I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 322 - 143: Fire in the Upper Burner, Cold in the Lower Burner

Song Meilan hurriedly rushed toward the consultation room.

"Mom, wait for me."

Shi Guanlan shouted from behind, but by the time her voice reached out, Song Meilan’s figure had already disappeared from sight and entered the Traditional Chinese Medicine consultation room.

Seeing this, Shi Guanlan could only jog to catch up.

When she entered the room, she saw her mother already seated and chatting with Dr. Lu.

As she got closer, she heard Song Meilan detailing everything: "Dr. Lu, my name is Song Meilan, and I’m 61 years old..."

Shi Guanlan couldn’t help but cover her face, thinking that anyone who didn’t know would think her mother was here for a date instead of a consultation.

However, she didn’t say anything and just stood quietly behind her mother, listening to her describing her symptoms, but her gaze fell on Lu Xuan, curiously staring at him.

She was very curious about how such a young person, possibly a few years younger than her, could possess such impressive skills.

Even conditions like bile reflux post-gastric cancer surgery could be handled with ease, pulling an elder who claimed he might not survive for more than a year or so back from the jaws of death. Such skills were not easily achieved even by those famous veteran Chinese medicine doctors, right?

Moreover, Lu Xuan’s delicate appearance made her take another look.

Lu Xuan wasn’t drop-dead handsome but rather had a clean and refined look that grew more appealing the more you looked at him. Plus, the natural charm bestowed by his skills gave him an extremely attractive aura.

While Shi Guanlan was staring at Lu Xuan, Song Meilan’s voice rang in her ear: "Three years ago, my stomach started having vague pains from the cold, especially feeling bloated in this area, and no medication worked. It kept recurring. Later, when I couldn’t bear it anymore, I went to the hospital for a gastroscopy, and the result showed..."

Saying this, Song Meilan paused and gave an embarrassed smile: "The name was a bit too long, and at my age, I can’t remember it."

"It’s okay, Auntie. Did you bring the previous medical examination results?" Lu Xuan asked.

"No, it’s been a while since the tests, and I thought they wouldn’t be necessary, so I didn’t bring them. Who would have known I’d forget?"

As Song Meilan was speaking, Shi Guanlan from behind chimed in: "Chronic atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia, accompanied by bile reflux gastritis."

"Intestinal metaplasia?"

Lu Xuan was slightly surprised, as this was already a precursor to a pathological change.

In Western medicine, intestinal metaplasia refers to the metaplasia of the intestinal epithelium, meaning the stomach lining epithelial cells are replaced by intestinal epithelial cells. The stomach mucosa shows intestinal mucosa epithelial cells similar to those of the small or large intestine.

This is a common change in the stomach lining, often found in various chronic stomach diseases.

Lu Xuan nodded, indicating for Song Meilan to place her hand for pulse diagnosis and began to feel her pulse and check for signs on the tongue.

While taking the pulse, Lu Xuan didn’t remain inactive; he asked questions he needed to know and meticulously recorded them in the medical record.

Symptoms observed: bloating and vague discomfort in the stomach area, noise in the stomach, abundant phlegm, thin and white phlegm, aversion to cold and preference for warmth, cold extremities, noticeable hiccupping in the morning, improvement after meals, abdominal bloating in the afternoon, abdominal pain after eating spicy food, diarrhea, mushy stools 2-3 times a day.

The tongue appeared pale with teeth marks on the edges, no coating, and the pulse was thin.

After writing, Lu Xuan didn’t write down the prescription but indicated for Ji Xiuwen to check the pulse as well, to see the condition, given now he mainly focuses on digestive system diseases, it’s necessary to explain Song Meilan’s case to him clearly.

"How is it?"

Lu Xuan asked.

Ji Xiuwen thought for a moment and said: "The tongue appears pale, with teeth marks on the edges, no coating, and the pulse is thin."

"Not bad. What about the syndrome differentiation?"

When it came to syndrome differentiation, Ji Xiuwen thought for a long time. The patient’s situation was too involved to state something definitively at once, and although the thin pulse was clear, it was quite challenging to accurately identify syndromes purely by pulse diagnosis, so he didn’t say much.

Seeing this, Lu Xuan didn’t probe further, instead remarking: "Aunt Song’s condition seems complicated, but fundamentally it doesn’t stray far from the essentials."

Ji Xiuwen sat upright, listening intently.

He had already decided to specialize in the digestive system, so this content had to be listened to carefully.

On the side, although Su Kenan had decided to focus on obstetrics and gynecology, he also turned on the recording and got his notes ready.

The two had just prepared everything when Lu Xuan’s voice sounded in their ears: "A pale tongue is common in chronic internal diseases, generally indicating deficiency syndromes, characterized by a prolonged course and hard to quickly cure. The causes of a pale tongue usually relate to qi and blood deficiencies and spleen deficiency with cold and damp congestion.

Teeth marks on the tongue often result from the swelling of the tongue body and the pressure from the tooth edges, so the scalloped tongue often appears alongside a swollen tongue, mostly indicating spleen deficiency and deficiency syndromes. If the tongue is pale and moist, it indicates spleen deficiency with preponderance of cold and damp.

On the other hand, with relaxed tongue muscles and slack mouth, it’s due to spleen qi deficiency.

If it’s pale, moist, with scallops, it’s indicative of cold-damp excess; if pale red with scallops, it’s due to spleen or qi deficiency; red and swollen fills the mouth with scallops on edges, it’s indicative of damp-heat phlegm-turbidity obstruction;

it further divides into qi deficiency and yang deficiency types:

Qi deficiency type: spleen qi is weak. Main symptoms: pale tongue body, thin white fur on the tongue, swollen tender tongue body, scallops on the tongue edges, sallow or sallow complexion, shortness of breath, laziness to speak, heavy head and swollen body, tiredness, spontaneous sweating, decreased appetite, postoperative abdominal distention, nausea, vomiting tendency, loose stools, weak and forceless pulse. Treatment principles: Reinforce the spleen and replenish qi.