Chapter 109: Chapter 109 - 0107: Free Clinic

There are only a few dozen families in the village, and news spread fast when the doctor from the provincial city arrived.

They gathered one by one at the entrance of the health clinic, someone asked Mago when the free clinic would start.

Having rested enough, Yang Ping asked Mago what medicines were prepared for this free clinic. Mago pulls out a list for Yang Ping to examine.

The list of medicines was very well prepared; it included treatments for a range of common diseases. Director Tian must have been involved in the preparation of the medicines.

Yang Ping said, “Everyone is getting impatient. Let’s start the free clinic.”

Mago told everyone to line up, each person was given a number. Patients were seen in order of their numbers. Those who had not been called could wander around but would have to wait their turn again if they missed their number.

Yang Ping sat behind the consultation desk, while Xiao Su sat beside him to help with blood pressure checks. Each patient received a blood pressure check before their consultation.

With the doctor from the city here, everyone came to take a look whether they were sick or not, just to ease their mind.

Most of the younger people spoke decent Mandarin, but the older ones didn’t. Mago acted as a translator for them. When translation wasn’t needed, she helped Xiao Su with the blood pressure checks.

The customs of the village were a bit different; the younger ones were examined first, and the older ones last. The reason was that the young and strong needed to hurry back to work, and the elderly were not in a hurry, so they could take their time.

The liaison officer picked up his camera and started taking photos from different angles – this was one of his main duties during the trip.

“Doctor, my neck always feels sore and swollen. It’s exhausting and uncomfortable. I don’t know how to sleep at night. What’s going on?” The first villager, a middle-aged man in his forties, came to see Yang Ping with a number one card. He rubbed his neck, looking quite distressed as if he was severely tormented.

He made a neck turning gesture and said, “Look, it makes cracking sounds!”

Yang Ping rose from his chair, walked around to the front of the table and to the man’s back, “Let me check,” he said.

He palpated the man’s neck and shoulder area, “The physiological curvature of your cervical spine is straightening. The muscles on both sides of your neck and back are tense. Do you experience numbness in your hands? Do you have dizziness?” he asked.

“Yes, sometimes my hands will go numb, and as for dizziness…let me think…only occasionally, I suddenly feel faint, for no apparent reason,” the man replied.

The villager with the number one card had great confidence in the doctor from the city.

“You have cervical spondylosis. Do you spend a lot of time looking down at your phone?” Yang Ping asked.

“Yes…how should I treat it? It’s not a big problem, right?” Number one was very worried.

Yang Ping returned to his seat, “Don’t worry. Your symptoms are still relatively mild, and treatment is very effective. I will give you some medicine, which is free. You will feel better after you finish it.”

He then wrote a prescription, mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and skeletal muscle relaxants, and handed the prescription to Mago to distribute the medication.

“Buy a wave-shaped pillow which will support the back of your neck when you sleep. This will keep your head slightly raised and help restore the natural curve of your cervical spine. You’ll sleep much better,” Yang Ping added.

“Support the back of my neck?” Number one was a little confused.

Yang Ping patiently explained, “Yes, usually we put the pillow only below our head while sleeping. But now you need to prop up the back of your neck as well so your head can lean back slightly. Also, try to reduce your screen time on the phone. It’s the number one killer of cervical health.”

“Are we done? There are others waiting to be seen,” someone from the back of the line urged.

Number one thought for a while, wondering if he had any other questions. Realizing he didn’t, he finally vacated his seat for the next person.

“I have back pain while his is neck pain. Doctor, it hurts here. If I sit for a long time and then stand up, it hurts. A few days ago, I twisted my back when I bent down to pick up an egg. It’s been hurting for several days.”

Number two, a man in his thirties came next.

Yang Ping asked him to turn around and pressed on the lumbar and sacral area. He then pressed along the sciatic nerve path and asked, “Does your leg hurt? Does it go numb?”

“Once, from here all the way down to my calf, it hurt and felt numb,” Number two gestured with his hand.

“This isn’t a twisted waist. It’s a lumbar disc herniation,” Yang Ping made a preliminary diagnosis.

“It’s over. Lumbar disc herniation?” Number two reacted as if he had been diagnosed with a severe disease.

“How is it over?” Yang Ping was confused.

“Everyone says this disease is incurable, it can only be managed, and it will lead to paralysis in the future!” Number two blurted out.

“Who said that?” Yang Ping asked.

“Them,” replied Number two.

“Who are they?” Yang Ping asked again.

Number two was at a loss for words. Who were they?

“Lumbar disc herniation can be treated; the vast majority will not lead to paralysis. Only very few cases do. In my years as a doctor, I haven’t come across any patient who has been paralyzed because of a lumbar disc herniation,” Yang Ping said confidently.

“Really? Doctor, then I’m relieved,” Number two expressed both his sorrow and joy very quickly.

“For your condition, take some painkillers if it hurts quite severely. The medicines I prescribe are the same as those for the previous patient. The underlying mechanism of your condition is similar to his, only the location differs,” Yang Ping tore off the prescription he had written.

Number two shook his head, “I won’t take painkillers! They have severe side effects!”

Yang Ping explained, “Every medicine indeed has side effects, but compared to their curative effects, most of these side effects seem trivial. The negative effects of pain on the human body might even be worse than those of painkillers. Besides, the medicine I prescribe not only relieves pain but more importantly, it reduces inflammation and alleviates your body’s inflammatory response.”

“In this case, I’ll give it a try,” Number two appeared to understand.

Yang Ping advised him, “This disease, after the pain has eased, you still need to exercise regularly to prevent recurrence. I’ll teach you a set of exercises for strengthening your back muscles. Once these muscles are conditioned, the stability of the spine will improve, the load on the discs will decrease, and naturally, your back will get better. When your back’s good, everything’s good.”

Hearing Yang Ping’s words, not only Number two but all the other men also leaned forward. They were intrigued by this magical exercise method; it seemed there was some secret code in it that only men would understand.

The liaison officer with the camera came up close.

“Do you have any padding?” Yang Ping asked Mago.

Mago instructed her husband, “Go bring out the mattress.”

Mago’s husband brought out a mattress from the house, the sort of makeshift one that soldiers use.

“Lie down, it’s simple, one arch bridge, one flying swallow, both are exercises for the back muscles. Lie down, bend your legs, yes, lift your waist and buttocks, slowly, slowly raise them, hold, persist a while, then slowly lower them, persist in doing these exercises every day, starting with a few dozen to a few hundred. Now lie down on your front, yes, place your hands by your sides and lift your head, chest, and feet, supported by your abdomen, lift both ends, tight, persist, then slowly lower down.”

“It’s that simple?” Number Two seemed a bit skeptical.

Yang Ping said, “Simple, cost-free things are often overlooked by people, they think they’re useless, and that getting injections and taking medicine are the only solutions.”

“Understood, I’ll start practicing today.” Number Two was quite confident.

Words spoken earnestly by a city doctor can’t be false.

Number Three, a young man in his twenties, hobbles over.

“What’s making you uncomfortable?” Yang Ping asked.

“Doctor, I want to see if there’s any way to cure this leg of mine, so that I can walk without limping?” Number Three put forward a leg, bending down to roll up his trouser leg.

Everyone bursts into laughter.

“What happened to your leg?”

“I fell from a tree when I was a child and broke it, didn’t get it treated, and have been limping ever since, you see, this leg is a bit crooked, and it’s also a bit shorter.”

Yang Ping stood up, helped him with his physical examination, and measured the force lines and lengths of his lower limbs.

Number Three worriedly asked, “Can it be cured? Nowadays, men can even be surgically transformed into women, my case must be simpler than that, right?”

“Why don’t you stop wasting time, let the people behind see if you don’t have other problems, the doctor is busy, and you’re messing around.”

Someone was unsatisfied, thinking this youngster was purposely making things difficult for the doctor.

“Yes, don’t cause trouble if there’s nothing wrong, everyone is waiting.”

Some people were agitated, urging him incessantly.

“It can be cured, and the possibility of a full recovery is very high.” Yang Ping leaned on his chair, took a sip of water.

The crowd gasped in astonishment, that can be cured?

“Really?” The young man just asked on a whim, not really harboring any hope, but who would have thought the doctor said it could be treated, this was beyond his wildest dreams.

“Don’t play me for a fool, doctor.” The young man smiled bitterly.

Yang Ping said: “You probably had a fracture in your lower leg bone before, which healed deformly, causing this side to be too short. You can undergo surgery to rectify it and regain a normal walking pattern.”

The young man felt a bit dizzy: “How—How— can it be rectified?”

“Lengthen the short leg, lengthen it to the same length as the normal one,” Yang Ping naturally said.

It can be done like that, medical techniques are really advancing.

The young man was excited: “Can you leave a phone number? I’ll come to find you in the provincial city. Truly, I want to treat this leg properly.”

Yang Ping took a piece of paper and wrote down a phone number for him.

He stood up, took the phone number that Yang Ping had written for him, and muttered to himself: “It can really be cured, it can really be cured.”

Next.

A young woman, in her early twenties, sat down: “Doctor, I—”

“What’s wrong with you?” Yang Ping asked.

She didn’t speak, her face flushed red, she said, “I’ll write it down for you.”

Yang Ping handed her paper and pen.

She wrote down: “I have regular menstrual pains!”

It was awkward, how to say this, he quickly drafted mentally in his heart, explaining the illness clearly without making the girl feel embarrassed.

He knew a little bit about diseases in other disciplines, just not as precise as the specialists, so he also picked up a pen to write.

Xiao Su on the side, peeked an eye, almost bursting into laughter.

“It’s raining!”

“It’s raining!”

Someone in the crowd shouted.

The weather was decent just now, with a bit of a reluctant sun.

Suddenly, it started raining.