently. Say that while we can’t know the exact cause, let’s treat all areas where nerves might be compressed and observe the progress. What’s there to be afraid of? The urology medications aren’t working anyway.”

“That’s true.”

“Of course, you need to know about emergency conditions that must be referred. Since patients don’t come after seeing specialists, you’ll need to study unfamiliar diseases that were just briefly mentioned in textbooks.”

“Yes!”

Chu Miyoung nodded with burning determination.

At Haneul Clinic, she always saw similar diet and acne patients, prescribed formulas without knowing their composition, and seemed to have completely forgotten everything learned in school…

If I inject knowledge quickly, what’s buried somewhere in her brain should come back to life.

Chu Miyoung wrote down what she had just observed in her notebook, and I neatly organized the interview content I had noted into the chart.

“Oh, did you give the Yukmi insurance medication at the end for profitability?”

Then Chu Miyoung suddenly asked as if something had occurred to her.

I didn’t explain that.

“Of course not. Insurance medications aren’t even herbal decoctions, what profit would they bring? I gave it because it was necessary.”

“Eh. Didn’t you say earlier that acupuncture treatment would work?”

“Loosening the back will cure the pain. But chronic lower back pain itself at that age fundamentally comes from kidney deficiency, doesn’t it?”

“Kidney deficiency lower back pain?”

Kidney deficiency lower back pain .

In Korean medicine, the kidney is not only a physical organ, that is, the kidney, but also the organ that stores essence .

Overwork, excessive sexual activity, or chronic illness depletes kidney essence , causing symptoms like aching lower back, cold sweats, and extreme fatigue. When one reaches around 50 or 60 years old, unless they’re from the martial arts world, kidney function naturally weakens even without any particular illness.

In this case, loosening muscles through acupuncture treatment and activating circulation to allow qi and blood to flow to the lower back is helpful, but fundamentally, what’s lacking must be replenished.

Unless it’s a special clinic like mine where I can directly infuse energy, medication must be prescribed.

“Actually, he should take deer antler. But looking at him, he didn’t come with the intention of getting a prescription, right?”

“Right. It felt like he just came to try his luck.”

“If you tell someone like that to take deer antler, they’ll run away immediately. So I gave him Yukmi insurance medication as a compromise. When he sees the effects in various ways, he’ll ask for a prescription himself.”

“Ooh.”

Chu Miyoung nodded. It was an exaggerated gesture, as if she had gained tremendous insight.

I chuckled and was about to pat her head but stopped, becoming aware of our age difference.

* * *

Ten days later.

Myeong Junsik had thoroughly experienced the effects of treatment. His lower back pain and testicular pain were improving day by day.

He could now focus on work without paying attention to the body part that had constantly been flaunting its presence.

His back had also improved to the point where he couldn’t remember when it had ever been this comfortable, and he could sit for long periods without much burden.

“Manager Myeong, this project is really good. How about you present it yourself at next week’s meeting?”

“Of course!”

Perhaps thanks to this, his work efficiency improved considerably and somehow everything went well.

“Manager, did you start exercising? You were always hunched over, but now your back seems straighter?”

The subordinate staff member sitting next to him, who had been worried about his health a few days ago, noticed the change.

“Haha. I got treatment at the Oriental Medicine Clinic that Deputy Manager Cha recommended.”

“Oh? Is that place really that good?”

“Yes. …I went there for stomach pain, but while I was at it, I’m getting my back treated too.”

“Ooooh! I’m glad you got better so quickly!”

“Right?”

But what was even more encouraging was that the misunderstanding with his wife had been resolved.

“Honey, I’m home~. Ah, it’s braised mackerel that I love? Thank you.”

“Oh my, how embarrassing! What’s there to thank me for!”

Myeong Junsik had thought that only the ridiculous STD suspicion was the reason his wife suspected him of having an affair, but there was actually one more thing.

When he lay still, that area felt very uncomfortable, so he would unconsciously turn his back to his wife every night while hugging his lower body.

“Ah, how foolish of me. I didn’t even know it was because I was in pain.”

Unintentionally, this coincided with his recent busy work schedule, and since he turned his back every night, his wife let her imagination run wild.

Just when she was thinking that maybe he was having an affair and couldn’t even stand to look at her face, she heard about her husband’s testicular pain, and naturally her suspicion became conviction.

To think he had caused her pain all this time over such a thing! How thoughtless had he been?

But now it was all in the past.

Once Myeong Junsik could sleep comfortably even lying straight, the misunderstanding between them was completely resolved through conversation.

‘Now I have nothing to worry about. I’m glad I received all the recommended treatments.’

Moreover, Myeong Junsik had become even healthier.

The medicine prescribed together was said to tonify the kidneys, and perhaps thanks to that, his energy had unknowingly improved.

He hadn’t expected such changes to appear in just ten days, but he fell asleep a bit faster, and his joint stiffness and residual urine sensation had lessened.

And most importantly.

“By the way honey, do you know what day it is today?”

“Hm? What day is it?”

“Ta-da.”

“What’s with the bouquet? It’s been 20 years since you’ve done something like this…”

He had gained confidence.

“Our daughter will be studying at the reading room until late today too, right?”

“Well, of course, but…?”

Confidence that he was still loved by his wife.

And even physical confidence that came from his lower body health.

Myeong Junsik smiled sweetly as he held out the bouquet to his wife.

“Our 20th wedding anniversary… shall we spend it intimately together?”

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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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