The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Myung Seon-ju’s treatment goal was clear.

When I diagnosed vasovagal syncope after hearing her main symptoms, I had already decided on the principal herb.

Given that we needed to treat autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and she felt a tight compression in her chest and abdomen, there was no doubt that we needed to use Bupleurum preparations.

The herb Bupleurum is excellent at reducing inflammation while also resolving stagnation, normalizing the autonomic nervous system, and treating mental symptoms like depression and anxiety.

Of course, I’d also add Cinnamon Twig and Peony to relax physical tension.

Then I’d make slight adjustments considering factors like cold and heat sensitivities, urination and defecation, digestion, and sleep.

“How’s your appetite and digestion?”

“I eat very well. My digestion is good too.”

“Any issues with urination or bowel movements?”

If she were an elderly person claiming to eat well while only consuming three spoonfuls a day, I might be skeptical, but given that she’s a tall, athletic sportswoman, I continued my questioning without doubt.

“Well… not exactly. I’ve been having diarrhea more frequently recently.”

“By recently, do you mean within the last month?”

“It’s been longer than that. About a year?”

“I guess you’ve been under more stress since your professional debut?”

“Well, since I was drafted second, there is some pressure to prove my skills~”

When Myung Seon-ju brought this up, I slightly regretted not sending Kim Yijin out before starting the consultation.

It took considerable self-esteem for Myung Seon-ju to speak so confidently next to someone she couldn’t help but feel competitive with or inferior to.

“Are you sleeping well?”

“I’m not sleeping poorly, but it does take a bit longer to fall asleep. It’s not severe though. If it used to take 10 minutes, now it’s about 30?”

“I see, and you don’t wake up in the middle of the night?”

“I wake up if I need to use the bathroom or have a strange dream. It happens about once a week, I think.”

“Do you dream often?”

“Almost every day. But I don’t remember them well.”

“She sometimes wakes up drenched in sweat. I know because we share a room.”

Kim Yijin added the last comment.

…It seemed things weren’t entirely fine after all.

“Are you particularly sensitive to cold or heat?”

“I get hot when exercising, but when the air conditioning is on, I get cold quickly.”

Alternating cold and heat? It’s a bit ambiguous.

“Do you sweat a lot?”

“I do, but that’s because I exercise a lot~”

“Any pain? Headaches, stomach aches, back pain, anything?”

“Just the usual muscle pain from exercising. Maybe some stomach pain when I have diarrhea?”

“Dizziness, motion sickness, nausea, dry mouth, or any other symptoms I haven’t asked about?”

“I don’t think I have any of those.”

All the symptoms were ambiguous in terms of requiring treatment.

Not comfortable, but the kind of discomfort that most people might consider normal.

“Let me check your pulse.”

So I finally checked her pulse for reference.

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

“…? Why is it so fast?”

“Ah, they did mention my pulse was a bit fast during the ECG. But there was no arrhythmia, and everything else was fine, so they said it was probably just nervousness?”

“Are you nervous now?”

“A little? Is it that fast?”

Myung Seon-ju tilted her head.

I guided her right hand to feel the pulse on her left wrist.

“Can you feel it?”

“I can feel it beating…”

“Now try Yijin’s.”

I had her check Kim Yijin’s pulse too.

“And mine as well.”

I offered my wrist.

While she might not understand the specific pulse qualities without professional study, she should be able to distinguish between fast and slow.

“It really is fast! Why is it like this?!”

Why indeed.

“Your heart is constantly under strain. It’s always beating this fast, and when you get even more nervous, like during the national team selection, it speeds up further, and your body thinks, ‘Oh, this could be dangerous,’ and shuts it off.”

“Ah!”

“There’s no need to worry that your condition is serious now. We’ll treat it, and worrying too much isn’t good for your progress. But you should be aware that things aren’t entirely fine.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Myung Seon-ju’s expression grew a bit more serious. She nodded with a disciplined look on her face.

People with this kind of condition are usually… quite extreme.

Of course, there are many who are anxious about everything, easily depressed, sensitive, and have severe mood swings, but there are also quite a few patients who believe their mental state is good.

Like Hyun Ju-mi, who suffered from panic disorder before.

When faced with continuous negative external stimuli, one should know how to avoid stressful environments, but they keep pushing their bodies, insisting they’re fine.

“Let’s do an abdominal examination too. Please lie down for a moment.”

As expected, her rectus abdominis was slightly tense, and her abdomen was cold.

I could feel a pulse when pressing the Tianshu point next to her navel.

“I’m going to prescribe a decoction called Shihogeji-tang.”

I firmly decided on the medication.

◆◇◆◇◆

The director explained various things about the herbal medicine, but she forgot the details as soon as she left the clinic.

However, Myung Seon-ju remembered that her pulse was fast and how to check it, so she frequently monitored her own pulse.

“It’s still fast.”

She compared it with Kim Yijin almost daily, but there was no noticeable change over two weeks.

However, there were definitely some changes during this time.

First, she started sleeping better.

She used to lie awake reviewing how her practice games went, but now she fell asleep much more easily than before.

She even had nights without dreams, and felt refreshed in the morning.

“How could that improve so quickly? Your heart’s been racing like this all year.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Second, her diarrhea stopped, but since it had been on and off before, it was unclear if this was due to the medicine.

And third, the aches all over her body after exercise lessened.

She felt uneasy, as if she hadn’t exercised enough, but comparing with Kim Yijin and other teammates, this seemed to be the normal level.

The fourth change was unusual.

“Seon-ju, you’re in!”

“Yes!”

Originally, when it was time for a game, she would feel a rush of heat to her head and a sense of elation.

Her heart would pound with excitement, thinking, “It’s starting now!”

Myung Seon-ju used to quite enjoy that thrill… but now that the pounding was gone, she felt oddly empty.

She compared this with Kim Yijin too.

“Don’t you get excited before every game?”

“Not really. Games are always happening.”

“Ah, how annoying!”

“Well, I was pretty excited when we faced off at the last sports festival.”

“……”

She could tell her body was in the process of improving.

“You’ve been enjoying this good stuff all by yourself until now?”

“I only got acupuncture, and I kept asking you to come along.”

“Where do you get the needles?”

“Ankle and knee management. They’re always under strain.”

“Take me with you next time~”

Myung Seon-ju headed to the Korean medicine clinic with much lighter steps than last time.

◆◇◆◇◆

Myung Seon-ju visited the clinic again after two weeks.

Although she hadn’t finished the prescribed medicine yet, I brought her into the consultation room to check her progress.

This time, I didn’t forget to send Kim Yijin to the treatment room.

“How are you feeling? No more fainting episodes, right?”

“No~! Of course no dizziness, and I’m sleeping much better! I can feel my body gradually improving.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I felt her pulse while listening to her update.

The improvement in digestion and sleep was very good news. Just that alone meant her body was better at receiving energy and activating its self-healing functions.

“But my pulse still seems similar.”

As Myung Seon-ju said, her pulse was still fast.

Even examining it in detail, the heart pulse was still jumping.

“Yes, it’s still unstable. With constant tension, it can’t be helped.”

“That’s strange. I feel so much better!”

Looking, listening, asking, and pulse-taking – the four diagnostic methods.

Every practitioner has a different view on which to prioritize.

Personally, I tend to emphasize questioning, but for patients like Myung Seon-ju, the pulse comes first.

Not only is the pulse important because the condition itself is autonomic nervous system dysfunction, but it’s also difficult to take the subjective complaints of a patient too accustomed to a tense state at face value.

“With consistent treatment, your pulse will improve too. Let’s do some acupuncture today as well.”

Of course, it will improve with long-term treatment.

I prescribed an appropriate formula, and if she’s going to live as an athlete, she does need to get used to the appropriate pressure of competitions.

But what if another vasovagal syncope episode occurs during treatment?

It’s certainly possible, but I wanted to resolve it before the patient who came to me suffered a career setback.

‘It would be good if she could get acupuncture daily.’

If consistent acupuncture treatment were possible, I could have directly moved her energy.

Like when treating Kim Yijin’s knee, or as I always do for Seol Yu-hee, directly resolving the stagnation would lead to much faster recovery.

‘But taking sick leave might be more problematic for her career…’

Since Myung Seon-ju wanted to end the national team selection incident as a one-off event and didn’t want to inform her team, daily treatment wasn’t possible.

Then what other method?

“How are things with your family?”

Taking advantage of the one-on-one consultation without Kim Yijin, I also checked her family and friend relationships, just in case.

“Great!”

But her family seemed very harmonious, and she appeared to get along well with all her colleagues except Kim Yijin. She was even a respected captain in high school.

Well, she’s close enough with Yijin to come here together.

The only external factor was her athletic career.

‘Is that the only way?’

It had excellent compatibility with the prescribed medicine and…

There was one way to circulate energy without me directly making contact.

…If Yu-hee-ssaem could pick it up quickly, this should be possible too.

“Let’s combine meditation with the medicine you’re taking.”

“Meditation?”

“Yes, not only is your pulse fast, but your breathing is quite rapid too. You’ve been inhaling continuously even while talking to me. It seems to have become a habit from exercising.”

“Is that so?”

She didn’t look particularly enthusiastic.

She felt the medicine alone was improving things sufficiently, and it probably seemed bothersome.

“If you train in breathing techniques, not only will your current symptoms improve faster, but your oxygen supply during exercise will also become more efficient.”

I threw out a bait that Myung Seon-ju might be interested in.

After all, one’s own will is crucial in taking time to meditate every day.

“Really?”

…And this is absolutely not an exaggeration.

Qi circulation can dramatically improve athletic ability.

Far beyond what doping could achieve.

“Of course. Don’t worry about it during exercise, just meditate for 30 minutes before bed. You’ll feel a sudden change at some point.”

“Okay. Should I follow along with something like ‘relaxing meditation’ on NewTube?”

I shook my head.

“I’ll send you a diagram and an audio file later. Try following along with that.”

It’s embarrassing, but… there’s no choice but to create and send a secret manual directly.