Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 217 - 167: Floating Needle and Small Needle Knife

"The Eight Great Schools of Traumatology? What does that mean?"

On the way to the hospital, Chen Yu looked at Yao Songping and asked curiously.

Yao Songping wasn’t from Shanghai, but he had worked there for a long time. He smiled and explained, "They’re the eight renowned schools of traumatology from the Modu Region over the past century. They’re famous throughout the country: Shi, Wei, Wang, Shi, Lu, Min, Yin, and Tong."

"The director we’re going to see now is Zhou Chengyang. He’s the head of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Department at Zhabei Central Hospital. He previously worked at Dawn Hospital, where he studied under Mr. Shi Yinyu, the fourth-generation inheritor of Shi’s Trauma Department. After coming to Zhabei Central Hospital, he also inherited the mantle of Mr. Shi Chunong, making him one of the foremost representatives of Shi’s Trauma Department."

"Dr. Chen, your schedule is tight. Otherwise, I could take you to Du Jin Hospital tomorrow. Their Orthopedics and Traumatology Department follows the traditions of Wei’s Trauma Department. The Eight Great Schools of Traumatology have long histories, but the only ones still truly active today are the Shi and Wei schools."

Chen Yu understood. He couldn’t help but feel fortunate. If he hadn’t met Yao Songping and the others, he would have been completely in the dark on his own. He wouldn’t have known where to go or who to see to discuss traditional Chinese medicine.

Before long, the car arrived at Zhabei Central Hospital.

The car stopped in front of the main entrance of the administration building. Before Chen Yu even got out, he could see a large group of people waiting outside.

A red banner was stretched out above, with a line of text written in both Chinese and English.

"Welcome, Mr. Chen Yu, Orthopedic Expert from the United States, to Zhabei Central Hospital for a Visit and Exchange."

’They’re taking this quite seriously.’

Yao Songping led the way out of the car, and the bustling crowd immediately came forward to greet them.

"Dean Zhao, didn’t you say you had a meeting and couldn’t make it back?" Yao Songping asked quizzically as he approached an older, bespectacled man—the hospital’s dean, Zhao Hengsheng.

Zhao Hengsheng first shook Chen Yu’s hand and welcomed him before explaining, "It wasn’t a very important meeting, so I came back early. Dr. Chen is a top orthopedic expert from the United States, the Miracle Doctor. It’s a rare opportunity to have you visit, so I certainly had to meet you."

With that, he looked at Chen Yu and said with a smile, "Dr. Chen, you are indeed as young and promising as they say."

Originally, when Yao Songping contacted them, the hospital had arranged for a vice dean to receive him as a courtesy.

But after learning about the visit, Dean Zhao had specifically asked someone to look into Chen Yu’s background.

’After all, I’d never heard of him.’

The results were startling. He discovered that Chen Yu had a huge reputation in the United States. Not only was he a top expert in sports medicine and orthopedics, but he was also the so-called Miracle Doctor who could awaken patients from vegetative states.

That was why he had made a special trip back to personally receive Chen Yu.

Seeing him in person, Zhao Hengsheng couldn’t help but look surprised. ’He’s so young!’

He knew that becoming a doctor in the United States wasn’t easy. But at around thirty years old, an age when someone in China would have just become an attending physician, Chen Yu was already a top expert.

Zhao Hengsheng’s English was excellent, so communication was not an issue. Chen Yu exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with everyone present.

Among them was Zhou Chengyang, the main person he had come to see.

In his early forties, he was also considered young. Perhaps because they had just met and were strangers, he seemed a bit shy.

The group entered the hospital, where a small welcome ceremony was held. Someone presented Chen Yu with flowers, and everyone posed for photos.

Chen Yu didn’t refuse. He went with the flow, and after the formalities were over, he headed to the Orthopedics and Traumatology Department, accompanied by Zhao Hengsheng and the others.

"He’s of Chinese descent, right?" Zhao Hengsheng asked, falling a few steps behind with Yao Songping to chat as they walked.

Yao Songping nodded.

"That couldn’t have been easy," Zhao Hengsheng said with a sigh. He added, "By the way, I saw in media reports that he knows traditional Chinese medicine. He can perform Acupuncture, understands meridians and acupoints, and even treats people that way in the United States."

"That’s right." Yao Songping had seen it with his own eyes yesterday. He then added, "But don’t think of him as a TCM doctor. He still primarily practices Western medicine."

Yesterday at the sports institute, when Yao Songping first heard Chen Yu talk about using Acupuncture, acupressure, and writing prescriptions for the Suns, he thought traditional Chinese medicine must be incredibly prominent in the United States. Only after a more in-depth conversation did he realize he had been overthinking it. Chen Yu only used Acupuncture and other such methods as supplementary treatments. When it came to actually curing diseases, he still relied on the Western medical approach, with surgery as the mainstay.

Zhao Hengsheng smiled. "That’s still rare. In the past, when I attended international conferences, the Western doctors I met always looked down on our traditional Chinese medicine. But look, even their top expert uses our TCM treatment methods. Isn’t that the best proof that it’s effective? That’s why I think it’s necessary to publicize this properly."

Yao Songping understood what Zhao Hengsheng was implying. He smiled and nodded without delving deeper into the topic.

The Orthopedics and Traumatology Department was a key department at Zhabei Central Hospital.

Zhou Chengyang, as the department head, took the lead in showing Chen Yu around.

"This is our Shi’s Trauma Department’s unique ’Three-Color Poultice’." Zhou Chengyang took out a medicinal plaster and introduced it to Chen Yu.

It was an important part of the Shi’s Trauma Department’s heritage, with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-swelling properties that promoted soft tissue repair.

Chen Yu was quite eager to ask about the specific formula and preparation method.

’For it to have been passed down for so many years, it must have some unique qualities.’

’The information provided by the system didn’t include this formula.’

Unexpectedly, Zhou Chengyang took the initiative to describe the formula. He even mentioned that his "senior uncle," Mr. Shi Yangshan, had published a book that detailed the special therapies and experience with external medications of Shi’s Trauma Department in great detail.

"Is that so? I should buy a copy and study it carefully." Chen Yu silently made a note of the book’s title.

Zhou Chengyang said, "No need to buy it. I have a copy here I can give you."

With that, he went to a nearby bookshelf, pulled out a book, and handed it over.

"But it’s in Chinese. There’s no English translation."

This knowledge had been passed down for many years and wasn’t some closely guarded secret. Since this was an exchange, Zhou Chengyang had no intention of hiding anything.

Chen Yu accepted it, thanking him repeatedly. It also occurred to him that he could buy some books on traditional Chinese medicine to take with him when he left China.

Besides the Three-Color Poultice, Shi’s Trauma Department had many other unique formulas, which Zhou Chengyang introduced one by one. Finally, he said, "Our Shi’s Trauma Department still focuses mainly on Acupuncture therapy. For instance, I also went to learn the Floating Needle and Small Needle Knife therapies, and their effects are excellent."

He also shared a few cases. For example, last week, a patient had a locked meniscus. He treated it using the Floating Needle, and in just one or two minutes, the pain subsided, and the patient was soon able to walk upright.

Chen Yu knew that a locked meniscus had a certain chance of unlocking on its own and resolving.

"What is the Floating Needle?" Chen Yu’s interest was piqued, and he spoke up to ask.

’The system’s data has no information on the Floating Needle.’

To be honest, Chen Yu didn’t really need the formula for the Three-Color Poultice or the various bone-setting techniques.

’Because he had the system, and the system’s effects were far superior to any medicinal plaster.’

’And as for bone-setting techniques, no matter how good they were, they couldn’t be better than his Eye of All-Seeing.’

He was only interested in things like this that he had never heard of before—things he hoped to learn through these exchanges.

Fearing his explanation wouldn’t be clear enough, Zhou Chengyang took Chen Yu directly to the patient ward and found a patient to help demonstrate.

"Initially, when Dr. Fu invented this needling technique, it was specifically for treating tennis elbow."

Of course, Chen Yu knew what tennis elbow was.

To put it bluntly, it was still a matter of overuse causing degeneration, degradation, and tearing of the tendon tissue, resulting in inflammation and pain.

For athletes, conditions like Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis were all similar situations.

"So, you mean it achieves a therapeutic effect by sweeping and loosening the muscles in the affected area via the superficial fascia." Chen Yu understood immediately.

Acupuncture needles penetrate deep, whereas this Floating Needle is used superficially, just under the skin, to cover an area and loosen the muscles. The rapid effect, like in the example Zhou Chengyang just gave, meant it was effective for acute pain.

’This is actually quite suitable for me.’

Chen Yu immediately thought that with his Eye of All-Seeing, he could clearly see the torn and adhered muscle fibers. Using this Floating Needle, he could loosen the muscles with greater precision to relieve pain.

They had even invented a specialized tool for the Floating Needle.

Chen Yu picked up one of the tools and nodded to himself. ’This trip wasn’t a waste. I’ve learned something.’

Zhou Chengyang continued, "Besides the Floating Needle, there’s also the Small Needle Knife, which works on a similar principle. It uses a special acupuncture-like tool, like a scalpel, to cut through adhered muscle tissue, achieving immediate pain relief."

He introduced another needling technique and brought over a Small Needle Knife tool for Chen Yu to see.

It was a slightly thicker needle with a flat, sharp tip, like a miniature scalpel.

Zhou Chengyang also mentioned that this special needling technique had won a gold medal at the Eureka World Science and Technology Exposition and was very famous.

Chen Yu picked up the Small Needle Knife and understood its principle in an instant.

’It’s similar to the Floating Needle.’

’Acupuncture pierces acupoints and tender spots, stimulating the local area to restore blood supply and accelerate the body’s self-healing.’

’The Floating Needle, on the other hand, sweeps a large area just beneath the skin, like using a needle to pick and tease apart a tangled mess of muscle fibers.’

’And finally, this Small Needle Knife goes a step further. It’s like micro-invasive surgery, directly severing the adhered muscle fibers.’

’Once they’re severed, they can’t adhere, and the pain disappears.’

’But doing it this way carries significant risks and hidden dangers.’

’If one is extremely familiar with human anatomy and has extensive experience, they could attempt it to sever adhesions that can’t be relieved otherwise, achieving a therapeutic effect.’

’But if one isn’t familiar, cutting indiscriminately might provide immediate, short-term relief, but after the severed area heals, it could easily form even more complex adhesions.’

’You can’t say this therapy is bad, only that it’s highly problematic.’

’As for winning some exposition gold medal, that kind of thing is just for show. They hand them out every year and have no real reference value.’

’Of course, for someone like me who possessed the Eye of All-Seeing, this method was something I could reference and potentially use.’

’But it treats the symptoms, not the root cause. A complete recovery would require effort in other areas.’

"That’s basically it." Zhou Chengyang introduced a few more combination therapies involving traditional Chinese and Western medicine, then stopped.

Everyone present then turned their gazes to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu immediately understood. ’It’s my turn.’

’An exchange is a two-way street, after all.’

Fortunately, Chen Yu had come prepared.

Arriving at the conference room, Chen Yu took out a memory card and projected the case file he had prepared onto the screen.

"This is one of my cases, which I believe is quite representative."

Chen Yu went up to the stage and pointed at the screen. "I performed a ligament suture repair, a meniscus transplant, and a microfracture surgery to reconstruct the worn cartilage. At the same time, I also did an autologous tendon graft. Post-surgery, we also used PRP therapy to aid in cartilage and ligament repair."

The projected case file didn’t have a name on it, but it was Baggio’s.

The guy’s injuries had been so severe that he’d suffered nearly every major injury possible, which made his case highly representative.

Down below, after reading the case file, Zhao Hengsheng and the others fell silent. A single thought ran through their minds: ’He was completely crippled. How could that still be treated?’