After more than 20 years of medical practice, I gradually developed some occupational diseases. I got off work late that day, and on the way back, I saw a man crouching against the wall of the hospital in front of me, feeling very painful.
I hurriedly stepped forward to check, only to find out that she was the cleaning aunt of the hospital. I saw her holding her stomach with both hands, and her first instinct was that her aunt should be suffering from hepatobiliary diseases. When I got closer, I saw that my aunt's forehead was fine and dense, full of beads of sweat.
I quickly helped her to my office and arranged for her to sit down. My aunt knew that I was the director of the hepatobiliary department, so she began to talk about it endlessly.
She said she was 62 years old and had a history of cholecystitis, but had not had an attack in a long time. Recently, I often have pain in the right hypochondrium, and the pain is severe each time, and the pain lasts for about 5-10 minutes. There are also symptoms such as bitterness and dry mouth, upset, lack of urine and yellow color, and constipation.
Auntie said, "Actually, these days, I have always wanted the doctor in our department to help me take a look, but after the pain was over, I forgot about it, and when I thought about it later, I thought it was me making a fuss." I quickly replied to her, "You can't have that kind of thought, just look at the symptoms as soon as you have them." Many serious conditions are dragged out, and it is better to treat them early. Auntie nodded again and again.
So I examined her, and I saw that her tongue was dark red and her tongue coating was yellow and greasy. Combined with the above symptoms, I judged her to be damp-heat acute cholecystitis.
This reminds me that the "Xiao Chai Hu Tang" in "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" may apply. Because Xiao Chai Hu Tang is mainly used for typhoid fever and Shaoyang syndrome, its main effect is to reconcile Shaoyang, and treat chest and flank bitterness, upset and nausea.
Xiao Chai Hu soup is composed of Bupleurum chinensis, skullcap, ginger, banxia, boiled licorice, ginseng, and red dates. The chai hu in the recipe soothes the liver and relieves the gallbladder, and can regulate the qi; Skullcap can clear away heat and dampness, and improve the damp and hot environment in the patient's body. I was worried that the heat was not strong enough, so I added dandelion to the recipe.
The patient himself did not have a deficiency of righteous qi, so the qi-tonifying drugs in "Xiao Chai Hu Tang" - ginseng and jujube - can be removed. The patient also did not experience vomiting, so ginger and banxia were not needed.
However, patients often have pain in the right hypochondrium, so I added neem and Yanhusuo to relieve pain, white peony and licorice, nourish the liver and soften the liver, and reconcile various medicines.
So, in the end, the prescription I gave was: Bupleurum chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Dandelion, Neem seed, Yanhusuo, white peony and licorice.
After taking 4 doses of medicine, my aunt came to my clinic and told me excitedly, "My stomach really doesn't hurt now, I used to hear others say that you have excellent medical skills, but I didn't expect that I would be lucky enough to witness it one day." ”
After another two days, the aunt said that not only did she no longer have abdominal pain, but her mouth was no longer bitter and her bowel movements were normal. It didn't work better, so I prescribed 3 more doses of medicine for my aunt and asked her to go back and consolidate.
Later, I often met her in the hospital, and my aunt greeted me very warmly, and her complexion improved visibly. I'm also very proud.
I still remember when I first embarked on the path of Chinese medicine, I hoped to keep the people around me away from hepatobiliary diseases. Although many years have passed, my original intention has not changed.