A competent doctor can cure everything

Park Young-jin, a patient admitted to the Hanbit University Department of Traditional Medicine, was feeling quite unsettled.

He had learned that his attending physician was not a resident but an intern.

‘How can an intern be in charge of my treatment?’

Although he wasn’t very familiar with hospitals as a company employee, he had seen various dramas and had a rough idea.

‘From what I’ve seen, interns just do menial tasks and get scolded all the time.’

He thought of interns more like students coming for practical classes rather than actual doctors.

So, he didn’t hide his displeasure when speaking to his attending physician earlier.

“Interns are licensed doctors, and all treatments are conducted under the final decision of the professor.”

…That was the explanation he received, but he still felt dissatisfied.

‘Do you think I spent a lot of money to be treated by such an inexperienced attending physician?’

In his mind, the intern named ‘Seon Joon’ was already considered a second-rate doctor.

To lighten his mood, he took out his laptop and logged into the community he frequented.

It was an online gaming cafe with many young men.

Click, click.

‘I should post everyday stuff with my second account.’

He logged into his secondary account and began typing a post on the ‘casual chat board.’

[Daily] I Checked into a traditional medicine hospital today and guess what lol

: I have chronic irritable bowel syndrome and came to try to improve my constitution.

But the attending physician isn’t a resident; he’s just an intern lol

Came here hoping to get better, but now I’m skeptical if treatment will even happen with an intern in charge??

Comments started pouring in quickly.

Perhaps because of the original post, all the comments were negative.

‘ Isn’t an intern a newbie? Is this a local, unknown hospital?’

‘No, no, it’s one of the big three in the metropolitan area, and it’s still like this.’

‘ Why go to a traditional medicine hospital in the first place? lol’

‘I came to see if it would work, but it’s the same as taking medicine at a regular hospital. Maybe I should just discharge quickly….’

‘ I don’t believe in traditional medicine. Will sticking needles make the body heal? Herbal medicine is just boiled weeds and is 100% a scam.’

‘ I don’t believe in it either, but I came just in case, and as expected, it feels sketchy from the first day haha’

‘ Dude, it’s not ‘heal’ but ‘get better’ —

With nothing to do and feeling bored, Park Young-jin spent his time responding to each comment.

He had never been particularly interested in traditional medicine clinics. If he had to choose, he was more inclined to be negative about them.

Images that came to mind were things like ‘Donguibogam, Heo Jun, places for old people,’ etc.

His experience with traditional medicine was limited to the time he had visited a local clinic for acupuncture after he had strained his back.

That had been a long time ago, so he didn’t remember it well.

So, he was a bit surprised upon being admitted to Hanbit University Traditional Medicine Hospital.

The exterior was no different from the other Western medicine hospitals he knew.

The traditional medicine doctors and nurses weren’t wearing the traditional hanbok he had imagined.

They were just in the white coats and nurse uniforms he had seen in medical dramas.

“Well, the facilities are clean, and everyone is friendly.”

As he wrote online, he felt a bit guilty.

The image of his attentive primary doctor explaining things thoroughly and the nurse who had guided him with a smile came to mind.

However, he found it more convenient and enjoyable to agree with the negative comments rather than to counter them.

“So what? It’s not like I used vulgar language; it’s just an objective evaluation.”

With that thought, any discomfort he felt vanished completely.

So, Park Young-jin happily joined in, discussing and having fun talking about traditional medicine and traditional medicine doctors with others.

Feeling that his irritation with the intern doctor had somewhat subsided, he moved to another forum and started browsing the web.

He read through interesting posts and left comments, and before he knew it, almost two hours had passed.

As Park Young-jin was enjoying his time online, he suddenly frowned and rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

“Ugh… My head is hurting again.”

A throbbing headache was starting at the back of his head.

Once he noticed it, the pain began to spread to the sides of his head.

It was a common occurrence. It seemed like another bout of his chronic migraines was starting.

Headaches were particularly annoying because they didn’t get bad enough to make him lie down, yet they restricted all daily activities.

It was like being under a debuff in a game, temporarily lowering his character’s stats.

At times like this, he would just take painkillers and try to endure it.

Still, once a headache started, it stubbornly bothered him for several hours.

‘I remember being told to inform the station nurse if I felt unwell earlier.’

Recalling the admission instructions he had received from the nurse during the day, he slowly got up.

When he mentioned his headache at the station, the nurse made a phone call somewhere.

In the meantime, Park Young-jin looked at the clock on the station wall.

It was already close to 9 p.m.

Then he heard footsteps from behind.

The intern doctor he had seen earlier was standing there.

Park Young-jin was taken aback by how quickly he had arrived.

Without realizing it, he spoke a bit curtly.

“Are you still on duty?”

“Yes, I am on call today.”

“So, you’ll be off tomorrow morning?”

“No, I will be working straight through until 6 p.m. tomorrow.”

So, you don’t need to worry about it.

He added this as well.

It seemed that he interpreted Park Young-jin’s question as a concern about changing medical staff.

“That’s not what I meant…”

Park Young-jin’s face reddened slightly.

Park Young-jin felt sorry for showing his dislike for the intern earlier in the day, as he now seemed to be concerned about his reactions. Moreover, he recalled the negative comments he had posted online, which made it awkward to meet the intern’s gaze.

Unable to continue the conversation, the intern spoke first.

“Sir, you have a headache? I’ll examine you in detail in your room.”

“Um, yes.”

Back in the room, Park Young-jin sat on the bed with his legs crossed as directed by the intern and exposed the back of his head and back.

The intern surrounded the bed with curtains and entered inside.

“Where exactly does your head hurt?”

“It starts from the back of my head and feels like a throbbing pain spreading to both sides.”

The intern then grabbed Park Young-jin’s shoulder muscles with his hands.

“No, it’s not shoulder pain; it’s a migraine.”

Despite this, the intern continued to press down on the shoulder muscles.

“Ugh!”

Park Young-jin let out a cry of pain without realizing it.

Even though it didn’t seem like the intern was pressing very hard, the pain was unbearable, and Park Young-jin ended up crying out in pain.

“Hmm, it looks like the upper trapezius is quite stiff. How about here and here?”

The intern pressed down on various spots around the back of Park Young-jin’s head and along the inner shoulder blades.

Despite the moderate pressure, Park Young-jin involuntarily moaned and twisted his body in response.

“Do you feel nauseous or like you might vomit? Does the pain increase with sensitivity to light or sound, or does it pulse like a heartbeat?”

“No, it’s not like that… it just feels heavy and tight in my head.”

The intern nodded, adjusted his glasses, and said,

“Hmm, your headache is not a migraine.”

“What?”

Park Young-jin, who had believed all along that his symptoms were migraines, was taken aback.

The intern continued, as if he could sense Park Young-jin’s confusion.

“Usually, people describe side head pain as a migraine. Medically, migraines are characterized by moderate to severe pulsating pain, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light or sound.”

“So what is this then?”

In response to Park Young-jin’s confused question, the intern calmly answered.

“This is a tension-type headache.”

“……?”

“Simply put, it’s a headache caused by muscle tension in the head, neck, and shoulders. The tightness in these muscles leads to the headache.”

“So what should I do?”

“Pain relievers can help, but a more proactive treatment is to relieve the tight muscles.”

“Relieve the muscles? How?”

As Park Young-jin asked vacantly, the intern smiled faintly for the first time.

“Of course, with acupuncture.”

Thus, Park Young-jin removed his shirt and waited for the intern’s next move.

The intern disinfected the shoulders, the inner parts of the shoulder blades, the back of the neck, the back of the head, and even the top of the head and the sides of the eyes with alcohol swabs.

“What we’re doing now is called MPS acupuncture. We’ll find the trigger points, which are areas of muscle tightness, and relieve them with needles.”

“MPS? What’s different about that?”

“Typically, acupuncture involves inserting needles into one spot and leaving them there, but in this method, the needle will be inserted multiple times into the muscle. Don’t be surprised.”

Before Park Young-jin could ask if it would be painful, the intern grabbed the trapezius muscle on the left shoulder and inserted the needle with quick, light taps.

Then, the intern removed the needle and changed its direction, inserting it again—once, twice, and then three times.

Without hesitation, the intern removed the needle.

“……!”

An astonishing thing happened. The trapezius muscle began to twitch on its own.

Park Young-jin, surprised by the unfamiliar sensation, instinctively shrank back and made a sound.

“Wow!”

“This is the twitch phenomenon, which happens when the needle releases the trigger point. It means the treatment is working.”

The intern explained casually and proceeded to perform the same technique on the other shoulder.

The trapezius muscle on the right side also twitched and produced strange sensations after being needled multiple times.

“Wow… It feels like I’ve had a high-end massage where they meticulously worked out all the knots in my shoulders.”

It was slightly sore, but the sense of relief was much greater.

The shoulders, which always felt heavy as if burdened by stones, felt significantly lighter.

Moreover…

“Oh, the headache is gone!”

Realizing that the headache had disappeared, Park Young-jin involuntarily turned to the intern and exclaimed.

It was a persistent problem that used to torment him for hours once it started.

At its worst, it would even trouble him the next day after waking up.

‘Is it really possible for a headache to disappear immediately with acupuncture?’

It was amazing that not only did the headache vanish from being treated on the shoulders rather than the head, but the effect was also so immediate.

The disappearance of the constricting pain in his head left him feeling incredibly refreshed.

So, Park Young-jin asked, almost entranced,

“Um, doctor. Could you do that a bit more on my shoulders?”

“That’s not possible.”

Huh? The crisp refusal left Park Young-jin’s mouth hanging open.

“If the stimulation is too intense, it can cause the muscles to tighten up and become more painful as a reaction. I’ll only do this much on your shoulders. Instead, I’ll apply acupuncture to other areas.”

“Other areas?”

“Supporting the head involves more than just the trapezius muscle. For example, there are the suboccipital muscles here,” he said, pressing his thumb into the dip where Park Young-jin’s neck meets the back of his head.

“Ouch!”

“Does it hurt? It’s good to press and release this spot regularly with your thumb.”

It was painful but felt refreshing, making him feel almost enlightened.

“Doctor, what was the name of the spot you just pressed? Feng…?”

Before he knew it, Park Young-jin was asking the intern seriously about the name of the acupoint.

He had forgotten that he had previously agreed with a comment online about not believing in traditional medicine.