The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Jung In-sung indeed showed up the next day.

Had he been scolded by Grandma Heo Soon-nam all night?

He looked quite tired for someone on break.

“Director, hello. I’m sorry for visiting so late.”

“No, what’s there to be sorry about? I should apologize for making you wait. Come, have a seat.”

As always, he was a polite young man.

Jung In-sung had come specifically to see me without needing treatment, but since I was busy with patients all morning, I ended up treating him to lunch.

“Are you still seeing your girlfriend regularly?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

When I brought up Min Ju-yeon, Jung In-sung’s face turned slightly red.

His acne hadn’t recurred, and he maintained clear skin.

I’d heard from Yijin that he was dating the girl I’d briefly seen back then, but a year-long distance relationship at twenty? That was quite surprising.

“Are you enjoying school?”

“Yes. It’s fun.”

His response about his studies was unexpected once again.

Fun, he says?

“Do you still start with the Inner Classic these days? ‘The Yellow Emperor said, Qi Bo replied…'”

“The Chinese characters are just a matter of memorizing, but I find anatomy more challenging.”

“Isn’t anatomy mostly memorization too?”

Fortunately, Jung In-sung didn’t seem to have much aversion to Chinese characters, classical texts, or basic Korean medicine theories.

Even I, who had wanted to attend Korean medicine school for quite a while, felt quite dizzy when I first started learning about concepts like emotion, qi, spirit, and acupoints.

Well, in hindsight, those concepts turned out to be necessary, but I still can’t understand why we need to know how to read Chinese characters in the 21st century. Isn’t it like learning Latin in medical school?

…Of course, I ended up using the Chinese characters I learned in university quite extensively.

“Director, may I ask you something?”

“Of course! Ask me anything you don’t understand.”

“Ah, it’s not about school.”

“Okay.”

“Can you treat hair loss as well?”

I was startled by Jung In-sung’s question.

Hair loss?

“You’re already experiencing hair loss? At your age? Oh no! Let me see, is it hereditary?”

“No, no! It’s not about me! It’s about my academy teacher.”

“Ah, I see.”

At least it wasn’t about Jung In-sung himself. It would have been too unfortunate for someone just turning twenty-one to be dealing with hair loss.

“For male pattern baldness, unfortunately, there aren’t many good options. I’ve tried a few times, but the results were… If it hasn’t progressed much, I’d recommend getting a prescription for Propecia quickly. If it’s already quite advanced, I’d suggest hair transplantation.”

Despite my best efforts, I’ve seen quite a few hair loss patients, but the success rate for treatment is less than 20%.

In Murim, I didn’t discourage people who wanted to try medication, but given that transplantation is an alternative, I didn’t want to recommend herbal treatment unnecessarily.

Back then, I tried quite a few approaches.

I thought if I could just get the pattern identification right, it would improve, so I searched for appropriate prescriptions and even tried throwing in every herb known to be good for hair growth.

Wealthy merchants who wanted to try everything possible came with money in hand, so I tried every prescription rumored to be effective, but it was really… really, really difficult.

There were martial artists who couldn’t understand why their hair was falling out when they were otherwise so healthy, and high-ranking officials who came in secret.

“How can one change what they’re born with? What’s not meant to be, won’t be. Just introduce them to a skilled wig maker and send them on their way.”

That’s what my master said, but I couldn’t bring myself to ignore their desperation.

Besides, it’s not like it never works, right? One or two out of ten people do get better.

And when those rare success cases occurred, they’d bring in ten more people, leaving me tearing my hair out.

“So even you have things you’re not confident about… Is hair loss truly an unconquered territory for humanity?”

I nodded.

In modern times, I’ve calmly told patients who come for consultations that based on my experience, the success rate is less than 20%.

After hearing that, hardly anyone wanted to try.

They probably went to find other Korean medicine doctors who claimed to be confident or went straight for transplantation.

“Yes. Apart from clearly defined alopecia areata, it’s almost impossible to treat.”

“Ah, alopecia areata…”

Jung In-sung tilted his head curiously.

“Is the male pattern baldness you said doesn’t work the one where it recedes in an M-shape? It’s not that, but it is alopecia areata. Like a patch missing on the crown area.”

Ah, alopecia areata?

That actually has quite a good chance of improvement.

“You mean alopecia areata, not male pattern baldness that recedes in an O-shape, right?”

Being still a student, he wasn’t familiar with the different types of hair loss.

I searched for images of alopecia areata on my smartphone and showed them to Jung In-sung.

“Oh, yes. That looks like it.”

“This can be considered a type of skin disease. I’ve treated it a few times before.”

The mechanisms of male pattern baldness and alopecia areata are quite different.

Male pattern baldness is triggered by genetic predisposition and influenced by male hormones, causing hair to gradually thin and fall out. It’s categorized into M-shaped and O-shaped baldness based on the pattern. Eventually, it can lead to complete baldness as the crown area and receding hairline merge.

In contrast, alopecia areata, often called stress-induced hair loss, is a skin condition where immune cells cause an inflammatory response in hair follicles in localized areas.

“Oh, really? How do you treat it?”

“We prescribe medicine based on pattern identification, and apply pharmacopuncture to the affected areas. Some clinics use Salvia miltiorrhiza pharmacopuncture. Personally, I prefer Hwangryunhaedok-tang pharmacopuncture. As for acupuncture, we just place needles densely in the area.”

“So the chances of successful treatment are quite high?”

“Hmm, based on my experience, about 60%? Considering that skin conditions are generally difficult to cure, it’s worth trying.”

“Oh!”

Jung In-sung clapped his hands in delight.

“Then I’ll tell him to come for a visit! Please see if it’s treatable.”

“Of course. When he comes, I’ll do my best to treat him effectively.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Woo Jong-soo was a hair-abundant man.

Not a single person in his family was bald, and he himself was always told at the hair salon that he had thick hair.

Because of this, even when he entered his 30s and his friends started taking preventive hair loss medication one by one, he had no worries at all.

“Hair loss medication? Doesn’t that have erectile dysfunction as a side effect?”

“You won’t have anything to erect anyway if you go bald, you idiot.”

“Hahahaha!”

He couldn’t understand his friends’ worries about their hair at all.

They said their crowns were thinning, but to his casual observation, there wasn’t much difference.

“Heh, you need to find a woman who appreciates your inner beauty.”

He wasn’t particularly interested in dating either.

Why go to such lengths? It’s natural for hair to thin a bit as you age.

But everything changed when he became the director of the academy.

“I’d like to consult with the director personally about my child’s grades.”

“Ah, yes, of course.”

“My child’s math score dropped by 10 points compared to last time. How did this happen?”

“The test questions were more difficult this time…”

Stress he never knew as a mere instructor.

“Teacher, do you think my child can get into Yeonryeo University?”

“With the current grades, a lot of effort—really, a lot of effort—will be needed. You should be prepared for the possibility of retaking the entrance exam once or twice.”

Look, your son is barely qualifying for any university in Seoul.

“I’m not asking you to get him into Hanguk University! Did you say the same thing to my child? You should be encouraging him, saying he can do it!”

“To be honest, with his current school grades, there’s no possibility at all.”

“But what about the regular admissions?”

“Yes, the possibility of getting admitted through regular admissions isn’t zero, but unlike in the past, the quota for regular admissions has decreased significantly. To achieve the best results in the current situation, it’s better to focus on early admissions for current high school students.”

He can’t even get into a Seoul university through regular admissions!

I’ve clearly seen his mock test scores.

You need to aim two levels lower than early admissions, what on earth are you talking about?

His blood began to boil.

Why are there so many people who can’t understand reason?

Of course, most parents are normal.

They are satisfied with talking to the counseling manager.

Those who insist on meeting the academy director are, without exception, not in their right minds.

On top of that, after being promoted to a managerial position, there was an increase in minor paperwork.

Pressure from headquarters based on college admission results and student numbers also emerged.

“Argh! Go away, all of you!”

Woo Jong-soo cried out.

Then one day…

“Jong-soo, what’s wrong with your hair?”

Woo Jong-soo realized the reality that he had become a hair loss patient.

“No… no way…”

From that moment on, everyone he met started commenting on the state of his hair.

“Hahahahaha, you bastard! You used to make fun of Kyung-chul, but you’re the first to go bald!”

He received his karmic retribution.

“Hang in there, man. Is work that tough?”

He also received sympathy and comfort.

“Um, well… I’m sorry. I don’t think we’re a good match.”

And all his blind dates ended in rejection.

Although he hadn’t been particularly interested in dating and marriage, once his income stabilized, he began to want a family like everyone else. More than half of his friends were already married.

A woman who looks at your inner self regardless of hair loss?

What nonsense.

The moment he took off his hat, his blind date’s pupils would waver.

During the hour-long conversation, he lost count of how many times her eyes darted to his bald spot. It seemed that all she could see was his hair loss.

After that, when he asked the matchmaker to disclose his hair loss condition beforehand, the dates stopped happening altogether.

Woo Jong-soo fell into despair.

What had he been working so hard for all this time?

◆◇◆◇◆

“So, it’s about lowering the heat rising to the head, right?”

Woo Jong-soo diligently took notes as the director explained.

There are various types of hair loss, including male pattern baldness, female pattern baldness, alopecia areata, and telogen effluvium, and unlike his friends, his condition—alopecia areata—had quite a high possibility of treatment.

The director also explained about endocrine abnormalities, immune issues, and inflammation, but the idea that it was caused by heat rising to the head seemed more intuitively understandable.

How many times had his anger flared up over the past year? It was enough to burn all his hair and then some.

“Yes, in Korean medicine, heat is quite similar to the concept of inflammation. We’ll work on lowering the rising heat and apply medication directly to the scalp to treat the inflammation.”

Woo Jong-soo nodded, finding it reasonably convincing.

In fact, until he came to the Korean medicine clinic, he hadn’t been very keen on the idea.

On websites where hair loss patients gathered, people would get angry whenever herbal medicine was mentioned, saying it had no effect at all.

Of course, those who had successful treatments probably left those sites, but even accounting for that, there were too many negative stories.

The only reason he came for a consultation today was that he couldn’t ignore the recommendation of Jung In-sung, a student he cared for.

But after hearing the Korean medicine doctor’s explanation, he felt inclined to give it a try.

“Can I try it for just one month first?”

“Yes, I’d recommend that approach. If it’s going to be effective, you should see some improvement within the first month.”

If the doctor had simply told him to take the medicine without explanation, he might have felt resistant, given that he had entered the clinic full of doubt.

But being given a thorough explanation and options inspired trust.

No, beyond trust, it gave him a sense of grasping at straws.

“Please, I’m counting on you.”

Woo Jong-soo’s eyes reddened as he bowed his head.

He made up his mind.

Let’s try everything possible with Korean medicine treatment. Take the medicine, get pharmacopuncture and acupuncture.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll go for steroid injections.

And if even that’s ineffective, I’ll get a hair transplant.

“Let’s start today. I’ll take some photos to track your progress.”

“Ah, yes.”

Click. Click.

“The affected area is about 3cm wide and 5.5cm long.”

“……”

Woo Jong-soo squeezed his eyes shut.

Seeing it directly in a photo felt different from looking in the mirror.

Please, please let it be effective.