Chapter 750: Sciatica

Chapter 750: Chapter 750: Sciatica

The *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor* was the only complete ancient medical masterpiece fortunate enough to survive to the present day.

According to unofficial histories and partial historical research, the Imperial Physician of the time risked decapitation to rescue it from a massive fire. Even then, the edges of the bamboo slips had already been burned, rendering the text incomplete. Over the subsequent dynasties, various medical practitioners like Huangfu Mi and Wang Bing poured their blood, sweat, and tears into re-compiling and restoring the *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor*.

Meanwhile, during the Tang Dynasty, Japan was lucky enough to transcribe a complete handwritten copy of the text through their diplomatic envoys. Japan brought the manuscript back to its country, treating it as a supreme treasure. It was elevated to the status of a national artifact and carefully preserved within their imperial court and ancient temples.

In contrast, the homeland suffered consecutive years of devastating war during the late Song and early Yuan Dynasties. This triggered another cultural catastrophe, resulting in certain Chapters—especially the *Spiritual Pivot*—being completely lost domestically.

It wasn’t until the late Qing Dynasty, the early Republic of China, and even later that people of insight in the country had to spend exorbitant sums of money to buy back and transcribe the missing parts of the *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor: Spiritual Pivot* from the Japanese. The only reason they were able to buy it back from Japan was because, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan underwent comprehensive Westernization. Similar to certain later ideological trends domestically, they began to severely disparage Chinese culture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Because they held Western medicine as the absolute gold standard, the formerly treasured national artifacts of Chinese medicine were no longer valued as highly. This shift finally created the opportunity for the texts to flow back to their homeland. Having endured countless tribulations, the *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor* had at least managed to leave behind a spark of its legacy.

However, the *Yellow Emperor’s Outer Canon* was not nearly as fortunate.

It had been permanently lost to the long river of history, without a single complete Chapter left behind. All that remained in the world were mere fragments quoted in other ancient texts, or forged remnants falsely attributed to its name by later generations.

Faced with such an ancient, lost-and-found medical masterpiece, how could Li Xu not feel a pilgrim-like reverence?

To Li Xu at this moment, the *Yellow Emperor’s Outer Canon* was far more than just a simple book that would allow him to cure a few more patients. It was a lost fragment of Chinese civilization. If not for the heaven-defying existence of the system, this masterpiece—which condensed the wisdom of the ancient Chinese ancestors from the pre-Qin era and even earlier—would have been truly and permanently lost in the long river of history.

If this book could be made public, it would absolutely trigger a wild frenzy, causing a Level 10 earthquake in the academic world.

Unfortunately, that was just a pipe dream. Making an ancient text that had been lost for thousands of years appear out of thin air defied all logic, and presenting it directly would be far too shocking. Not only would he be unable to explain its origins, but it might even invite serious trouble.

An innocent man could be punished simply for possessing a treasure.

The most prudent approach would be to wait for an extremely appropriate opportunity, or to use a subtle, imperceptible method to slowly integrate the unparalleled skills within the book into his own clinical practice.

Li Xu gathered his thoughts and carefully flipped through the book in his mind. He hungrily absorbed the knowledge regarding anatomy, the micro-circulation of meridians, and surgical Exotic Techniques. Because he was so engrossed in his reading, he almost forgot he had to go to work and hold consultations at the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine today.

By the time he abruptly snapped out of it, checked the time, and hurried over to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the first registered patient of the outpatient clinic was already waiting eagerly at the door of his consultation room.

It was a middle-aged couple, looking to be around forty-five or forty-six years old.

The woman furrowed her brows as the man carefully supported her into the room. While shuffling her feet with great difficulty, she used one hand to support her lower back and left hip.

Watching the woman walk in, Li Xu sat behind his consultation desk. The first thing that caught his eye was her attire.

It was mid-September. Although Feng City had passed the hottest dog days of summer, the autumn heat was still bearing down. The daytime temperature remained quite hot, and pedestrians on the street generally wore short sleeves and shorts. Although a relative majority of middle-aged men wore long trousers, most women during this season still opted for short skirts and shorts, or at the very least, lightweight and breathable wide-leg pants.

However, the woman who walked in was not only wearing a long-sleeved knit sweater on her upper body, but she also wore long trousers. What drew Li Xu’s attention even more was that they didn’t look like ordinary autumn trousers, but rather the thick, heat-retaining kind made of woolen fabric. Given the current weather outside—around thirty degrees Celsius—such an outfit was truly too hot and abnormal.

Observation in traditional Chinese medicine involves looking at the exterior to understand the interior. Through this preliminary observation of her clothing and her cold-averse posture alone, Li Xu already had a general outline in his mind—this woman suffered from a severe deficiency of Yang Qi in her Governing Vessel, leading to an overabundance of internal Yin coldness.

"Have a seat." Li Xu gestured for the woman to sit in the chair opposite him, asking gently, "Where are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"Sigh, it’s sciatica." The woman slowly edged her way onto the side of the chair, not daring to put her full weight on it. "It’s been acting up for quite a while now. It keeps recurring, and no matter how I treat it, it just never gets better."

Sciatica is a very common diagnosis in modern society. It is a syndrome primarily characterized by pain along the pathway of the sciatic nerve—from the lower back, through the buttocks, down the back of the thighs, along the outside of the calves, and all the way to the feet—as well as in its distribution areas.

In modern Western medicine, the vast majority of sciatica cases are secondary. They are caused by localized lesions of the sciatic nerve and its surrounding structures—most commonly, a herniated lumbar disc—stimulating, compressing, or damaging the sciatic nerve. This is known as secondary sciatica. Only a very small minority of cases are primary, meaning simple sciatic neuritis.

As the woman recounted her condition, her husband chimed in with a pained expression.

"Dr. Li, my wife and I are both middle school teachers. We stand a lot and sit a lot on a regular basis," the man said. "Her sciatica has been coming and going for over a year now. It fluctuates; if she catches a slight chill or gets a bit tired, it acts up. When it’s severe, the pain shoots all the way from her buttocks to her heels. She’s in so much pain at night that she can’t sleep, and she has to drag her leg just to walk.

"We previously went to a Western medicine clinic for an MRI. They said she had a mild lumbar disc herniation, but it shouldn’t be hurting this much. She’s taken a lot of painkillers and nerve-nourishing medication, and she’s even done physical therapy traction. It usually provides relief for about two days right after she does it, but the moment she stops, it relapses."

"Mhm, I understand." Li Xu nodded.

Combining his earlier observation with the patient’s occupation and medical history, the pathogenesis was already exceptionally clear. This was a classic case of prolonged sitting damaging her vital energy, combined with exposure to cold dampness. This led to a Yang Qi deficiency in the Governing Vessel, causing cold pathogenic factors to stagnate in the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang, ultimately blocking the meridians.

Where there is a blockage, there is pain.

Li Xu pulled open the drawer at his side and pulled out a needle bag specifically used for acupuncture. He skillfully pinched a three-inch filiform needle, using an alcohol cotton ball to sterilize the Silver Needle.