Health Blog
Written by Dr. Heo Ji-young. Each piece takes a single symptom and follows what is actually happening in the body.
The Term "Healing Crisis" — Is It a Process of Getting Better, or a Side Effect?
When I hear the word "healing crisis," I check once more. Whether the reaction is a recovery process or a side effect is not something to settle with a word but something to verify and distinguish.
May I Take Herbal Medicine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
In the body during this period there are two people. Both "no herbal medicine during pregnancy" and "herbal medicine is natural, so it is fine" are wrong. There are materials that cannot be used, materials used with caution, and cases where they are used when needed.
The Claim That Herbal Medicine Has Not Been Scientifically Proven
The claim that 'herbal medicine has not been proven' contains both a correct part and a mistaken part. Having no research and having been researched and shown to have no effect are completely different things.
They Say Rest Heals — But What If Resting Doesn't Heal You
Resting and recovering are not the same thing. Recovery is active work the body does, and for that work to run, the conditions must be right. Saying rest doesn't heal you is not a confession of laziness but important diagnostic information.
If the Name of Your Illness Changes Every Time You Switch Hospitals
The diagnosis changing from hospital to hospital isn't because there's something wrong with you, nor because the doctors are mistaken. A diagnosis is a label seen through each one's own window. Instead of adding one more name, I look at what tilted, and in what order.
If Sound and Light Grate on You Especially, and People Wear You Out
Being grated on by sound and light is not a personality problem. It is not that the senses have grown sharper, but that the power to filter has grown weak. A state of alertness does not come down by resolve; it comes down only when the conditions to come down are met.
If the Painful Spot Is Actually Cold and Dull
Even the same pain feels different to the touch — some spots hot, some cold. Long-standing pain is often not an excess of inflammation but a case where even the repair response cannot rise. Rather than making a painful spot quiet, I look toward making it respond again.
When the Bone Has Healed but It Still Hurts
Why do swelling and pain remain when the X-ray says the bone has healed? Muscles, ligaments, joint capsules, small nerves, and lymphatic flow injured with a fracture can recover more slowly than bone; worsening, red, or hot pain needs orthopaedic care first.
When It Gets Especially Worse in Winter and at Dawn
If your pain worsens at three or four in the morning and in winter, it's no coincidence. At the time when the body's temperature and circulation are at their lowest, the weakest spot gives way first. I read the timetable of pain as a clue for treatment.
Unused Tissue Withers — But Filling It Back In Does Not Bring It Back to Life
Tissue long unused withers. But pushing good things in does not bring it back to life. Atrophied tissue has also lost the strength to handle it. Before deciding what more to add, I first look at what this body can bear.
When You Breathe, Does Your Pelvis Move Along Too?
When groin pain, recurring cystitis and vaginitis, and a feeling that things are about to drop out come together, I also look at the pelvis. When the pressure wave of the breath cannot reach that space, it pools and dries. I look first at how far the breath goes.
When your stomach rumbles and your hands and feet are cold, but the tests are normal
When your stomach makes loud noises, your hands and feet are cold, and your belly is hard, it may not be three symptoms but one state. Showing up on a test isn't the same as nothing being wrong. I look at the conditions that don't get captured in a photo.