Sinusitis.
Sinusitis is the more medical term.
It means there's inflammation in the sinuses...
Basically, it's inflammation in the spaces next to the nose.
If it's causing headaches like this patient, it probably means the inflammation is deep in the sinuses...
'Ugh... I really don't want to do this...'
Any antibiotics?
Antibiotics...
Blue mold...
I thought about leaving some bread out somewhere.
But my only knowledge of penicillin was that it came from blue mold.
As if there's only blue mold for penicillin in the world...
There are probably more bad molds than good ones.
And you'd feed that to a patient?
'That's murder... straight-up murder.'
So, what should I do first?
"Ah."
A brilliant idea came to me.
There's no rule saying surgery is absolutely necessary, right?
The first thing to try for sinusitis is nasal irrigation.
"Patient."
"Yes?"
"You have some inflammation in your nose. That's likely causing your headaches."
Plus, this might not even be the root cause.
As I thought about it more...
Or rather, as I looked outside...
The sky was pitch black.
Is it going to rain?
No, it's just how the London sky looks.
21st-century Korea's fine dust was no joke, but it's nothing compared to this.
This place is just hell.
'Doesn't everyone just have sinusitis as a given here...? Of course, bending your head makes the pain worse... So, it's likely the inflammation around here is the cause...?'
What if I operated on the nose.
And they survived, thankfully.
But it wasn't sinusitis.
Wow.
How would I live with that guilt...
"So, are you going to... remove the nose?"
"No, no."
Would that be okay in this era?
If something's the cause, you just remove it, right?
It's not just the doctors; even the patients think that way...
'No, no.'
I shook my head hard to rid myself of the devilish thoughts.
Then I spoke properly.
"Let's clean the nose."
"Huh? Wash my face?"
"No, the inside of your nose."
"The... inside of my nose?"
"Wait, are you crazy?"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
I was clearly giving a medically accurate and safe treatment, but the people around me, being so unsophisticated, started criticizing me.
Well, I guess the idea of cleaning the inside of the nose is hard to grasp.
These guys don't even clean the outside of their noses properly.
For some reason...
In this era, there are quite a few people who think washing is bad.
If cleanliness were valued, the Thames River wouldn't be in such a state.
"No, look. Just bring me a kettle. Oh, and boil it while you're at it."
"Boil water...? Oh, are you going to pour it into the nose to treat it?"
"No... that's... that won't work...
....
The patient would die...?"
Joseph, who seemed to have thought up some torture technique, clapped his hands and then, for some reason, looked disappointed that it wasn't my idea, and disappeared into the kitchen.
In a normal hospital, there would be equipment to boil things near the wards, but our proud London College was a hospital where no one washed their hands before I arrived, so everything was far away.
So, we had to wait for a while, during which Alfred asked:
"So, the nose can cause headaches?"
"Ah..."
It's a reasonable question if you don't know anatomy.
Isn't it obvious?
Most diseases require an understanding of anatomy to grasp their physiology.
And surprisingly, even in the 21st century, anatomy wasn't fully understood.
There were still debates about whether certain parts were variations or deformities.
So, what about this era?
Everything is a mess.
"Let's see. We'll take a closer look during the dissection later."
"Ah... right. You're a genius at dissection."
"Well, yeah."
I was a bit reluctant to dissect the face.
Doesn't formalin make the body look a bit like a doll?
Still, during dissection practice, we usually covered the face.
Humans naturally feel the most fear—or at least discomfort—when the parts that help us recognize others are damaged.
But to understand the anatomy around the nose, we had to do it.
I'd also forgotten a lot about that area...
'If I end up doing surgery, I'll need to practice...'
Fortunately, most cadavers had intact faces.
In this era, the face wasn't a target for surgery except for some boils, so no one even thought to touch it.
No matter how curious someone was, they couldn't bring themselves to dig into the face.
"Ouch, it's hot."
Meanwhile, Joseph brought a kettle of boiling water.
Steam was rising from the spout.
"Patient. Bring the spout close..."
"Ah, hot!"
"No, not that close. Just close enough for the steam to rise. Yes, there. Now, put your nostril over it."
"O...kay."
The patient's nose had turned red from the heat, but I positioned it correctly.
Steam was flowing steadily inside.
"This feels like some mystical treatment..."
"No, it's not."
"No? It feels like I'm inhaling something..."
"It's not that."
The white steam flowing into the nose must have looked mystical.
Well, since I'm Asian, it probably added to that impression.
The Native Americans, whom we call Indians, also do something mystical, right?
They look different from me, but there's probably some prejudice there.
Especially after what I just showed them, it must have seemed convincing.
"So, patient, how's your nose?"
"Huh? Ah... yes. It's... strangely much easier to breathe now."
"It's a mystical treatment!"
Since it worked, Joseph and Alfred's excitement wasn't surprising.
Of course, I felt wronged.
"No, it's not that."
"Then what is it?"
Why do humans breathe through their noses?
The structure of the nose makes it clear.
Inside the nose, there are three turbinate structures that increase the surface area.
Not only that, but the nose is full of blood vessels.
These help warm and humidify the cold, dry air from outside, making gas exchange in the lungs easier.
The brain, which uses the most oxygen, benefits from this.
Breathing through the mouth can cause various problems.
In fact, mouth breathing can even cause ADHD.
'I can't explain all this clearly.'
I sighed briefly, then spoke.
"Have you ever blown your nose during a shower?"
"Huh?"
"Uh...?"
In a world where theory isn't enough, you have to rely on experience.
"Especially with warm water. Since your family is well-off, you probably shower often, right?"
"Ah... now that you mention it, I only blow my nose during showers..."
"Me too."
"Don't a lot of chunks come out then?"
"Uh... it's embarrassing, but..."
"A lot comes out."
Even in London, the son of a wealthy merchant family and a devout Quaker family, who made a fortune selling alcohol, blushed while talking about blowing their noses.
It's not something to be ashamed of.
London's air is truly terrible.
"That's when I realized. The warm steam...
...
It probably helps widen the nose and clear out whatever's stuck inside, right? That's what I thought."
"Oh..."
"Now that you mention it...
I also felt better breathing then."
"It's a simple fact, but it's hard to notice if you don't think about it."
"Wow... you're really a genius."
"Seriously... you're a genius."
Unintentionally, the legend of Kim Tae-pyeong, the genius, started spreading again, but it worked out well.
With these misunderstandings and prejudices piling up, even if I reveal more information later, it'll be believable.
Even if not... these two will be absolutely loyal to me.
Plus, with Blundell, who's recently changed his attitude towards me, my position is quite solid.
"Anyway... patient, do you want to try blowing your nose a bit?"
"Uh, yes."
While I was explaining, I turned to the patient.
They already looked impressed.
I saved them from the coffin, so it's natural.
Plus, what I just showed them was truly brilliant.
Hehe.
Alright, I'll go as a 19th-century genius.
"ACHOO!"
The patient blew their nose with their bare hands.
There's no such thing as tissues in this world, so it couldn't be helped.
Actually, it's better this way.
I wanted to see the nose too.
"Wow... it's yellow."
"Too yellow? I sometimes get this too, but... this much..."
That's not snot, guys.
Snot isn't... like that.
That's just pus.
It's sticky, and there are even yellow chunks.
"How's the headache?"
"Ah... it's better than before. My head was...
This has been going on for 24 hours... especially when I lie down to sleep...
It gets worse, but now... oh. This...
This is..."
The symptoms had improved too.
At this point, I could confidently make a diagnosis.
Even without an X-ray, this is the best I can do in this era.
"It's definitely because of the pus in your nose...
But this is only a temporary improvement. For now, keep blowing your nose until the water cools down... Once it's cool, I'll show you how to rinse it properly."
"Ah, yes. Thank you! How can I ever repay this kindness..."
"Just focus on getting better for now."
How can you even repay kindness?
They look poor no matter how you see it.
But if this treatment proves effective, there will definitely be rewards.
'In this era, nobles and all sorts of people exist...'
There must be people who endure headaches.
Air is fair to everyone.
And if I can show that simple treatments work instead of surgery...
'I might get rich!'
Wow!
Lost in my dreams, the water cooled down.
By then, the patient had blown out quite a bit of pus.
Enough to fill a small paper cup?
Well, there's probably some steam mixed in, but still.
"Now, we'll use this water to clean the inside of your nose. It'll be more effective than what we've done so far."
It was time to show them nasal irrigation.
It might look a bit gross, but...
The results will be miraculous, guys.