Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence Chapter 408: Clipping Fingernails

Hic~

Although Lin Xiaoyu tried her best to control it, hiccuping was sothing beyond a person’s conscious will.

She let out another loud hiccup.

It drew the gazes of every patient in the clinic.

Lin Xiaoyu grew even more embarrassed.

"Doctor Li, please, help !"

Li Xu stopped teasing her and asked with a smile, "Editor Lin, do you smoke?"

Lin Xiaoyu shook her head. "Of course not. Why would you ask that, Doctor Li?"

Li Xu didn’t answer directly. He turned to the few patients waiting in the clinic and raised his voice, "Everyone, does anyone have a cigarette on them? I need to borrow one."

The mont he said this, the patients in the clinic were all stunned.

They had heard the entire conversation between Li Xu and Lin Xiaoyu.

They knew Li Xu was borrowing a cigarette to treat her hiccups.

The thod was truly baffling.

Soon, an old man pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and handed it to Li Xu. "Here, Doctor Li. You can use this."

Li Xu took the cigarette and said to Song Sisi, "Sisi, give the scissors."

Song Sisi looked bewildered, but she still quickly handed him a small pair of scissors.

Taking the scissors, Li Xu said to Lin Xiaoyu, "Editor Lin, please hold out your hand. I need to clip a small piece of your fingernail."

Lin Xiaoyu was full of questions, but the misery of her hiccups left her no room to overthink it. She held out her right hand, which had no nail polish.

Li Xu snipped off a small piece of her nail.

"Sisi, cut this nail into fine slivers, then carefully stuff them into this cigarette."

Li Xu handed the nail clipping and the cigarette to Song Sisi, instructing, "Be careful not to spill any. Stuff it in evenly."

Following Li Xu’s instructions, Song Sisi cut the nail into slivers as fine as hairs and then carefully stuffed them into the cigarette, bit by bit.

The nail slivers mixed with the tobacco, and from the outside, the cigarette looked completely normal.

Once Song Sisi had prepared the "special cigarette," Li Xu handed it to Lin Xiaoyu.

"Editor Lin, light this cigarette and take a few forceful drags. Rember, you have to inhale deeply, all the way into your lungs," Li Xu instructed.

Lin Xiaoyu looked at the cigarette in front of her, then at Li Xu’s serious expression.

Though she felt resistant, she steeled herself and took it, desperate to stop her hiccups.

Another patient offered her a lighter, and Lin Xiaoyu lit the cigarette.

The mont she took the first drag, Lin Xiaoyu’s brow furrowed tightly.

The sll of the burning fingernail mixed with the tobacco, producing a pungent, acrid odor with a nauseating, fishy undertone.

Moreover, she had never smoked a day in her life, and the strange taste made her throat feel uncomfortable.

She took a few more deep inhales. The foul sll grew stronger, irritating her throat and lungs.

"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH..."

Lin Xiaoyu couldn’t help but cough violently, the smoke choking her until tears stread from her eyes.

Her stomach even churned, and she couldn’t stop herself from dry-heaving a few tis.

"Doctor Li, this sll is just too much."

Lin Xiaoyu complained.

Li Xu asked, "Are you still hiccuping?"

"Huh?"

Lin Xiaoyu suddenly realized she hadn’t hiccuped for quite a while.

She held her breath and focused. The hiccups were really gone.

"Doctor Li, it really worked! I’m not hiccuping anymore!"

Lin Xiaoyu exclaid happily.

In the clinic, the other patients and Song Sisi were also dumbfounded.

They watched as Lin Xiaoyu went from hiccuping nonstop to coughing violently, and then to her hiccups stopping instantly. The whole process was like a magic trick, leaving them in awe.

"That’s incredible! Doctor Li, that trick was simply divine."

The old man who had given him the cigarette couldn’t help but exclaim in amazent.

"Yeah, using a fingernail cigarette to cure hiccups... I’ve lived for over half a century and this is the first I’ve ever heard of it."

Another older woman chid in.

One patient even asked, "Doctor Li, is this a thod we can use ourselves? If we ever get unstoppable hiccups, could we try this?"

Li Xu replied, "This is actually a folk redy.

"You can certainly try it for a sudden, occasional bout of hiccups.

"But I must emphasize one point: if the hiccups return soon after stopping, or if they persist for a long ti, it might not be a simple physiological phenonon. It could be a sign of an underlying dical condition. In that case, you need to seek dical attention promptly to find the cause and must not delay treatnt."

Once she had recovered, Lin Xiaoyu keenly realized this was an excellent news angle.

She could share it in her magazine.

It would surely attract a large audience.

She asked curiously, "Doctor Li, why can a fingernail cigarette stop hiccups so quickly? Is there a principle behind it?"

Li Xu understood what Lin Xiaoyu was planning. He didn’t intend to be secretive and explained openly, "There are two main reasons why the fingernail cigarette works to stop hiccups."

"First, from a Traditional Chinese dicine perspective, hiccups are caused by the upward rebellion of stomach qi.

"The qi dynamics of the lungs and the stomach influence each other.

"When you inhale this special cigarette, the foul sll from the burning nail and the irritation from the smoke induce violent coughing and dry-heaving. The intense coughing forces lung qi downward, which in turn guides stomach qi to descend, thereby smoothing the flow of qi and stopping the hiccups.

"Dry-heaving is another expression of rebellious stomach qi, but under this kind of stimulation, it actually helps the stomach qi, after reaching its peak of rebellion, to naturally descend, achieving a calming effect."

"Secondly, let’s talk about the fingernail itself."

"In Chinese dicine, the fingernail is actually a dicinal ingredient, referred to as ’Human Nail.’ It is considered sweet, salty, and neutral in nature, enters the Liver ridian, and has the effects of clearing heat, calming fright, and stopping bleeding.

"Although its dicinal properties are weak, burning a fingernail produces special chemical substances and a pungent odor. This odor can quickly travel through the respiratory tract and olfactory nerves to directly stimulate the central nervous system, thereby interrupting the nerve reflex arc that causes diaphragmatic spasms. This is what achieves the rapid cessation of hiccups.

"It’s just like how a sudden scare or a particularly pungent sll can make us instantly stop what we’re doing. It’s a strong stimulus used to divert and interrupt the original physiological reaction."

Li Xu’s explanation was both profound and easy to understand, and the patients present listened with great interest.

Lin Xiaoyu also took ticulous notes, afraid of missing a single detail.

Li Xu added, "Besides this common situation, there is a special case to be aware of. So terminally ill patients may suddenly experience intractable hiccups before death. In Chinese dicine, this is often a dangerous sign of stomach qi depletion and the separation of yin and yang.

"At this point, if conventional thods fail to stop the hiccups, you can add a very small amount—about 0.15 grams—of powdered Musk to the fingernail cigarette."

"Musk has a powerful effect of opening the orifices to revive the spirit, invigorating blood, and dissipating nodules. It can quickly penetrate the blood-brain barrier and produce a strong stimulus on the central nervous system, thus helping to stop the hiccups and buying precious ti for subsequent ergency treatnt and care.

"Of course, Musk is a potent dicine. The dosage must be extrely precise, and it must be used under the guidance of a professional physician. Unless it is an absolute last resort, you must never try it on your own."