Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1259 Cross-eyed, A Joke of Life (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
"This is Comrade Liang who wants to see you for treatment," Qin Nong said, pointing to the middle-aged man beside him.

Fang Yan had already noticed him earlier. He looked to be around forty-five or forty-six years old, of medium build, neither fat nor thin, and always had a smiling face. He seemed to be a cheerful person in his daily life.

Qin Nong didn't mention the person's specific position, only their surname, which likely meant it wasn't convenient to reveal, or perhaps this Comrade Liang had given Qin Nong prior notice.

After a brief analysis, Fang Yan asked Comrade Liang:
"I wonder what part of your body is bothering you?"

"I have a problem with my eyes," Comrade Liang said, pointing to his own appearance.

Fang Yan looked into his eyes but didn't see anything unusual. She asked:
Left eye or right eye?

Comrade Liang said:
"There are problems on both sides. Whenever I work for a long time or feel tired, my eyes will not be able to look outwards and will instead veer inwards... This is what we commonly call strabismus."

Cross-eyed?
Fang Yan observed carefully at this time and did not see this trend, which means that the disease has not yet developed?

Comrade Liang said to the dialect:

"I saw a doctor at the hospital next door before. After the examination, they diagnosed me with something called external... something paralysis."

He asked in dialect:

"Extraocular muscle paralysis with strabismus?"

Comrade Liang said:
"Yes, yes, that's the name."

“I received treatment there for two months, but the effect was not obvious. I was a little tired from work a few days ago, and now I’m having a relapse. I just happened to hear your name at Director Qin’s place today, and that’s how I found out he knows you, so I thought I’d ask him to introduce me to you…”

Fang Yan nodded:

"Yes, I know!"

Qin Nong said:

"You're not even on the waiting list right now, so this is the only way they can approach you."

Fang Yan smiled and said:

"I didn't set these rules."

Qin Nong said:

"I know, I know, you should take a look at him! It would be really difficult to deal with if he became cross-eyed at work."

“Okay, I’ll take a look first.” Fang Yan nodded.

In Western medicine, the causes of extraocular muscle paralysis strabismus are complex and can be divided into two categories: congenital and acquired.

Acquired factors are more common, such as diabetic neuropathy, cerebral infarction causing short circuits, intracranial inflammation, tumors, neuritis, trauma, thyroid dysfunction, myasthenia gravis, alcohol poisoning, and drug side effects.

In traditional Chinese medicine theory, extraocular muscle paralysis strabismus is often classified as "eye deviation", "visual aberration", or "wind-induced deviation".

"Eye deviation" focuses on describing the appearance of the eyeballs being misaligned, that is, the two eyes cannot focus on the same target at the same time, with one eye deviating to the other side.

"Double vision" emphasizes the symptom of double vision, such as the "double vision" recorded in "Ling Shu Da Huo Lun", which is consistent with the diplopia caused by extraocular muscle paralysis.

"Wind-induced deviation" is because this disease is often related to wind evil. It is believed that wind evil invasion, meridian constriction, or insufficient qi and blood, and malnourishment of tendons and veins, leads to abnormal movement of the eye muscles (equivalent to extraocular muscles), causing the eyeball to deviate and movement to be restricted.

All three situations require a clear diagnosis before treatment can be administered.

Depending on the cause, such as wind-heat invasion, qi deficiency and blood stasis, or liver and kidney deficiency, traditional Chinese medicine is used, such as formulas to dispel wind and unblock collaterals, invigorate qi and blood, and nourish the liver and kidneys. Acupuncture is also used to select acupoints around the eyes and related meridians to harmonize qi and blood, unblock meridians, nourish tendons and vessels, and improve symptoms.

The difficulty in treating this is that the acquired symptoms are mostly secondary to other diseases, so it is necessary to find the root cause of the underlying problem.

Fang Yan said to Comrade Liang:
"Let's find a table to take each other's pulses."

"This way!" Gu Yuan said, pointing to where he had just been sitting.

Fang Yan glanced at it and said:

"Okay, that suits you perfectly, let's go."

After sitting down with Comrade Liang, Fang Yan began to take his pulse and also examined his tongue.

The tongue is red with a yellow coating.

Fang Yan asked him:
Are you usually very busy with work?

"It's not that I'm constantly busy, it's just tiring," Comrade Liang said.

Fang Yan didn't ask him why his work was tiring; after nodding, she asked again:

"Can your eyes move normally in all directions now?"

"Looking up and down is possible, but looking outwards is restricted," Comrade Liang responded.

As he spoke, he demonstrated to Fang Yan how his eyes were moving in circles. Fang Yan noticed that the problem was indeed with his eyes looking outwards. There was also something else he hadn't noticed: his eyes were quite bloodshot, and there were brown patches on the sclera (white of the eye), indicating pathological pigmentation. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that pigmentation in the sclera with black/brown spots is often related to "qi stagnation and blood stasis" or "congenital constitution."

Red blood streaks are mostly caused by "wind-heat in the lung meridian" or "upward flaring of liver fire," and he has both.

There are also yellowish and bluish tints.

Yellowing is often a sign of "damp-heat accumulation," which is related to damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder.

A bluish tinge may be related to "deficiency of qi and blood," and requires tonifying the lungs and replenishing qi, nourishing blood and improving eyesight (except for infants and young children).

At this moment, Fang Yan's pulse was also felt; it was wiry and slippery.

Then Fang Yan continued to check his right pulse.

At the same time, he continued to ask him:
"Comrade Liang, besides having limited vision and developing a strabismus when tired, do you usually experience dry mouth or a bitter taste in your mouth? How do you sleep at night? Do you wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling back asleep?"

Comrade Liang paused for a moment, then nodded: "Now that you mention it, it's true! Lately, I've been feeling a bitter taste in my mouth, especially when I wake up in the morning. My mouth is so dry that I have to drink half a glass of water to relieve it. I'm also not sleeping well. Sometimes I'm busy until the early hours of the morning, and even after I lie down, my mind is still on work. I toss and turn for an hour or two before I can fall asleep. Occasionally, I even dream about writing reports, and I feel exhausted when I wake up."

"The middle of the night? You must be really busy," Fang Yan said.

He paused, then released his grip. He had already felt it; the pulse was still wiry and slippery. As he took out paper and pen to write a medical record, he asked:
"How are his eating and bowel movements usually?" These details are key to diagnosis, especially since we noticed that the whites of his eyes tend to turn yellow, so we must confirm whether there are symptoms of damp-heat accumulation.

"My appetite is okay, but sometimes I don't have much of an appetite, especially in the hot summer. As for bowel movements... they're not regular, sometimes only once every two or three days, and they're quite dry, so I have to strain to pass them." Comrade Liang said, smiling a little embarrassedly. "I thought it was because I wasn't drinking enough water, so I made sure to drink more, but it didn't help."

Fang Yan nodded.

"My initial assessment is that your condition is caused by long-term stress and fatigue, leading to deficiency of liver and kidney, insufficient essence and blood, and then infection with wind-evil, which obstructs the meridians in the eye, hinders the flow of qi and blood, and causes the meridians to become unnourished and spasm, resulting in eye deviation."

Comrade Liang blushed. How could he say he had kidney deficiency? Or insufficient essence and blood?

I'm in the prime of my life!

Fang Yan was somewhat taken aback when he saw that Comrade Liang was blushing. Why are you blushing?

But then, after thinking about it again, she realized what she had said and said:
"I worry about work every day, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. My mind can't rest, and my body is like a millstone that's been running non-stop. Gradually, I become weak from the stress. There are two 'warehouses' in our bodies. One stores 'essence' like lubricating oil in a machine, and the other stores 'blood' like fuel in a machine. These two warehouses are what Traditional Chinese Medicine calls the 'liver' and 'kidneys.' Because you're constantly overworked, the 'stock' in these two warehouses gradually decreases. There's not enough lubricating oil, and the fuel can't keep up either. So now it's showing up as problems with my eyes."

Comrade Liang was taken aback upon hearing this, but quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly said:

"Oh! I see! Now I understand!"

Fang Yan said to him:
"Simply put, your eye problem cannot be cured by simply treating the symptoms, but by treating the symptoms. It is because your body is generally exhausted and weak. First, you need to replenish your 'warehouse' and reduce the 'internal heat'. Then, you need to clear the 'circuit' that controls your eyes and nourish them properly. Only then can your eyes gradually become more flexible and less likely to recur."

Upon hearing the dialect, Comrade Liang nodded.

But then he said:
"But I'm very busy right now. My work can't do without me, and I'm about to get sick again. I don't have time to rest and recover slowly."

Qin Nong said:

“Comrade Liang’s work is very important, and no one can replace him. Most importantly, now is the time when the higher-ups are putting pressure on him, so he can’t back down at the last minute. Do you think there’s any way to help him hold the fort for now? We don’t need to cure him, just prevent him from getting sick.”

Comrade Liang nodded:
"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant!"

Fang Yan understood; this person must have been promoted to a higher position.

Life really played a cruel joke on him; just when he was getting promoted, his health started to suffer.

Fang Yan nodded and said:

"That works too. If it's fast-acting, acupuncture will do."

I'm going to insert the needle now, and your eyes will be able to move in ten minutes.

I will give you acupuncture every day, along with medication, so that you can get your body back in shape without affecting your work.

Of course, this is just a temporary fix. If you continue to act like this, I can't guarantee it won't relapse.

Upon hearing Fang Yan's words, Comrade Liang was overjoyed; this was simply a life-saving miracle doctor!
"Ten minutes? Director Fang, are you serious?" He blinked unconsciously as he spoke, as if he wanted to verify the truth of the matter immediately. The bloodshot eyes were even more noticeable under the light.

Qin Nong breathed a sigh of relief and patted Comrade Liang's arm with a smile: "I told you Fang Yan's skills were reliable, right? You had been treated elsewhere for two months without any progress, but you found the right person today."

Fang Yan didn't say much, but got up and took out a sea dragon needle from his pocket.

"You sit here and don't move. There won't be much of a reaction when I insert the needles." As he spoke, he took out alcohol and cotton and carefully wiped the tips of the silver needles.

Following the instructions in the local dialect, Comrade Liang sat down and slowly relaxed his body, pressing his back against the chair back and gently closing his eyes. "You might feel a little soreness or distension when the needle is inserted, don't be nervous, it's a normal reaction."

"You usually worry a lot, so take a break now and don't think about work."

As he spoke, he began inserting the needles, the first needle being the Fengchi acupoint!
PS: I've gained another 200 monthly votes. After finishing this chapter, I still owe everyone 2000 words.

(End of this chapter)