I Can Talk to the Internal Organs-Chapter 200 - 169: Phantom Limb Pain, Illness of the Heart

"Peng Yan, Peng Yan, what are you standing there for? Grab the medicine!"

"Oh, oh, what medicine?"

"Circulation Revival Tonic."

"Got it."

"Why did you zone out just now?"

"You... never mind, we'll talk after work."

Peng Yan was full of questions, but he knew the occasion well, understanding that this was not the time for chatting.

Lu Jiu smiled and didn't press further.

After finishing the acupuncture for Wang Li, he called the next patient.

However, this patient was quite special; his left sleeve lacked a hand.

"How should I address you?" Lu Jiu asked.

"Lv Lihao," the man said.

"Where do you feel discomfort?" Lu Jiu asked.

"Since my hand was amputated, it's been unbearably painful, and no medicine helps. Especially at midnight, the pain is so severe that I can't sleep," Lv Lihao said.

"Phantom limb pain?"

Lu Jiu glanced at Lv Lihao's left sleeve.

In fact, in traditional Chinese medicine theory, there is no such disease name.

The cause of pain only falls into two categories: one is "pain due to obstruction," and the other is "pain due to lack of nourishment."

When the heart governs the blood vessels properly, the circulation of qi and blood is smooth, nourishing the five viscera internally and moistening the limbs externally, ensuring normal organ functions.

When the heart fails to govern the blood vessels, it leads to obstructed vessels, causing pain due to obstruction; when the vessels are not nourished, it leads to pain due to lack of nourishment.

Phantom limb pain after amputation obviously involves both.

After the hand is severed, the meridians are entirely cut off, naturally leading to blockage. When qi and blood can't follow the meridians smoothly, this impact manifests as pain.

Some patients feel pulsating pain, stabbing pain, cutting pain, or even spasmodic pulling pain, while others might feel as if their hand is still there, suggesting a vague existence. This is actually due to the loss of meridians, with feedback given by the obstruction of qi and blood returning to the heart.

It is both an internal issue of qi and blood mechanism and an external issue of visual perception. That is, after amputation, the inconveniences brought by external life make one focus on the missing limb, causing discomfort that affects the mind.

Just like with the rise of short videos, everyone watches various fitness videos. Suddenly, a blogger claims that bent, thick calves are due to a few bad habits, and by following a few exercises, you can make your calves slimmer and straighter, becoming more beautiful and confident.

It's all nonsense; first of all, slightly bent calves align with the logic of skeletal growth. Out of ten million people, only one or two may have perfectly straight legs. Most people have slightly bent calves, and those severely bent can't be straightened with a few exercises, even if you persist for ten years.

Secondly, thick calves aren't slimmed down by just doing a few localized leg-slimming exercises. Body fat is a whole; thick calves usually mean that the whole person is a little overweight, or the Achilles tendon is relatively short, making the visual effect appear chubby.

Therefore, any blogger promoting localized fat reduction or skeletal straightening adjustments, every single one, is a scammer.

They only cause anxiety without any real effect.

And this anxiety brings more than just temporary distress.

Also insecurity, insomnia, anxiety, and loss of themselves.

If someone falls into this state of self-denial and doesn't know how to adjust, over time they are bound to get sick.

In a sense, phantom limb pain results partly from self-induced anxiety.

Whether it's obstruction of qi and blood or visual perception, they all point to one place.

The heart!

The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, Plain Questions · On the True Theory chapter says, "All pain, itching, and sores belong to the heart."

Plain Questions · Essential Secret Treatise chapter also states, "If the ruler is unclear, the twelve officials are in danger, and the pathways are blocked and obstructed."

After amputation, besides the trauma to the limb, the heart suffers the most damage.

The heart governs the divine brightness, also known as the Heart storing the Shen, meaning it commands all the body's viscera, meridians, body, and orifices' physiological activities and presides over consciousness, thinking, and mental activities.

Both domestically and internationally, experiments are often conducted where a lifelike fake hand is placed before a person, then cut with a knife, causing the person to instinctively feel pain and recoil as soon as the knife strikes the fake hand.

This is a typical case of illusory pain caused by psychological suggestion.

Western medicine attributes it to brain issues; thus, phantom limb pain in Western view arises from amputation constantly activating the cortical nerve cells in the brain, causing pain; amputation triggers cortical reorganization, inducing pain by activating nearby or alternate path nerve cells.

Thus, interfering with cortical nerve paths can relieve post-amputation pain.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the brain is governed by the heart. The heart and brain are connected through the Hand Shaoyin meridians, Ren meridian, and Du meridian.

When Lu Jiu treats patients with insomnia, he not only prescribes medicine but also needles at the acupoints on the Ren meridian.

Because needling the acupoints on the Ren meridian can relieve brain function, adjust the heart-mind, and reduce pain.

Even a single acupoint can yield good effects; if combined in treatment, it enhances the targeted effect.

"Yes, it's phantom limb pain. The doctor said that if medication doesn't alleviate the pain, I should try traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Lu, do you think this... will work?" Lv Lihao said.

Lv Lihao couldn't sleep every night now, and the physical pain added significant mental stress for him.

Already unemployed due to losing his left hand, he now must endure the torment of the missing limb every night.

In just a month, Lv Lihao had become noticeably thinner.

Recently, he even had suicidal thoughts.

Truly, it's too torturous!

Neither able to die nor able to live comfortably, every day, every hour, even every minute and second, Lv Lihao felt incredibly tormented.

"Let me check your pulse first," Lu Jiu said.

Although he knew it was a heart issue, if Lv Lihao had other problems in his body, they would directly influence Lu Jiu's diagnosis.

Just treating the heart for phantom limb pain was obviously not comprehensive enough.

Upon hearing this, Lv Lihao extended his right hand.

He could only extend his right hand.

Lu Jiu placed his fingers on Lv Lihao's wrist, immersing his mind in the process, while feeling the pulse and listening to the dialogue of the Five Viscera.

...

"Heart Fire, Heart Fire, are you feeling any better now?" Spleen Earth asked.

"It's useless, I need more qi and blood now, but I don't have the extra ability to command them. No matter how much you give me, it's meaningless. I just feel very tired, not wanting to move, only wanting to rest," Heart Fire said.

"That's no good, you need to cheer up. Liver Wood, why don't you help Heart Fire? It's clearly been suppressed too long and needs to vent some stuff. Hurry up and help," Spleen Earth said.

"I would like to, but what can I do without energy? That guy can't sleep every day and constantly frets. It's not just Heart Fire that's tired; I'm tired too. At night, the blood doesn't even come my way. I want to nourish the blood before giving it to Heart Fire, but I can't. What's the point of urging me?" Liver Wood said. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"This is not a solution. Today is still okay, but on rainy days, it's even more troublesome. How about Hydronephrosis, any way?" Spleen Earth asked.

"I don't have any. My little essence storage now needs to supplement his brain, and there's nothing extra. Don't count on me," Hydronephrosis said.

"And Fei Jin, you don't have any way either?" Spleen Earth asked.

"I don't have the ability," Fei Jin said.

Oh?

Heart Fire no longer has the ability to command qi and blood?

That should mean insufficient Heart Yang.

Coupled with what Spleen Earth said about the situation being worse on rainy days, undoubtedly, it should be innate yang deficiency.

Hydronephrosis also mentioned needing to supplement the brain, which clearly indicates Divine Soul imbalance, Sea of Marrow being undernourished, marrow deficiency, and thus Hydronephrosis naturally needing supplementation. Otherwise, there'd be that empty-headed, sluggish state.

In the short term, doing this by Hydronephrosis might be fine, but over time, if Hydronephrosis continues depleting itself to nourish the Sea of Marrow, that situation would be disastrous.

This is also why many weird illnesses start with insomnia.

Once a person is insomniac, it harms the entire Five Viscera and Six Bowels.

The most severely affected are Liver, Heart, and Kidney.

We won't discuss involuntary insomnia, caused by various factors, but rather the kind where clearly there's no issue, yet a person likes to stay up all night, training themselves to become insomniac.

This is a typical deserved illness.

After taking the pulse, Lu Jiu roughly understood Lv Lihao's condition.

"All things grow by yang"; the operation of human qi and blood relies on the propulsion and warmth by Heart Yang. If Heart Yang is insufficient and propulsion decreases, causing qi and blood flow obstruction, it leads to "no circulation, thus pain"; a decline in warmth function failing to nourish the body leads to "no nourishment, thus pain."

Lv Lihao belongs to Heart Yang deficiency with blood stasis internally. Treatment should prioritize warming and communicating Heart Yang and harmonizing qi and blood to treat the symptoms.

Unfortunately, Lu Jiu didn't know Navel Needle, which would cover this type of ailment swiftly and effectively.

Navel Needle, as the name suggests, is applied to the navel area.

The navel is the Shenque Acupoint, located on the Ren Meridian, a very special acupoint.

Zhang Jingyue recorded in "Classical Texts and Supplements," "When one is born, life comes from the umbilical cord, which connects the Dantian, known as the Qi Sea, or the Life Gate... The gate of life is also the door to death, so the rise and fall, safety, and danger of man are all linked here..."

Therefore, the navel contains pre-natal meridian qi, linking pre-natal and post-natal, closely associated with the body's Five Viscera, qi and blood, meridians, and emotional changes. Needle application at the navel can harmonize qi and blood and regulate autonomic nervous functions.

In other words, Navel Needle can treat a hundred illnesses.

When working at the Jinling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lu Jiu saw Principal Shen Congwei use Navel Needle.

For some ailments like diarrhea, gastric ulcers, acute gastritis, and lumbar spinal stenosis, Navel Needle was extremely effective.

Lu Jiu once wanted to learn Navel Needle, but its foundational logic lies in the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, requiring knowledge of The Book of Changes and orientation.

He had no foundation in this before, so naturally, he couldn't understand the intricacies.

But Mountain Burning Fire is also viable, though this needle technique in supplementing is fierce and not suitable for gentle tonification.

So Lu Jiu could only use the balancing tonification technique to administer acupuncture to Lv Lihao.

"How long has it been since the amputation surgery?" Lu Jiu asked.

"More than a month," Lv Lihao replied.

"In this month, has the amputated area hurt more on rainy days than usual?" Lu Jiu asked.

"Yes, yes, during normal times, the pain would wake me at midnight, but I could still sleep a bit due to exhaustion. When it rained, no matter how tired I was, I couldn't sleep," Lv Lihao raised his brows, feeling that Lu Jiu's words were very accurate.

"When it hurts, does it feel like your hand is still there, and your mind feels dull, constantly influenced by negative emotions, grumbling with the slightest dissatisfaction, having no energy, or not being able to eat? You feel hungry but have no appetite?" Lu Jiu asked.

"Exactly, Dr. Lu, can you treat me?" Lv Lihao hastily asked.

"Hmm, sit there and take off your shirt. Let me try a few needles," Lu Jiu said.

Upon hearing this, Lv Lihao's face lit up with joy. He promptly sat on the stool that Lu Jiu pointed to against the wall, where the aunt who had been silently standing by his side began helping him undress.

Peng Yan noticed Lu Jiu grabbing a dozen disposable finest needles and couldn't help but wonder.

What does this mean?

Even a complex ailment like phantom limb pain, can Lu Jiu treat it, too!?