High-Concentration Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture
Bee Venom Acupuncture (Apipuncture)
A treatment method where bee venom, extracted from the poison sacs of honeybees, is diluted and injected into acupuncture points on painful areas of the body.
The melittin and apamin components within the bee venom stimulate the immune system and act to suppress inflammation.
In the past, the method involved placing live bees directly onto a patient's skin to sting them, but modern medicine has evolved to inject refined bee venom using syringes. This reduces the risk of allergic reactions and allows for precise dosage control.
"I remember seeing a case study on using bee venom for ankylosing spondylitis in a paper before..."
Found it.
[Clinical Effects of High-Concentration Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Single Case Report]
Kyungwoo carefully scanned the paper.
"Three sessions? It improved this much after just three treatments?"
The researcher described that a patient who had been taking immunosuppressants showed 50% improvement after three sessions of bee venom therapy, 90% improvement after three months, and eventually recovered enough to maintain daily life even after stopping Western medication.
'The corresponding author is... Professor Woo Myungdae. Then the original author is probably Woo Myungdae too, right?'
Kyungwoo immediately made a call.
"Hey, Kkachi."
Unlike before, Kim Dong-hyeok welcomed him readily.
"I'll stop by next week. By the way, do you happen to know an Oriental medicine doctor named Kang Isu?"
"If he's class of '05, you wouldn't have crossed paths much. How do you know him?"
Kyungwoo had a hunch.
'Ah... he's a nerd too, then.'
"I'm seeing a patient with ankylosing spondylitis, and while searching for bee venom treatments, I came across his paper."
"Is producing weirdos a long-standing tradition at Woo Myungdae?"
Kkachi, who felt guilty even though Kyungwoo hadn't pointed him out, shouted back.
"You lack self-awareness, too. Anyway, where is he?"
"Give me his contact info."
After hanging up, Kyungwoo immediately called the number he received.
"Who is this? I don't recognize the number."
"Hello, Director. I'm calling based on a recommendation from Kim Dong-hyeok, an Oriental medicine doctor, class of '10 at Woo Myungdae. My name is Hyun Kyungwoo, class of '10 at Kyung-hyun University."
"What is it?"
Even though he mentioned a junior's recommendation, the response was short and prickly.
Kyungwoo calmly introduced the case.
"I'm seeing a patient with ankylosing spondylitis, and I saw the paper you published on high-concentration bee venom therapy."
"So?"
"I've used bee venom many times myself, but approaching the spine with high-concentration bee venom carries risks, so I wanted to start with the proper method. Does it really work that well?"
"It works very well."
From that moment on, Kang Isu's words began to flow explosively.
"Ankylosing spondylitis is the condition that responds best to high-concentration bee venom."
"Is it that effective? What's the reason?"
"I don't know the specific reason why it works so well for that disease. I'm not a basic researcher. I just know that it works after treating patients. But people actually come from Seoul for this condition, and many say they feel so much better just a week after the first treatment that they can't help but keep coming here. Many Oriental medicine doctors are afraid to use bee venom because they worry about shock, which is a real shame. Especially for intractable diseases like this."
A characteristic of a nerd is that they will talk endlessly if someone shows interest in their favorite field.
He listened in detail to Yang Jinwon's case and offered advice.
"What concentration do you usually use?"
"At most local clinics, they probably use 20,000 to 1, and even places that specialize in bee venom usually only go up to 1,000 to 1."
"Yes. In the paper, you used 500 to 1."
"In clinical practice, I use up to 100 to 1. It varies by patient, and you have to be very careful when increasing the concentration."
"100 to 1..."
"It's used after removing allergic components through a special process."
Kang Isu shared the contact information for the external pharmacy that handles the manufacturing and even gave advice on how to increase the dosage and concentration, all without asking for anything in return.
"Thank you, Director."
"Not at all. If more Oriental medicine doctors actively use bee venom, it will ultimately benefit the patients. Contact me if you have any questions during treatment."
A few days later on Friday, the bee venom of various concentrations he ordered arrived at the clinic.
And Kyungwoo called Yang Jinwon.
"Hello. Who is this?"
"This is the director of Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic."
"Oh, Doctor! I've really improved a lot after the treatment. Thank you! But my appointment is next Monday..."
"You're at the apiary on the weekend, right? I'll come there."
"You're coming here, Doctor?"
He had been planning to visit anyway.
He wanted to see the working environment properly and felt the need to explain as much as possible how to avoid overexerting himself.
'Since he's a person who says honeybees are the meaning of his life...'
If he couldn't quit, he had to help him do it efficiently.
Also, doing so would shorten the treatment period, which would help his own plans.
'Because most patients overdo it and relapse as soon as they feel a little better.'
That was how Kyungwoo made the appointment.
The apiary was in Sari-myeon, Goesan-gun.
As he drove by, he saw a large, colorful sign.
<Honeybee Land>
An exhibition and experience center made by remodeling a closed school.
'I didn't know, but I guess a lot of honey comes from this neighborhood.'
As he went further up to the foothills, Yang Jinwon's apiary finally came into view.
<Goesan Honey Farm>
It seemed the YouTube channel name "Go-Honey Farm" was a shortened version of Goesan Honey, and it was surprisingly catchy.
In the distance, while bees were buzzing around, Yang Jinwon was working in a protective suit.
He heard the sound of the car and turned back.
"Ah, you're here! Please wait a moment."
Yang Jinwon was moving honeybees from a wooden hive to a Styrofoam one.
His face would occasionally contort when he bent his waist, but his hand movements were precise.
Finishing one hive, Jinwon walked toward Kyungwoo and took off his protective suit.
"Hello!"
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, preparing the bees for winter. Wooden hives are good in the summer because they're ventilated, but Styrofoam hives are warm in the winter... I'm relieved. I thought I might have to skip this year, but I've been able to move around after your treatment, Doctor."
"If you overdo it just because you feel a little better, it'll get worse."
"Yes... just this bit, hehe."
Kyungwoo grabbed the empty hives stacked on the side and lifted them up.
"Where should I move these?"
"Yes? No, it's okay. I'll do it."
"Look here. When lifting heavy things, you should put strength in your abdomen, bend your knees, and use your leg muscles to stand up. Of course, not lifting them at all is best, but when you have no choice..."
"Ah, yes!"
"Where do you extract the honey?"
Yang Jinwon looked puzzled.
"Ah, over here..."
A basin and a fishing chair were visible on the ground.
Inside the basin was a flat, triangular tool.
"This is the uncapping tool. It's best to keep your waist as straight as possible when uncapping... Ah, can I use that flowerpot stand?"
Kyungwoo grabbed a large flowerpot stand that was sitting to the side and set up the workspace.
By placing a regular chair instead of the fishing chair and putting the basin on the flowerpot stand, the height was perfect.
"Work like this, and if it's hard, stand at that table over there. It's good to change your posture from time to time."
"Thank you. But Doctor, you know a lot about beekeeping?"
Kyungwoo smiled.
"I'm a subscriber to Go-Honey Farm."
"Yes?"
"After the last treatment, I searched to see how hard beekeeping work is, and your channel popped up."
Yang Jinwon looked at Kyungwoo with a surprised expression.
Yoon Kwanwoo had praised Kyungwoo Oriental Clinic highly, but...
-Jinwon. This Oriental medicine doctor is no ordinary person. He's a bit annoyed by seeing patients, but his skills are truly the best.
Would someone who finds seeing patients annoying look up a beekeeping YouTube channel, come all the way here, and even teach him things like this...
'He's truly sincere about seeing patients.'
Yang Jinwon opened his heart even more and began to chatter away.
"Did you know that honeybees only live for about 40 days during the spring and summer activity season? One bee only collects about 5g of honey in its entire life. They visit thousands of flowers for that much."
"This one here is 1-year-aged honey. My bees really worked hard to make this, would you like to taste it?"
He spread butter and rich honey on bread and handed it to him.
Watching Jinwon, who couldn't take his eyes off the honey jar even while eating, Kyungwoo asked.
"Do you like honeybees that much?"
"Yes. They're cute, aren't they? They look cute, and these tiny little things work hard all day long."
"You take care of them with such love, tell them to repay the favor to you."
"Haha. I'm the one receiving the favor. And how can honeybees repay a favor, haha."
"With this."
Kyungwoo took out a brown bottle that was kept with an ice pack.
"You've been stung often while working, right? This time, let's make the bee venom treat you, Jinwon."
Yang Jinwon was surprised and widened his eyes.
As he registered as a cooperating clinic for the Goesan-gun Rare and Intractable Disease Patient Support Project, Kyungwoo also registered for the house call pilot project.
-I'll have them come to the clinic if possible, but since there are intractable patients with limited mobility, I'll register you for house calls as well.
Thanks to Yoon Kwanwoo's smooth handling, medical treatment was possible outside the clinic as well.
Guided to Yang Jinwon's accommodation, Kyungwoo cleaned the surroundings and spread out the disposable sanitary sheets he had brought.
Then he prepared two syringes.
A 1cc insulin syringe and a syringe with a 26-gauge 90mm needle.
"Am I really getting stung by a bee? I've heard that beekeeping grandfathers use live bees to administer acupuncture..."
"Yes. It's not a live bee, but bee venom that has been extracted and diluted."
Yang Jinwon, who didn't have much experience with Oriental clinics, didn't seem to know much about bee venom therapy.
However, his face was full of curiosity.
"So a bee is really treating me. Amazing..."
"Then let's start the treatment."
"Ah, Doctor."
Yang Jinwon hesitated a little before asking.
"Since you're a subscriber to my channel... could I possibly upload a video of me receiving treatment? I think people who like honeybees would find it interesting that bees are repaying a favor."
Come to think of it, there was a camera installed in the room.
It seemed he filmed his daily life and used it for his videos.
'Filming...'
Kyungwoo had thought about doing broadcast activities someday.
To deal with the giant dinosaur that was Somyeong, it would be difficult even if he flew and jumped as a mere clinic director.
But right now, there was no benefit to becoming famous.
The number of patients he could see was limited anyway.
'Still... well... just his hand should be fine. It's not a famous channel anyway.'
"Sure. But please mosaic my face, and keep who I am and where I run my clinic a secret."
"Yes, I understand!"
"Good, let's start. Since you're a beekeeper, you shouldn't have anaphylaxis, but I'll do a test once."
Kyungwoo drew low-concentration bee venom into an insulin syringe and performed a skin test.
15 minutes later. After confirming there were no unusual reactions, he began the full treatment.
Wearing sterile gloves, Kyungwoo held the syringe with the long needle in his hand.
-The key is that you have to approach very deeply around the spinal canal.
Kang Isu's words came to mind.
So the needle had to be long, and it had to have thickness so it wouldn't wobble.
Thwack-
The needle passed through the skin.
The needle, having passed through the subcutaneous fat, crossed the fascia, cut through the hardened muscles, and slowly entered very deep into the area.
What Kyungwoo felt while performing the procedure was...
That the entire process of passing through the subcutaneous fat and muscles to approach the spinal canal was very comfortable.
He had been proficient at it before, but how should he put it.
Having practiced aiming for a single point like the tip of a needle in the invisible meridians and acupuncture points, he felt like he could do this much with his eyes closed now.
'Here.'
Stopping at the desired area, Kyungwoo injected the medicinal fluid.
Swoosh-
"All done. It's normal for the treated area to be a bit itchy and swollen. If you experience difficulty breathing, call 119 immediately and contact me as well."
He started with a low concentration today for safety, but he still gave a firm warning.
"Wow, I feel a warm sensation inside my waist."
"Yes. Let's hope that while your body controls the newly raised inflammatory response, it cleans up the inflammatory products of the existing ankylosing spondylitis. Don't overdo it."
"Yes! I'll definitely hire a part-timer. And I'll follow everything you taught me!"
"Don't forget that you have to look at this in the long term. Okay?"
Yang Jinwon nodded with gentle eyes.
Whir-
The camera was recording all of it.