Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1375 Spinal Stenosis Paralysis, Heat Rash (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
After hearing Fang Yan finish speaking, the patient nodded heavily: "Dr. Fang, don't worry, I can do all of this! I will follow your instructions regarding rest, diet, activities, and mood. I will definitely cooperate well and get better soon."

He now believes that his illness is definitely related to his work and rest schedule and lifestyle habits.

If things don't change, there's a high probability that we'll repeat the same mistakes.

"Alright, now you can go and complete the admission procedures. The medication will be brought over later," Fang Yan said to the patient and his family.

The group agreed and said goodbye in their dialect.

As she left, the patient's mother spoke in dialect:

"Dr. Fang, although we are not donating the building, we have prepared some things that will be sent over from Hong Kong in a few days."

Fang Yan said to them:

"Alright, let's get treatment first, we can talk about those things later."

Now that Wang Zhenlin's incident has happened, the higher-ups will definitely take action. Director Liao might not be as casual about accepting gifts as he is now. This is both to protect the dialect and to prevent some people from tampering with things and turning what was originally a good thing into a bad one.

Next, the dialect was used to complete the medical record.

Then they called in the next patient, who also came in in a wheelchair; this time it was a middle-aged man in his forties.

He was dressed in a suit and tie, and his hair was still styled with hair wax. Even though he was sick, he still paid great attention to his appearance.

I don't know if he was comfortable wearing those things. After entering the room, it must have been his assistant who pushed him to Fang Yan's consultation table.

"Dr. Fang, let me introduce myself. My surname is Wang. I couldn't attend the banquet yesterday because of my health..."

Fang Yan nodded and said to him:
"Hello Mr. Wang, let's talk about what part of your body is not feeling well."

Upon hearing the dialect, Mr. Wang didn't explain further. He simply said:

"I have spinal stenosis."

Fang Yan was taken aback; that was indeed a very brief explanation.

Spinal stenosis is a condition caused by narrowing of the spinal canal, the tubular passageway in the spine that houses the spinal cord and nerves. This narrowing leads to compression of the spinal cord and nerve roots, resulting in symptoms such as lower back and leg pain, numbness, and difficulty walking. It is common in middle-aged and elderly people, with the cervical and lumbar spine being the most frequently affected areas.

There are two main categories: innate and acquired.

It is a congenital developmental abnormality. There may be no symptoms when you are young, but as you get older, even slight degeneration may induce symptoms.

However, this is quite rare.

Another common type is acquired spinal stenosis.

As we age, we develop herniated discs, bone hyperplasia, and thickening of the ligamentum flavum. These tissues can encroach on the space in the spinal canal, which is the main cause of lumbar spinal stenosis.

In addition, prolonged bending over, sitting for long periods, lifting heavy objects, or scarring or vertebral displacement after spinal injury can all compress the spinal canal. Conditions such as scoliosis, ankylosing spondylitis, tumors, or inflammation can also indirectly lead to narrowing of the spinal canal.

Spinal stenosis is divided into two different locations. One is lumbar spinal stenosis, which manifests as lower back pain that can radiate to the buttocks, back of the thigh, and outer side of the calf. It is aggravated when standing or walking and relieved after sitting, bending over, or squatting to rest. This is also known as "intermittent claudication".

In addition, there may be numbness and weakness in the calves and feet, and in severe cases, paralysis and incontinence may occur.

Another is cervical spinal stenosis, which manifests as neck pain, stiffness, limited mobility, numbness in the arms, difficulty dropping things, weakness in the lower limbs, unsteady gait, impaired balance, and even paralysis.

Fang Yan saw that Mr. Wang was in a wheelchair, possibly due to a neck or back problem, so Fang Yan had to ask him more questions.

"Be more specific," Fang Yan said to Mr. Wang.

Mr. Wang thought for a moment and said:

"Two months ago, I had just come out of the horse farm and was talking to my business partner when I suddenly felt my legs go weak and I fell to the ground. But I felt normal again right away, so I didn't pay attention at the time. When I got home, I felt sore back and weak legs. When I exercised, I found that after walking a few steps, I felt like my whole body was sinking, like I was walking on cotton, and it was not easy to maintain my balance."

"It got worse later. I would fall down after standing up and taking two steps. So I went to the hospital for a checkup. I was examined in the neurology department... Oh, right, this is the examination report."

As he spoke, he asked his assistant to bring out the report.

Fang Yan opened it and took a look. It was a spinal canal angiography. Interestingly, the problem was still with the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae. It showed spinal stenosis, with the spinal cord nerves and descending fibers being compressed.

Mr. Wang continued:
"Then I received treatment there for half a month but my condition did not improve. Just then, we were in contact with people in China about investment matters. The contact person from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office told me that I could come back to see Dr. Fang. Later, I learned about your deeds and thought it would be better to come back and visit!"

Fang Yan nodded and said to him:
Give me your left hand, I want to take your pulse.

Mr. Wang obediently handed his hand to Fang Yan, who then said:
"Open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wang stuck out his tongue, and Fang Yan noticed that his tongue was dark in color and had a thin yellow coating.

Then, while taking the pulse, Fang Yan asked:
Do you often feel a chill in your lower back? Even when you're wearing thick clothes, do you always feel a coldness seeping into your bones?

Mr. Wang paused for a moment, then nodded: "Yes! Especially on rainy days, my waist feels like it's wrapped in ice, and I have to use a hot water bottle to feel comfortable. The doctor said I had rheumatism before, but the plaster didn't help."

Fang Yan then asked, "Besides feeling weak in the legs and walking like you're on cotton, do you sometimes experience numbness in your legs? For example, when you're sitting, do you suddenly feel a tingling numbness on the outside of your calf, which then goes away on its own after a while?"

“Yes!” Mr. Wang quickly added, “Sometimes when I sit for a long time in meetings, the outside of my left leg goes numb. Standing up and walking a few steps can relieve the numbness, but recently the numbness has become more and more frequent, and it even wakes me up at night.”

His gaze fell on Mr. Wang's waist: "When you bend over, do you feel like there's a tendon pulling on your waist, making it hard to bend down, and it also causes pain in your buttocks?" Mr. Wang tried to bend over, but he frowned as soon as he reached 45 degrees: "That's the feeling! I have to move slowly when I bend over to pick things up. If I go a little faster, my waist will ache and hurt, and the pain will go down to my groin."

"Do you get up frequently at night? For example, two or three times a night, and each time the amount of urine is not much?" Fang Yan continued to ask.

Mr. Wang's assistant chimed in, "Mr. Wang has indeed been getting up frequently at night recently. Before, he would get up at most once a night, but now he gets up at least twice, and sometimes he feels like he can't empty his bladder completely."

Mr. Wang nodded, "And I always feel listless when I wake up in the morning, my eyelids are heavy, and even if I sleep for 8 hours, I still feel like I haven't rested." "Do you often sit for long periods of time?" Fang Yan continued to ask him.

Mr. Wang nodded and said:
"I do sit for quite a long time when I'm working."

Then, in a dialect, he asked him:
When you press on your own lumbar spine, do you feel soreness or tenderness?

Mr. Wang was taken aback and said:

"Let me try……"

After saying that, he pressed the buttons a few times himself.

Then he said:

"There is some, but it's not very noticeable."

"Do you often stay up late?" Fang Yan continued to ask.

"It's alright, not often. I feel my life is pretty normal," Mr. Wang said.

Fang Yan nodded and said:
Give me your right hand.

Then Fang Yan felt Mr. Wang's right pulse and confirmed that it was deep and thready.

Fang Yan withdrew his hand and slowly spoke to Mr. Wang:
"From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, your condition is due to deficiency of liver and kidney and obstruction by cold and dampness, and it is not as simple as spinal narrowing."

"A deep, thready pulse and a pale tongue are signs of liver and kidney deficiency."

“In traditional Chinese medicine, there is a concept called: the kidneys govern the bones and the liver governs the tendons. If you sit for long periods of time, you will deplete your qi and blood. If you have not properly healed your previous back injury, the essence of your liver and kidneys will be gradually depleted. As a result, your spine and tendons will lose nourishment, which will lead to spinal degeneration and nerve compression. The feeling of coldness in your lower back, which worsens on rainy days, is because cold and dampness are blocked in your lower back. This cold and dampness is like ice, freezing the meridians and preventing the flow of qi and blood, which is why you feel pain and numbness.”

Mr. Wang listened attentively and couldn't help but interject, "So, my frequent nighttime awakenings and lack of energy are also due to liver and kidney deficiency?"

“Yes.” Fang Yan nodded. “The kidneys are responsible for the metabolism of water and fluids. If the kidneys are deficient, the body cannot control urination properly, so you will get up frequently at night. Deficiency of the liver and kidneys will also lead to insufficient qi and blood, so people will naturally lack energy and feel like they haven’t rested even if they have slept enough.”

"Your condition is called prickly heat in traditional Chinese medicine."

"It refers to a disease in which symptoms such as sudden or gradual weakness and flaccidity of limbs, difficulty walking, or even paralysis may occur, and may be accompanied by speech difficulties and difficulty swallowing, but the patient is usually conscious."

"This disease is related to kidney essence deficiency, qi and blood deficiency, wind evil or phlegm and blood stasis obstructing the meridians."

"Your prickly heat didn't come out of nowhere. It's the result of years of overwork, invasion of cold and dampness, and deficiency of the liver and kidneys. You can see the root cause from three places."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wang remained relatively calm and gestured for the dialect speaker to continue.

"First of all, the root cause is the long hours of sitting. When you sit for long periods at work, your lumbar spine is constantly under tension and weight. Our lumbar spine is like a spring, and sitting for a long time will keep the spring compressed. Over time, the intervertebral discs are prone to herniation and the ligamentum flavum will thicken. These are all direct causes of your lumbar spinal stenosis."

"More importantly, prolonged sitting depletes qi and blood. When you sit still, the flow of qi and blood in the lower back slows down, and gradually it becomes unable to nourish the lumbar spine and tendons, which is equivalent to leaving an opening for subsequent invasion of cold and dampness."

Mr. Wang frowned and nodded: "I sat in a meeting all afternoon, and my back was stiff when I got up. I thought that moving around would be fine, but I didn't expect it to deplete my energy."

"That's right, it's during these times that your vital energy and blood are unknowingly depleted."

"Then, after the energy is used up, the cold and dampness take the opportunity to sneak in."

He paused in the dialect, then continued:
"You mentioned feeling cold in your lower back, especially on rainy days. This means that at least two years ago, cold and dampness had been accumulating in your lower back. It might have been from not taking shelter from the rain in time, or from having your lower back exposed to the draft in an air-conditioned room during the summer, or from getting dew on your body when you went to the horse farm. This cold and dampness is like small ice cubes, wrapped around your lumbar spine. On one hand, it freezes the meridians, slowing down the flow of qi and blood; on the other hand, it aggravates the degeneration of the lumbar spine, accelerating the narrowing of the spinal canal. This is why applying rheumatism plasters is ineffective for you. It only removes the surface dampness, without expelling the cold and dampness from your bones, and it doesn't replenish qi and blood, so naturally it won't get better."

Mr. Wang nodded.

An assistant suddenly interjected, "Last year, when Mr. Wang went to Northern Europe for a business trip, the winters there were extremely cold. In order to keep up with the schedule, he walked in the snow for more than half an hour. When he came back, he said his back was uncomfortable, but he didn't take it seriously at the time."

Fang Yan discovered that the assistant remembered this quite clearly.

They have strong business skills.

“This is the critical point,” Fang Yan continued. “Getting chilled in the snow is the fuse that ignites the complete rooting of cold and dampness. From then on, the hidden danger in your waist started to slowly emerge.”

"In the end, it was the deficiency of liver and kidney that finally gave way." Fang Yan changed the subject and pointed out the root cause. "At your age, the essence of your liver and kidney is already weaker than when you were younger. In addition, prolonged sitting depletes your qi and blood, and cold and dampness deplete your yang qi. It's like you're losing energy on one hand and leaking it on the other. The kidneys govern the bones, so if the kidneys are weak, the support of the lumbar spine will be poor. The liver governs the tendons, so if the liver is weak, the tendons in the waist will lose their elasticity. When you fell at the horse farm two months ago, it was actually your body's alarm: you may have just finished a business meeting and were a little tired, with insufficient qi and blood. In addition, the ground at the horse farm may have been a little damp, and the cold and dampness also triggered it. The liver and kidney could no longer support the lumbar spine and lower limbs, which is why you suddenly felt weak and fell."

“There is a saying in our classic Chinese medicine: ‘Fatigue is a kind of collapse. The spirit is weak and the muscles and bones cannot be used. It is not only caused by the disturbance of evil qi, but also by the decline of true qi.’ This means that wind-heat appears to be a ‘collapse’ syndrome of sudden weakness of the limbs. On the surface, it is a lack of spirit and an inability to use the muscles and bones. However, the root cause is not only the disturbance of evil qi such as cold and dampness and phlegm and blood stasis, but more importantly, the decline of one’s own ‘true qi’, that is, the essence of the liver and kidneys and the qi and blood. This perfectly describes your situation.”

“You always felt that your life was normal, but sitting for long periods of time depletes your qi and blood, and being exposed to cold in the snow damages your yang qi. In fact, you are gradually depleting your true qi. It’s like a big tree. The roots slowly wither, and even without strong winds and heavy rain, the branches and leaves will slowly wilt. You fell at the horse farm two months ago because the roots could no longer support you. When you encountered some dampness, the branches and leaves broke. This is not a sudden illness. It is because your true qi has declined to a certain extent, and the evil qi takes the opportunity to erupt.”

Mr. Wang was silent for a few seconds, then unconsciously gripped the armrests of his wheelchair and asked, "Is it too late to replenish my 'true energy'? Will I still be able to stand up and walk?"

“Of course you can recover in time. You’re only in your forties, and your physical functions are still very strong. There’s no problem with you recovering,” Fang Yan said.

Hearing this, Mr. Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

All that could be heard was a dialect voice saying:

"Let's first 'expel the evil' and then 'replenish the righteous': drive out the cold and dampness in the waist and unblock the meridians; then replenish the liver and kidneys and replenish the essence and qi to restore the 'true qi'; finally, let the muscles and bones be nourished again, just like removing pests from a tree and then fertilizing it, so that it can slowly recover its vitality."

Mr. Wang nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

P.S.: I still owe you 59,000 words after finishing this chapter.

The 4000-word extended chapter is now complete. That's all for today.

(End of this chapter)