Chapter 18
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: First Night Without Pain
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“It's been there since middle school... so about twenty years already.”
“Has it been continuous since your first period?”
“Yes.”
I asked calmly, but the moment the word 'menstrual pain' came up, her face clouded over.
“How severe is it? Does painkiller help?”
“It's terrible. Like I'm dying. Painkillers do work, though.”
“How many do you take?”
“About two Tylenols.”
“Per day?”
For patients with menstrual pain, taking once in the morning and once at night was pretty standard.
“Two at a time. One doesn't even touch it. It eases up a bit like that, but after two or three hours, the pain comes back. They tell me not to exceed eight a day, so I take six at meals basically, and if it's too bad at night to sleep, I take one or two more.”
“Does it get worse at night?”
“It's unbearable all day. I wrap a hot pack around my belly and barely endure it.”
Ah... Yu Minha was in the severe category.
On the level of that princess from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace who mistakenly ate perennial snow ginseng that didn't suit her constitution?
“No underlying conditions like uterine fibroids or endometriosis?”
“No. If there had been something like that, at least they could've cut it out. All they give me is painkillers, birth control pills... They said it might get better after childbirth, so I held onto that hope, but it was wrong. Still, after giving birth to Seoyeong, I haven't had to go to the ER. I used to get IVs sometimes before.”
Yu Minha bit her lip hard. Even though she wasn't on her period now, just thinking about it seemed horrific.
“Is your cycle regular?”
“Not perfectly... it can be a week or so late sometimes.”
“What about the amount and color?”
“A bit heavy, I think, and dark... but not all dark, I guess.”
“Describe the pain pattern. Does the lower abdominal pain spread to your chest and back, or is it stabbing just in the belly?”
“The former. My back always hurts, and it feels like something's pulling from below.”
I nodded. I had a rough direction now. To increase accuracy, I checked a few more aspects of her overall condition.
“How's your appetite?”
“No. I've never liked eating much, even before. Digestion's poor too.”
Not a question, but confirmation.
“Do you sleep well?”
“So-so? I get about seven hours, but I'm still tired no matter how much I sleep.”
“You probably don't sweat much?”
“No matter how much I exercise, no sweat.”
“You feel the cold a lot, hands and feet cold...”
“Yes, yes! Exactly.”
“Any discomfort with urination or bowel movements?”
“A bit of diarrhea if I eat cold food.”
All of Yu Minha's symptoms pointed in one direction.
“Menstrual pain can have many causes. We've ruled out those conditions you mentioned from tests. Pelvic shape looks fine visually too, and no big changes after childbirth.”
“Yes.”
“In cases like this, we have to look to the five viscera and six bowels for the root cause. Menstrual issues are a sign of internal imbalance. Let me check your pulse too.”
But I still needed to check the pulse. No matter how good the prescription, to convince them to buy it, I needed certainty.
I took Yu Minha's wrist.
“What is it?”
She asked me before even five seconds had passed.
“Slow. Typical of cold-dampness gathered in the lower abdomen. This means kidney qi is weak... simply put, you feel the cold intensely, right?”
“Yes!”
“Even healthy people vary in cold or heat sensitivity physiologically, but yours is pathological. Signs of bodily cold show up everywhere. Menstrual pain is one, slow pulse another, and heavy white tongue coating too. Stick out your tongue.”
Pulse and tongue were great tools for showing evidence and building trust.
I handed her a mirror.
“Oh my!”
Indeed, Yu Minha's tongue had a thick white coating. A bit embarrassed, she blushed.
At the same time, the last wrinkle between her brows smoothed out.
“In Korean medicine, primary dysmenorrhea causes are classified like this: qi stagnation and blood stasis, liver-kidney deficiency, cold-damp stagnation, qi-blood deficiency.”
I wrote the Hanja on paper and circled 'stasis', 'deficiency', and 'cold'.
“Qi stagnation and blood stasis means poor circulation from stress. Cold-damp stagnation is cold in the lower body. The two with deficiency mean bodily weakness, but different organs. Which do you think fits you?”
“Cold-damp stagnation.”
Despite the complexity, Yu Minha started listening intently.
“Correct.”
Yu Minha nodded as if convinced.
“Then... I need to take medicine?”
Still a bit anxious, she asked cautiously.
“Yes. For something knotted and hardened like your husband's, acupuncture or exercise works, but your body absolutely needs warming herbs.”
She hesitated a moment before speaking.
“Do I have to take it long-term? Like a year?”
“Usually, first effects in one or two months, then 3-6 months total depending on condition, then stop. When was your last period?”
“A week ago.”
“You'll feel it right in the next one.”
I stated firmly. I'd treated hundreds, so I knew.
Yu Minha's constitution was one that responded exceptionally well to herbs.
“Will it last?”
“If you don't overwork your body. Childcare is tough, so... after treating the cold, come monthly for acupuncture maintenance. I'll keep it stable.”
Filling deficiencies to balance was easy for me. No problem.
“Please take good care of me!”
Kang Cheolgyu said loudly.
But Yu Minha still looked curious.
“......”
“Anything else worrying you?”
Phase three now?
Back when I first dealt with patients in the martial world, I'd get annoyed at all the questions.
Compared to high officials grilling me on herb origins claiming to be the emperor's distant in-law, or evil sect leaders threatening to kill me if their disciple failed while shoving swords in my face, this was nothing.
As someone who'd seen countless women's suffering, I wanted to help no matter what.
Such severe pain wrecked quality of life and made people sharp-tempered.
“I-I'm just curious what medicine you'll use. Last time with birth control pills, the bleeding was too heavy, so I've only used painkillers since.”
Yu Minha asked carefully.
Worried about side effects?
“Herbal medicine doesn't directly mess with hormones like birth control, so no worries there.”
While reassuring, I explained the composition openly. Some hide 'secret formulas', but so what?
Give the same prescription to 100 dysmenorrhea patients, maybe 20 respond. The rest call you a quack.
“I'll use Pancong Powder. See.”
I even typed the name into a search engine and showed the couple.
The Korean medicine encyclopedia only had ingredients and a one-line quote from Donguibogam.
'Oops.'
Modern people know even less about herbs than martial artists.
I roughly explained each herb's role.
“Here, atractylodes, licorice, poria—these tonify spleen and stomach. Dried ginger, cinnamon bark directly warm the body. Some promote circulation too. The 'cong' in the name comes from scallion root.”
I circled the 'scallion white 1 dose' line.
“Simply put, scallion root. It subtly plays a key role with others. It opens paths for sweat to expel cold qi. Food can be medicine depending on use.”
“Oh......”
“Of course, I won't use the exact amounts listed. Need to greatly increase the warming herbs; this isn't enough.”
Yu Minha stared at the screen.
Is this the end?
...Or will she revive with more questions? Fine. I could rattle off A-to-Z origins and effects of every herb there. Thanks to overstudying for graduation exams.
Go ahead, ask anything.
“......Thank you. You're the only one who's cared this much.”
But no.
Finally, Yu Minha steeled herself. She bowed deeply and murmured.
“......I've tried everything. Every test, every painkiller type. Pads, cups, cloth pads. Carsickness meds, pelvic corrections, even Swiss chocolate.”
“You've been through a lot.”
I could sense her ordeal without words. Truly, terribly tough.
“Nothing worked. I was so scared of false hope, I didn't even want to come to hospitals.”
I silently took Yu Minha's hand.
A teardrop fell on the back of my hand.
“I'll try it. My last hope.”
She decided.
“Tough choice. I won't let you down.”
I gave final instructions and ended the consultation.
Yu Minha's face brimmed with hope unlike when she arrived.
“Good we came, right? You'll be healthy.”
“Yeah. ......This time it'll work. Thanks for bringing me, honey.”
They paid happily.
I wrote the prescription in one go.
'Now just decoct it.'
A role always left to disciples. Weighing herbs myself felt like returning to basics.
I happily finished the medicine, inhaling the sweet licorice scent.
A whole month.
Yu Minha diligently took the prescribed medicine without missing a day.
She cut cold foods as instructed and got weekly acupuncture.
Right after the consult, she was full of hope.
But as excitement faded, slight anxiety crept in.
With a baby born, was spending this much on herself right?
'Should've saved more; maybe too hasty......'
But her worries didn't last.
About a week in, she vividly felt her body improving.
“Waking up refreshed is actually possible.”
Appetite improved, sleep deeper.
But most amazing: AC air didn't hurt.
She could go to cafes without a cardigan.
And end the annual separate-room summers with her husband.
“So glad, honey. Really!”
“Don't overhype yet. Period hasn't even started.”
“I can tell from your face color.”
Truthfully, Yu Minha's severe pain days were just 3-4 per month.
But the week before: anxiety over how bad. After: 3-4 days of resentment and tears.
Half the month in misery.
“Man, ......still, about time.”
“If it starts, straight to the clinic. You know.”
“I consulted too.”
But this time was different.
Felt great.
She even looked forward to how much less the pain would be.
If the cramps really healed.
No more pill-popping, sobbing, screaming. Free from agony, maybe back to work.
“Ah!”
Days later.
Exactly 28 days from last period, blood stained her underwear.
No advance ache in belly or back the day before; it just started.
“To the clinic now!”
Kang Cheolgyu was ready to carry her flying, but Sunday.
“Calm down. First thing tomorrow.”
“How is it? Not hurting?”
“Not at all yet.”
“Better stay that way... Right, hot pack!”
They spent the night tensely awaiting pain.
But even after sunset past midnight, her belly stayed still.
Yu Minha fell asleep peacefully in Kang Cheolgyu's arms.
First time since first period sleeping without painkillers.