The Martial Doctor-Chapter 117 - 111: Mr. Lin the Divine Healer

Too many patients, although it’s a good thing for Lin Miao, some ailments are quite similar. For example, in this cold winter, there are many people with frostbite due to their hands and feet being exposed.

"This won’t do. I’ve noticed there are quite a few people recently suffering from frostbite. It doesn’t need a queue and registration; I’m planning to develop a frostbite ointment," Lin Miao said. "Any frostbite patient can just go and buy the ointment to apply directly."

"That’s a solution, but frostbite ointment is a prepared medicine, and if we want to buy and sell prepared medicines, it requires certification and permission from the court and the guild," Xia Zhu said, well-versed in these regulations.

"Can we apply for a pharmacy license?"

"Opening a pharmacy alone is not allowed. If you want to run a pharmacy, you must have a resident physician," Xia Zhu replied.

"What kind of rule is this? Why tie it together like this?"

"Because some pharmacists are not very knowledgeable about medicine. When they encounter prescriptions they don’t understand, they might dispense the wrong medicine, leading to patient issues. But if there’s a resident physician, they can double-check the prescription and avoid errors and delays in the patient’s condition." Xia Zhu explained.

Lin Miao nodded. Although this condition seemed unreasonable for practitioners, it indeed added a layer of protection for patients.

"If we want to produce and sell prepared medicines, we must apply for a pharmacy, correct?" Lin Miao asked.

"Yes, a pharmacy can sell prepared medicines. It has to be a medicine listed in the government’s directory. If you want to sell something not in the directory, you need permission from the provincial Medical Bureau to become a provisional prepared medicine, and once its effects are widely recognized, apply to enter the government-prepared medicine directory!"

"Does applying for prepared medicine sale require disclosing the formula?"

"No, some proprietary medicines can remain undisclosed to protect the inventor’s interests, as long as their effectiveness can be recognized."

"Alright, Xia Zhu, handle the pharmacy and provisional prepared medicine sale applications. Let me know how I can help."

"Yes, Mr. Lin," Xia Zhu agreed, thinking now my father should have some work to do.

...

"Mr. Lin, look at my head sores, they come and go. I’ve consulted many physicians but none could cure it. I heard you’re a miracle worker, so I lined up today specifically to see you..." The patient took off his hat, and a smell immediately hit him.

As a doctor, naturally, one cannot avoid such patients. Among the four diagnostic methods, there’s "smell" diagnosis.

Many ailments have very obvious olfactory characteristics, which are an important reference.

After a simple consultation, Lin Miao felt the patient’s pulse. It was thin, weak, and deep, typical symptoms of qi and blood deficiency.

No wonder his head infection kept recurring and wouldn’t heal.

"Do you never wash your hands after work and like to scratch your head?" Lin Miao asked after observing his clothes and learning about his occupation.

"Mr. Lin, how did you know?" The patient exclaimed in surprise.

"Besides your physical condition, your head sores are related to poor personal hygiene. You’re a night soil worker; it seems you don’t touch dirty stuff, but you actually do. You like to scratch your head, so the dirt gets on your scalp. How can your head sores heal?" Lin Miao smiled and explained.

"Oh, I saw many physicians, but they never told me where these sores came from. Only you explained it so clearly." The patient was very excited.

"From now on, after work, be sure to wash your hands, especially the nail gaps, before doing anything else." Lin Miao chuckled, prescribing a heat-clearing and detoxifying decoction composed of honeysuckle, Forsythia, dandelion, wild chrysanthemum, Scutellaria, astragalus, angelica, and Atractylodes, which clears heat, detoxifies, and benefits qi and blood.

"Buy this medicine, decoct it twice per dose, drink it three times, and decoct it again with more water for washing the head sores. Wash once or twice daily, and the washed water cannot be reused. Remember?"

"Remember. Thank you, Mr. Lin!"

In fact, his head sores could be treated with other prescriptions, but given his income, he probably couldn’t afford them.

For ordinary people, unless life-saving, he prioritizes affordable medicines.

The patient with head sores had just left in the morning, and in the afternoon, there came a patient with a sore on his foot, commonly known as "old rotten foot".

This condition is often seen in dermatology, mostly in middle-aged and elderly patients, and this patient was indeed elderly, probably in his fifties.

The tongue coating was yellow and greasy, and the pulse was fine and soft, typical signs of damp-heat in the lower energy center.

The sore was depressed to the touch and purple-black in color, extending from the outer ankle upward about a palm’s length, emitting a rotten smell.

The "Compendium of Medicine" says: leg sores originate in both legs, external sores are easier to treat than internal ones; external sores belong to the triple yang’s damp-heat knot, while internal ones belong to the triple yin’s deficiency heat entanglement.

This disease occurs in the lower half of the leg; if it affects the triple yang, cure it with wind-expelling, blood-activating, and damp-heat-clearing methods. If in the triple yin, with thin bone and skin, it tends to recur, and deficiency heat entanglement damages yin, making it hard to alleviate.

After the consultation, the cause was largely understood; it was triggered by scratching eczema, which turned into poison and became uncontrollable.

In Western medicine terms, it is a bacterial infection causing leg ulcers.

This condition has developed quite severely; it’s from external to internal and with deficiency signs, making treatment challenging.

"Brother, one or two doses of medicine won’t cure this; you need to prepare for a treatment period," Lin Miao said.

"How long will it take?"

"At least a month."

"Ah, that long? How much will that cost?" The elderly patient looked worried, given his family’s situation; a month’s worth of medicine, how much would that be?

Even buying affordable medicine is a significant expense. Here the herbal medicines are harvested manually without cultivation, so their effectiveness is top-notch, but due to the labor cost, they’re not cheap.

"Brother, what do you do?"

"I make charcoal."

"How’s the charcoal at your place?" Lin Miao asked casually while writing a prescription.

"Not to boast, but the charcoal from the Zhang Family’s kiln is the best in Dongshan City. But now with so many kilns and the discovery of black coal, it’s hard for us to make a living."

"Here’s the thing. I need a batch of charcoal at home; how about you bring me three thousand pounds?" Lin Miao handed over the prescription.

"Thank you, Mr. Lin!" The elder was aware Lin Miao was helping him in this manner and was moved, wanting to kneel down then and there.

"Brother, please get up. There’s no need for that."

"Junior, why are you buying so much charcoal?"

"Though black coal is much cheaper than charcoal, charcoal can be used for grilling, for roasting meat; lamb skewers grilled with charcoal are a delicacy!" Lin Miao chuckled.

"Grilled lamb?"