I Can Talk to the Internal Organs-Chapter 167 - 140: Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction
"Alright, does it still itch?"
Lu Jiu withdrew the needle and smiled at Jin Shihang.
"Not itchy anymore, not itchy anymore, Dr. Lu, you really are incredible." Jin Shihang gave a thumbs up.
Lu Jiu chuckled, "You only think it’s incredible because you don’t understand it."
"In the future, keep some rice vinegar and mugwort leaves at home. Boil them together, let it cool, and put it in a spray bottle. Just spray it whenever your skin feels itchy, it can be very effective."
"For things like ringworm, especially athlete’s foot, just a spray and it’ll help."
Jin Shihang asked in surprise, "Really?"
Lu Jiu replied, "Rice vinegar is acidic, mugwort is a yang herb, acid is constricting, and yang dispels dampness. These two combined can treat many skin conditions, and it’s cheap, not costing much at all. You and your family can both use it."
"Of course, the best method is to get more sunlight. In a season like this, it’s not too cold, and the sun isn’t too harsh. As long as you sunbathe for a few hours every day, I guarantee that those small red spots on your back will be more than half gone within a week."
Any illness caused by dampness can be remedied as long as it dries out.
It’s just like how moss grows by those small ponds in the countryside. As soon as the water is cleaned out and it dries up, the moss disappears.
People are the same; dampness can cause rashes, and cold can cause blisters.
The fundamental reason why some people get eczema and blisters is the lack of exercise, not getting enough sun, and eating too many cold foods.
The environment inside their body is no longer sunny, dry, and fresh, but a mix of cold and damp, with mosquitoes passing by every day. Not getting sick is impossible.
"I’ll sunbathe tomorrow!!" Jin Shihang’s eyes lit up.
Although he wasn’t a woman and didn’t need to pay attention to his appearance, every time his wife complained that his back looked like a cracked horse, he felt very uncomfortable.
He didn’t know what to do before, but now that he knows, he definitely has to try it.
"Hmm, you shouldn’t go running this season. Wait until next summer to run. Just don’t take a shower and use air conditioning right after running, and there should be no problem. The worst is staying indoors with the AC on all summer and exercising until you’re soaked in sweat in winter. If you keep doing this, one day your body won’t be able to take it." Lu Jiu said.
"Alright." Jin Shihang noted it down seriously.
"I’ll go get the medicine for you." Lu Jiu said.
Lu Jiu prescribed the Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction.
This prescription includes ephedra, cinnamon bark, baked licorice, atractylodes, and apricot kernel, totaling five ingredients.
It’s a large formula for dispelling dampness, especially when the dampness is on the skin; the Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction works best. However, in a sense, it’s overkill to treat urticaria with it.
Because this prescription cannot only treat urticaria but also colds, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rhinitis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
In traditional Chinese medicine, these diseases are all considered Taiyang cold dampness blockage syndrome.
Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction can perfectly solve it!
However, for different patients, adjustments to the prescription are naturally needed. After all, even if it’s the same disease, the severity varies with different constitutions. If it’s just general symptoms, you don’t need to overthink and can use the original prescription for good results.
"Alright, the medicine is ready. After you go home, first boil the ephedra with about 1.8 liters of water. After boiling for twenty to thirty minutes, remove the foam on top, reduce about 400 milliliters of water, then add the other ingredients. Boil on high heat until only one-third of the liquid is left, then pour out the medicine to drink. Remember, always boil the ephedra first." Lu Jiu instructed.
The reason ephedra is a restricted herb is that if you don’t understand its properties and use it directly, it can have significant side effects.
For example, excessive sweating, hyperexcitability, increased heart rate, etc.
But once you boil it in water for some time and add licorice to restrain its bias, its side effects are pretty much minimized.
Moreover, atractylodes in the Ephedra Decoction can enhance ephedra’s dampness-dispelling effect.
While the Ephedra Decoction can induce sweating to release the exterior and expel dampness from the skin, the effect is too rapid, and dampness moves slowly and stubbornly lingers in the body.
So many people think sweating can dispel dampness, but that’s incorrect.
Atractylodes serves to constrict and absorb dampness. Adding it to the Ephedra Decoction allows its constricting effect to suppress the decoction’s properties, letting it slowly and thoroughly cleanse the dampness.
This is why the Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction is so effective at dispelling dampness.
...
"Urticaria... Ephedra... Based on the decoction process he mentioned, it should be the Ephedra and Atractylodes Decoction, right? Acupuncture, classic prescriptions, he knows both. Teacher, this guy is really something!" An Xianda exclaimed.
Judging by Lu Jiu’s age, he’s definitely not over thirty.
A Chinese medicine practitioner under thirty who not only knows top-level Supplement and Drainage Acupuncture Technique but also seems proficient in classic prescriptions—if this were in a big hospital, without considering age and seniority, he could definitely serve as chief physician.
In fact, many chief physicians might not even have this level of skill.
After all, top-level Supplement and Drainage Acupuncture Technique is not something everyone can master.
Compared to classic prescriptions, acupuncture is actually more reliant on talent.
It requires a great sense of Qi sensitivity.
In other words, if you’re naturally weak in Qi sensitivity, learning acupuncture progresses very slowly. But if you’re naturally strong in Qi sensitivity, things are different.
Qi sensitivity can’t be taught; it’s like what Huang Fusheng said about feelings—it’s something you can grasp intuitively but cannot express in words.
Traditional Chinese medicine has so many things that can only be understood intuitively, which is why it seems so obscure and difficult to understand.
But actually, this is a special attribute of Huaxia culture. For example, with words such as "yuanfen" (fate), if you try to translate it into any language other than Chinese, it’s absolutely impossible to fully convey its meaning.
Because this word expresses both randomness and inevitability at the same time.
But as long as you’re Chinese, there’s no need to explain—just say we have "yuanfen," and you can immediately grasp all the meanings of the word.
Another example would be concepts like "Tao Follows Nature," "Harmony Between Heaven and Man," and so on.
There are so many examples. Rather than saying Traditional Chinese Medicine is obscure and hard to understand, it’s better to say that as a carrier of Huaxia culture, Chinese medicine itself embodies all the attributes of Huaxia culture. It is precisely because Huaxia culture is so profound and mysterious that Chinese medicine is so broad and profound.
"You should have heard what he said just now," Huang Fusheng said.
"Yes, he explained it in great detail," An Xianda replied.
"That’s not what I’m talking about. Didn’t you notice? He’s trying hard to get patients to change their lifestyle habits while teaching them the simplest and most effective methods of self-rescue. The subsequent treatment seems to be secondary," said Huang Fusheng.
"Isn’t that his style?" An Xianda didn’t see anything wrong.
Previously, when watching videos of Lu Jiu, he had noticed that Lu Jiu particularly liked to educate people on Traditional Chinese Medicine health knowledge.
Some things he thought were very correct, and some he didn’t particularly agree with, but just this attitude made An Xianda think that Lu Jiu truly has great medical ethics.
Otherwise, today he wouldn’t have forcibly brought his teacher to test Lu Jiu’s abilities.
Huang Fusheng shook his head, "I’m talking about his wisdom. This kid is very clear about the boundaries of a doctor. Actually, you and I both know that no matter how serious the illness, as long as the patient is determined to recover, there is always a possibility of healing. But if the patient is bent on dying, then no matter how mild the illness, no medicine can cure it. Getting patients to change their lifestyle habits is not just a matter of medical ethics; this is treating preemptively. He wants to be a top doctor!"
"I’ve told you before that to be a top doctor, you not only need high medical skill, but you also need to cultivate medical ethics. But cultivating medical ethics is much harder than practicing medical skills, especially when facing a large number of complex patients. Whether you can still keep an innocent heart, eager to solve the patients’ worries, and consider what the patients think, is a huge test."
"If he has always practiced medicine this way, I can only say that he truly is a born Chinese doctor!"
Huh?
A rating this high?
An Xianda was also a bit surprised.
It was the first time he saw his teacher give such a high evaluation to a Chinese medicine practitioner.
"Teacher, how about... taking on an apprentice?" An Xianda winked.
Lu Jiu is young, skilled in medicine, and most importantly, has talent and ethics of the highest caliber.
It would be a shame not to take him as an apprentice.
"What are you up to?" Huang Fusheng glared at An Xianda.
An Xianda laughed, "Anyway, learning Chinese medicine doesn’t mean you can only have one master. After all, you are a National Master of Chinese Medicine. If you took him as a disciple, I don’t think he’d refuse. Besides, his family already has this idea."
"Let’s talk about it later. What I’m curious about now is who could teach such a disciple. Talent is certainly important, but the guidance of a famous teacher is also indispensable. I have my achievements today because my teacher, Hu Shuxi, was one of the country’s top experts in classical prescriptions," said Huang Fusheng.
An Xianda nodded.
A true teaching can be conveyed in a single sentence; false teachings fill volumes.
Much of Traditional Chinese Medicine is about intuitive understanding, which cannot be captured in books.
It’s like reading a pulse; no matter how detailed the description, you will never learn it unless you experience it firsthand.
With guidance from a famous teacher, you can avoid many detours.
For Lu Jiu to have mastered such medical skills at a young age, his teacher clearly wasn’t ordinary either.
"Teacher, should I go in and have a chat with him?" An Xianda suggested.
Huang Fusheng waved his hand, "Don’t disturb him during his consultation time. After all, it’s not urgent. Since he signed up for the Chinese medicine teacher assessment, wait until then. Let’s go back."
An Xianda said, "We’re leaving already? Teacher, shouldn’t we take another look?"
Huang Fusheng didn’t look back, "What’s left to see? Let’s go."
In his view, for a young Chinese medicine practitioner to have mastered Piercing Cold was already the limit.
Continuing to watch wouldn’t provide any great surprises.
Seeing that Huang Fusheng had already left, An Xianda didn’t linger either. They quickly disappeared into the crowd.
At Lu’s Clinic, after seeing Jin Shihang, Lu Jiu continued to call the next number.
This next person, however, was a bit peculiar.
Just by looking at the complexion, Lu Jiu summed it up in one word.
Deficiency!
The dark circles under the eyes, as well as the hollow cheeks, were indicative.
Moreover, the Taiyang acupoint was dark, the facial skin was rough, and the whole face gave a dim and dull impression.
Could it be...
