Chapter 742: Ear Seed Acupressure

Chapter 742: Chapter 742: Ear Seed Acupressure

Director Zhu mostly used "strong stimulation and reducing methods." He selected acupoints like Lieque, Chize, and Dingchuan. Once the needle was inserted and the Qi arrived, the results were instantaneous.

After their acupuncture sessions, many patients miraculously saw their alarmingly low blood oxygen saturation levels rise significantly. There were even several critically ill patients who had reached the intubation criteria and were waiting for ventilators. Yet, Director Zhu single-handedly brought their conditions under control using the Silver Needle, dragging their blood oxygen levels back to safe margins.

Following subsequent collaborative treatments of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, their conditions genuinely stabilized. They improved day by day, showing no signs of further deterioration.

As a result, Director Zhu had earned a resounding nickname within the hospital: the "Walking Ventilator."

He was practically functioning as a makeshift non-invasive ventilator. In times of extreme medical resource shortages, he was nothing short of a lifesaver. Naturally, Director Zhu became the most popular and the busiest doctor in the entire hospital. Whenever a patient in any ward struggled to breathe, the immediate reaction was always the same: "Quick, go get Director Zhu."

Of course, Li Xu’s acupuncture skills were not inferior to Director Zhu’s in the slightest. However, he was currently serving as the vice president of the hospital. A large portion of his energy had to be devoted to administration. Since acupuncture was time-consuming and labor-intensive, he could only help out by administering a few needles during his sparse free time.

Besides acupuncture, Director Zhu vigorously promoted another external traditional Chinese medicine therapy: ear acupressure with seeds.

The human ear is shaped like an inverted fetus. It is densely covered with acupoints that are closely connected to the body’s meridians and internal organs, possessing incredible bidirectional regulatory effects. Therefore, ear acupoint therapy was another area of expertise for acupuncturists. It was a classic, non-invasive, and continuously effective external treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.

By analyzing the characteristics of the current flu strain, Director Zhu formulated an appropriate ear seed acupressure auxiliary treatment plan. He also trained a group of nurses to promote it throughout the wards.

For instance, to address the prevalent symptom of persistent high fever, the primary acupoints selected were Sympathetic, Adrenal Gland, Brain, Brainstem, and Thalamus. Stimulating these points could regulate the temperature control Central Hubs of the central nervous system, effectively providing physical cooling and sedation.

For the most agonizing symptoms of coughing and phlegm, acupoints like Shenmen, Trachea, Bronchus, Lung, Asthma Relief, and Occiput could be targeted. For the common symptoms of full-body aches and extreme fatigue, points such as Sympathetic, Kidney, Liver, Mouth, Spleen, Sanjiao, Subcortex of the nervous system, and the Mind-Body point (front of the ear) were chosen to harmonize Qi and blood and stimulate Yang Qi.

Even for the complex array of symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, and neurasthenia caused by prolonged illness, as well as gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, loose stools, bloating, and loss of appetite induced by the side effects of antiviral drugs, Director Zhu prepared individualized ear acupoint treatment plans.

A tiny Wang Buliuxing Seed taped to the ear, occasionally pressed for stimulation, might seem inconspicuous, but during this extraordinary period, it played an invaluable role in auxiliary treatment, greatly alleviating the patients’ suffering.

In addition to acupuncture and ear seed acupressure, there was another essential external therapy: acupoint massage. This task was largely left to the patients themselves. For one, the medical staff was far too overwhelmed. Secondly, the patients were idle in their beds anyway; they needed something to do to divert their attention and ease their anxiety.

Li Xu and Director Zhu selected several easy-to-locate acupoints that benefited the respiratory and digestive tracts, such as He Gu, Zusanli, Fenglong, and Taiyuan. They printed illustrated pamphlets and distributed them to every ward, instructing the nurses to teach the patients how to massage these spots.

Speaking of acupoint massage, it came with a rather headache-inducing problem: many patients had a terrible habit of half-heartedly following medical advice.

Take simple dietary restrictions, for instance. A doctor would repeatedly warn, "Your illness is caused by cold dampness. You absolutely must not eat anything cold. Iced watermelon and cold drinks are strictly off-limits."

Yet, when it reached the patient’s ears, the warning was automatically discounted by fifty percent. They would think, "The doctor said to eat fewer cold things. So, I’ll just eat a little less. Half an iced watermelon should be fine, right?"

The same applied to acupoint massage. A doctor would instruct, "You need to massage this He Gu point three times a day. Each time, you must press it for a full three minutes until you feel a numb, aching soreness."

And the result? Less than thirty seconds in, the patient’s hand would get tired, or they would feel nothing and just wave it off, thinking, "Ugh, what’s the point of pressing this thing? It’s exhausting."

Aside from variations in the illnesses themselves, this was a major reason why some patients saw excellent treatment outcomes while others saw poor ones. Many modern patients subconsciously believed that doctors were just scaring them. They felt doctors always exaggerated, leading them to assume that a discounted version of the instructions was what their bodies could realistically handle. Wasn’t that just infuriating?

Regardless, the comprehensive external treatment plan that Director Zhu devised based on the characteristics of this flu received fantastic clinical feedback. Not only did it significantly alleviate the patients’ suffering, but it also effectively reduced the rate at which cases turned severe.

Li Xu promptly compiled these invaluable clinical experiences and protocols into a booklet. Through Dean Song, he urgently reported it to the City Health Commission, which then distributed it to colleagues at other designated hospitals across the city for reference.

This particular mutated flu strain was indeed ferocious.

Currently, Western medicine generally lacked specific antiviral drugs and was prone to causing drug resistance and bone marrow suppression side effects. Under these circumstances, traditional Chinese medicine’s holistic advantages of "syndrome differentiation and treatment, supporting healthy energy, and eliminating pathogenic factors" became even more pronounced.

Take the fiery-tempered woman who had suffered from recurrent fevers for ten days and originally scoffed at traditional Chinese medicine. After she accepted the traditional Chinese medicine intervention, received the IV drip of Xuebijing, and drank her first mouthful of herbal decoction, a miracle happened the very next day.

Her stubborn high fever actually broke! Her body temperature dropped to 37.2 degrees Celsius.

Furthermore, as she sweated, the aching sensation all over her body noticeably eased. Her chest no longer felt suffocatingly heavy, as if a large boulder had been pressing down on it.

However, though she was recovering from a major illness, the lingering effects remained. She still felt extremely fatigued and experienced shortness of breath, panting heavily even after slight movements by her bed. She coughed occasionally with very little phlegm and had a poor appetite. She didn’t experience dry or bitter mouth, her urination was normal, and her stools were soft, occurring once or twice a day.

During his ward rounds, Lin Guorui evaluated her condition again.

"Pale and dark tongue with teeth marks, thick and greasy coating, slippery and rapid pulse," Lin Guorui recorded in her medical chart. "Although the fever has broken, the heat toxin has damaged the Yin Qi. Currently, the vital Qi has not yet recovered, and the sticky dampness pathogen is the hardest to clear. The syndrome differentiation is: deficiency in both the lung and spleen, with residual toxins trapping the lung, complicated by dampness.

"The treatment approach should primarily focus on: promoting Qi circulation and strengthening the spleen, resolving dampness and expelling toxins, and descending lung Qi to achieve Dingchuan."

Based on this diagnosis, Lin Guorui formulated a new prescription—a modified combination of Ginseng Rehmannia Powder and Cough-Stop Powder—and handed it to Li Xu for review.

Li Xu glanced at it, picked up his pen, and added one dose of Astragalus Root and one dose of Dried Tangerine Peel to supplement Qi and relieve stagnation, before finally signing his name.