"Dr. Lu, my mom has a type of stroke-like condition. Can this be treated with traditional Chinese medicine?"

"Hello, Dr. Lu. I heard about your work from Brother Liu, and I would like to ask if there is any good method in Chinese medicine for cavernous hemangioma?"

"Can rheumatic heart disease be managed with traditional Chinese medicine?"

"Dr. Lu, I was diagnosed with an esophageal hiatus hernia a few months ago, along with chronic superficial gastritis with erosion. I've consulted several hospitals, and they all said I need laparoscopic surgery to repair the hernia and a surgery called fundoplication..."

...

Lu Xuan didn't expect the group chat to become so active just after being set up, it was giving him a bit of a headache.

Not that he found it troublesome, he was genuinely happy that people were willing to reach out to him and believe that traditional Chinese medicine could bring them hope.

But with so many people consulting in the group all at once, he didn't know whom to respond to first. If he replied to one, he felt compelled to reply to all; if he didn't reply, it would be like throwing cold water on everyone's hopes.

However, among all the consultations, Lu Xuan's attention was drawn to one specific inquiry.

Esophageal hiatus hernia.

This is a common digestive disorder where abdominal organs enter the thoracic cavity through an enlarged esophageal hiatus, often accompanied by gastroesophageal reflux symptoms like heartburn and acid reflux. A paraesophageal hernia can cause compression symptoms like belching, chest pain, early satiety, and difficulty swallowing.

Moreover, if the paraesophageal hernia is large, it can cause compression and obstruction symptoms such as difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting, and chest pain, especially after a large meal.

The reason is quite simple: it's due to the stomach or other abdominal organs entering the thoracic cavity, compressing the lungs, mediastinum, and esophagus, and causing digestive tract obstruction as the herniated organs twist.

This situation is relatively serious.

Western medicine typically opts for surgical treatment for esophageal hiatus hernia, which involves a procedure known as fundoplication.

This procedure can indeed reduce acid reflux and even give patients the illusion of being cured. However, fundoplication has its flaws. Over time, say three to five years or longer, the folded part of the stomach can easily loosen, resulting in a recurrence.

A recurrence of acid reflux isn't much of an issue, but fundoplication can easily lead to organ adhesion. When it recurs, nearly no one dare attempt the surgery again.

Patients can easily end up staying on the operating table permanently.

Many patients find themselves with a recurrence after undergoing fundoplication, and when they seek help from other doctors, no one dares to take the case, and they're usually referred back to the original surgeon.

Is it that they can't?

No.

Although fundoplication is a surgery that has only become popular in recent years, many gastroenterologists are familiar with it. However, once adhesion occurs in patients who have had fundoplication, even the most skilled doctors would be hesitant.

The postoperative organ adhesion wasn't something doctors failed to warn about in advance; rather, the surgery was so new that even the surgeons themselves weren't fully aware of the potential risks once loosening occurred.

In traditional Chinese medicine, treatment for esophageal hiatus hernia mainly involves lowering the stomach qi.

Once the stomach qi is lowered, it naturally doesn't act up.

But for this condition, dietary restrictions must be followed—no sour, sweet, or spicy foods, especially sweets. Even if cured, consuming them could easily lead to a relapse.

Lu Xuan pressed on the screen and replied to the only patient, "I suggest you temporarily avoid surgery and start with traditional Chinese medicine therapy. As for the others, because I am still in consultation today, I can't reply to everyone individually. I'll review them in detail when I have time."

After sending this message, Lu Xuan turned to Su Kenan, "Next patient, please."

He then advised Liu Shao, "If you want to live longer, you have to change your habits. Otherwise, just relying on me to prescribe medication won't help if you don't cooperate."

Ever since the last time, Liu Shao had been following Lu Xuan's advice diligently. "Dr. Lu, rest assured, I will follow your instructions, take my medicine properly, and go to bed early."

"Alright, alright, no need for sweet talk. Just use this time to figure out how to adjust your biological clock."

Seeing that the second patient for the afternoon had already arrived, Lu Xuan directly sent Liu Shao away.

The one entering the consulting room was a man significantly older than Liu Shao.

He seemed to be in his forties.

Zhou Xinming appeared somewhat unwell, as if he hadn't slept well for days, when he came before Lu Xuan.

Noticing Zhou Xinming's poor condition, Lu Xuan glanced at the computer screen and seeing his name, proactively asked, "Are you Zhou Xinming?"

"Yes."

"What's bothering you? You look like you're in poor condition."

Upon hearing Lu Xuan's inquiry, Zhou Xinming began explaining his recent condition.

The patient had long suffered from restless nights, even staying awake the whole night, along with irritability, dizziness, declining memory, weakened cognitive ability, and lack of energy, accompanied by indigestion and other symptoms. He had been seen at the hospital, where Western medicine diagnosed him with neurasthenia.

However, neurasthenia is a term used in Western medicine and is not recognized in traditional Chinese medicine.

In Chinese medicine, neurasthenia is classified as an insomnia disorder, which traditionally attributes the pathology to a disconnect between the heart and kidneys.

The heart is the yang within yang, and the kidney is the yin within yin. The lack of true kidney yin fails to rise to support the heart yang, preventing the heart yang from descending to connect with the kidneys, thus causing an uprising towards the brain, resulting in insomnia.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.