The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Park Seon-yun and Kim Jin-sang entered the examination room side by side.

Unlike the somewhat rugged-looking Kim Jin-sang, Park Seon-yun had a neat appearance with his hair parted 2:8 and wearing glasses.

Though it could have looked provincial, perhaps due to his bright face or his expensive suit, he exuded an air of nobility.

“Welcome, Park Seon-yun-nim. Please, have a seat here.”

“Hello.”

Park Seon-yun bowed politely before sitting in the chair I indicated next to the desk.

In contrast to Park Seon-yun, who wore only a faint smile, Kim Jin-sang immediately spoke up as he sat on the sofa prepared for guardians.

“Ah, Doctor. It’s been a while. This is the young master I serve. I’ve brought him here because the back injury he suffered two weeks ago hasn’t healed.”

Kim Jin-sang’s shoulders tensed as he mentioned the ‘young master’ he served.

Sigh, my disciples used to act just like that when they tried to impress others with my or the master’s reputation. In any case, this ‘young master’ seemed to be quite an important person. I hadn’t seen even Hwang Seo-young or Hwang Sang-hun with personal drivers, so was he a real chaebol?

“How did you get injured? Did you twist something?”

I asked Park Seon-yun. He touched his right lower back and gave a bitter smile.

“I fell from a high place.”

“What? How high?”

It was an unexpected answer. He looked like a white-collar office worker. What reason would he have to climb somewhere high?

“It wasn’t very high, just a ladder about half my height. I was reaching for a book in the study when…”

“Ah, I see.”

Park Seon-yun’s face reddened slightly as he spoke. Even grown adults can misstep. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

What was more surprising was that he had a study with shelves high enough to require a ladder.

“It’s been two weeks. Have you received any other treatments in the meantime?”

“Yes. I’ve been getting daily physical therapy at the company hospital. The X-ray showed no bone issues, but there’s been no improvement. The doctor gave me a referral for an MRI. But Mr. Kim said he knew a good Korean medicine clinic, so we came here first.”

“You’ve come to the right place.”

I stood Park Seon-yun up to examine his back.

“Please arch your back, and now bend forward.”

“Ugh… it hurts a bit when I bend.”

“Point to where it hurts.”

Fortunately, there were no major issues with his lumbar range of motion.

The spot Park Seon-yun pointed to was near the PSIS (Posterior Superior Iliac Spine), where the bone protrudes on the right side of the pelvis.

“Could you lie face down? I’d like to press on your spine first.”

“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”

“How does this feel?”

“A little…”

“And here?”

“Ah!”

The moment I applied slight pressure to the medial side of the PSIS, Park Seon-yun let out a groan. As I had suspected when I first touched his sacrum, it was an issue with the sacroiliac joint ligament.

I pulled up an image on the computer showing the sacroiliac joint and the ligaments connecting it.

“Here, this triangular bone below the lumbar spine is the sacrum. Tough ligaments connect the sacrum to the ilium, which forms part of the pelvis. Based on where you felt pain, I suspect the problem is with the posterior sacroiliac ligament.”

“Ah, I see.”

“When you fall from a height and experience external impact, the ligament can stretch, causing inflammation and potentially some tearing. That’s probably what an MRI would show too.”

Park Seon-yun nodded, touching his sacrum.

“Yes, it’s around here.”

“The buttocks have thick muscles, so physical therapy doesn’t stimulate deep enough. We’ll use long needles to directly reach the ligament and promote healing. We also need to treat any swollen or stiff muscles in the surrounding area.”

“Ah…”

“It won’t be too painful. Do you have any questions?”

“Kim-nim mentioned he had bee venom acupuncture and it worked really well. Will I be getting that treatment too?”

“That’s not a bad choice if you want faster recovery. However, if you’re looking for something beyond regular acupuncture in this situation, I’d highly recommend fire acupuncture instead.”

“You mean setting it on fire?”

Park Seon-yun asked with wide eyes.

“We insert the needle first, then apply heat. It’s particularly effective for acute sprains.”

“…Won’t that be hot?”

“It needs to be somewhat hot to provide stimulation. But we remove it if it gets too hot, so you don’t need to worry about burns.”

Though I said it wouldn’t be too painful, his eyes darted back and forth, clearly nervous.

“If you’re concerned about the pain from the procedure, we can start with gentle, repeated treatments using regular acupuncture. If you’d already had injections without improvement, I would have recommended fire acupuncture from the start. But since your ligament hasn’t received any direct treatment yet, it’s as if we’re starting fresh. If regular acupuncture doesn’t work well, we can consider other options.”

“Is acupuncture painful?”

“Is this your first time?”

“I think I might have had it for growing pains when I was young, but I don’t remember clearly.”

Park Seon-yun looked down and scratched his head. I could tell he really disliked pain, even though he tried not to show it too obviously.

It wasn’t surprising; unlike elderly patients who often request a hundred needles or so, younger patients typically prefer minimal stimulation treatments with little pain.

“I’ll make sure it’s not painful.”

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Please take good care of our young master!”

I nodded to the brightly smiling Park Seon-yun, then turned to address Kim Jin-sang.

“How’s your arm, Kim Jin-sang-nim? It’s been a while since you visited.”

“Ah, it’s almost completely healed. Even the occasional tingling has disappeared.”

“That’s great to hear.”

Kim Jin-sang rolled up his sleeve to his shoulder to show me.

Visually, the mottled blisters had completely disappeared, and he said there was no more pain.

“I came along with the young master, haha. My back feels a bit stiff from driving. Would it be alright to get treatment for my back today?”

“Of course. Let’s do that.”

He made such a fuss back then, but it healed faster than expected. That was fortunate for our staff as well.

I sent the two to the treatment room and quickly summarized the consultation notes.

Later, while the two were receiving physical therapy, I saw a few other patients before returning to Park Seon-yun.

This time, I was holding a 12cm long needle that I hadn’t used in quite a while.

‘I hope he won’t say this is painful too.’

To properly loosen the sacroiliac joint, this length was necessary, but I worried that showing him the needle might frighten him.

Sure enough, as soon as I opened the curtain and entered, Park Seon-yun flinched while lying face down.

“Could you lower your pants a bit more?”

“Yes…”

I pressed the area where Park Seon-yun had complained of pain earlier.

“This is where it hurts the most, right?”

“Y-yes.”

It wasn’t difficult to locate again, as there was severe blood stasis and stagnant qi.

I inserted the needle right next to the PSIS, aiming for the posterior sacroiliac ligament.

I felt the characteristic sticky sensation of an inflamed ligament.

“Ahh…!”

“Does it hurt?”

“N-no. It feels refreshing. I sound like an old man, don’t I?”

I chuckled and moved the needle in and out. Each time I pricked the sticky points, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Just bear with it a little, will you? We need to break up the adhesions in the soft tissue and improve blood flow for recovery, okay?

“Ah!”

His voice changed when I pierced the stickiest spot. As his pelvis loosened up, he let out a pleasurable groan with a dazed expression.

I then palpated the surrounding gluteal muscles, stimulating tense areas.

“Mmm…!”

Pook. Pook. Pook.

“Haa!”

Pook. Pook. Pook. Shwook!

“Ah… it feels so good. Uh, I’m sorry.”

Park Seon-yun turned his head away, almost sobbing. He was trying to hide his beet-red face. I couldn’t tell if he hated the pain or loved the sensation.

Anyway, I had promised to treat him with the minimum number of needles, so I finished up the acupuncture.

“Well done. We’re finished. Just lie down and rest for a moment.”

“Thank you so much!”

Since he felt such relief, there was nothing to worry about. The treatment should be effective enough without needing fire acupuncture or bee venom therapy.

I briefly held the hand of Park Seon-yun, who had collapsed with all his energy drained, to help him recover, then moved over to Kim Jin-sang.

◆◇◆◇◆

Park Seon-yun, who had entered the clinic with an awkward gait, walked out of the treatment room with his back straight.

He had always been sensitive since childhood and couldn’t tolerate pain well.

Even as he came for acupuncture on Kim Jin-sang’s advice, he had many worries. But not only was the needling painless, it was unbelievably refreshing.

Moreover, the treatment effects were immediate, making him regret not coming sooner.

‘So this is what grandfather meant by feeling refreshed.’

His grandfather used to exclaim how refreshing it was to enter hot water, and he would say he needed acupuncture once a week to feel invigorated.

Park Seon-yun couldn’t understand what was so good about being pricked with needles, but now he felt like his body had been reassembled anew.

From the moment he put his feet on the ground, his back felt surprisingly comfortable.

His sacrum wasn’t 100% healed yet, but the nagging sensation when walking had been reduced by more than half.

At the front desk, Kim Jin-sang, who had already changed clothes and come out, was making the payment.

As the staff returned the card, they handed over a packet of medicine.

“The doctor prescribed three doses of medicine. Take two today and one tomorrow morning before coming in for treatment.”

Kim Jin-sang, seemingly familiar with the process, immediately opened one and drank it.

But Park Seon-yun, curious, asked the staff member.

“Ah, yes. What kind of medicine is this?”

“It’s medicine to relax your muscles.”

It wasn’t packaged like something made in a pharmaceutical company factory. It seemed to have been decocted in the clinic.

“What’s in it?”

He checked the front and back of the packet, but there was no specific composition listed.

“Um… would you like to ask the doctor? If you wait a moment, I can take you back to the consultation room.”

The staff member apparently didn’t know.

While he was internally curious, Park Seon-yun didn’t want to pry if it was a secret, so he waved his hand dismissively.

Click.

But the doctor must have heard his question from inside the consultation room, as he immediately opened the door and answered.

“It’s Jakyakgamcho-tang. It’s a decoction of 16g of peony root and 8g of licorice root per packet. Peony root helps a lot with muscle relaxation and inflammation recovery.”

“Ah, I see.”

The doctor recited the composition so readily that it could be described as ‘forthcoming,’ but his gaze, alternating between Park Seon-yun and Kim Jin-sang, didn’t seem particularly friendly.

Had he aroused suspicion? Feeling quite flustered, Park Seon-yun quickly pulled out a business card from his bag.

“I apologize if my question was inappropriate. I absolutely didn’t intend to pry into your secret formula or anything of the sort. I work for a pharmaceutical company, so I was just personally curious.”

“Of course you can be curious. I wasn’t worried about that. It’s just… never mind.”

The doctor glanced briefly at Kim Jin-sang as he accepted Park Seon-yun’s business card.

“Oh?”

Just like everyone else who had seen his business card before, the doctor’s expression changed as he confirmed the title.

[Park Seon-yun, Director, PK Biologics]

Park Seon-yun scratched his head awkwardly and gave a short bow.

“Thanks to you, the pain I’ve been suffering from has improved remarkably. Let’s have a meal together sometime.”