It’s often said that Chinese medicine treats the root cause of illness, while conventional medicine merely treats the symptoms. It is an appealing idea, but it creates a distinction that is difficult to justify.
Root and branch
Chinese medicine has a longstanding concept of root and branch (ben and biao). The branch is what is manifesting – pain, headaches, digestive disturbance, poor sleep and so on – while the root refers to the underlying pattern thought to be contributing to those symptoms. Treatment can take both into consideration.
For example, two people experiencing recurrent headaches might have quite different presentations in Chinese medicine. One might have symptoms interpreted as Liver yang rising, while another might show signs of Blood deficiency. Treatment can therefore be individualised rather than simply applying the same set of points to everyone with a headache.
The root
There is an important distinction, however, between an underlying pattern in Chinese medicine and the biological cause of a disease. Patterns such as qi stagnation, Blood deficiency or Dampness are ways of describing and organising a constellation of clinical findings within the framework of Chinese medicine. They can be useful in guiding treatment, but they are not demonstrated causal mechanisms in the biomedical sense.
Nor is modern medicine simply concerned with suppressing symptoms. Finding and treating causes is fundamental to biomedicine. Antibiotics can eliminate the bacterial infection causing some forms of pneumonia; thyroid hormone can replace what is missing in hypothyroidism; iron-deficiency anaemia may prompt investigation to identify and treat an underlying source of blood loss. In many circumstances, modern medicine is extremely good at identifying and addressing the cause of illness.
In other circumstances, however, the cause may be multifactorial, poorly understood, irreversible or simply not something that can currently be changed. Chronic pain provides an obvious example. In these situations, medicine often turns quite reasonably towards managing symptoms and improving function. Chinese medicine faces much the same reality.
This does not diminish the value of treating the root within Chinese medicine. One of the strengths of pattern differentiation is that it allows treatment to be guided by the wider presentation of signs and symptoms rather than focusing solely on the presenting complaint. This broader perspective can be particularly valuable when several seemingly separate symptoms form part of a recognisable clinical pattern, and addressing that pattern may contribute to a more sustained improvement.
The branch
There is also nothing inherently second-rate about symptomatic relief. If someone experiencing frequent migraines has substantially fewer attacks following acupuncture, that can make a considerable difference to their quality of life. If someone with knee osteoarthritis experiences less pain and can walk more comfortably, the underlying structural changes in the joint may still be present, but the improvement is nevertheless clinically meaningful. It may also enable them to engage in beneficial activities such as exercise that had previously been too uncomfortable.
Acupuncture can be particularly useful in this respect. Sometimes treatment may address a wider pattern of symptoms and contributing factors; at other times its principal value may be straightforward symptomatic relief – less pain, fewer headaches, better sleep or improved day-to-day function.
The traditional idea of root and branch remains a useful part of Chinese medicine, provided that the “root” is not automatically presented as the biological cause of a person’s condition. Root and branch are both important. The appropriate emphasis depends on the individual presentation, what can realistically be changed, and what would make a meaningful difference to the person experiencing it.
Thanks for reading!
Find a qualified and regulated acupuncturist in your part of the UK by visiting the British Acupuncture Council's website.
Further reading
Read more on the blog:
- When the needle goes in... - find out how the body responds to acupuncture
- Which kind of anxious are you? - thoughts on anxiety in Chinese medicine
- Acupuncture research - the state of the evidence
- The emotional life of the organs: what Chinese medicine says about how we think and feel
- Is acupuncture energy healing? - a look at whether acupuncture is a kind of "energy work"
- Health without hacks - simple wellbeing advice
- Fit for what? - thinking about strength training for everyday life
- A nourishing morning - looking at healthy morning routines from both a modern scientific and Chinese yangsheng perspective
- Foot health, somatic awareness, massage, and the nervous system - standing on your own two feet
- Common traditional patterns of disharmony: Liver Qi Stagnation and Spleen Qi Deficiency
- What is Qi? - an exploration of vital energy
- Why the channel system of Chinese medicine still matters today
- Chronic pain - acupuncture as a first line intervention
- Explore the causes of chronic bloating and when acupuncture or massage may help
- Acupuncture's interface: the nervous system as an explanation for the therapy's disparate effects
- Is cold water bad for you? - what Chinese medicine really says about iced drinks
- Sailing the Dao - modern misuses of Daoist wisdom
- Six Divisions & TCM Pathology - a comprehensive guide to Chinese medicine
- How many needles? - contrasting styles of acupuncture
- Between freedom & form - tensions between tradition and modern individualism
- Navigating the middle ground - tensions between spiritual healing and modern biomedicine
- How diagnosis works in Chinese medicine
- The scientific mechanisms of acupuncture
- Is acupuncture really "alternative"? - how Chinese medicine stands apart from other alternative therapies
- When wisdom becomes a soundbite - how modern culture uproots classical ideas from their proper context
- Acupressure points for anxiety and migraine relief
- Acupuncture: pseudoscience or evidence-based practice?
- What is tuina? - a look at Chinese massage
- Qi is not quantum - debunking a popular acupuncture myth
- Supporting lymphatic health with acupuncture, tuina, and qigong
- Sleep is sacred: natural ways to ease insomnia
- Is dairy really bad for you? - a Chinese medicine perspective
- Qi in the Age of AI - why Chinese medicine matters more in the information age
- The Chinese body clock - parallels with our modern understanding of circadian rhythms
- Year of the Fire Horse - transitioning into 2026
- Yangsheng - traditional "nourishing life" practices in an age of wellness trends and health fads
- How does acupuncture work? - exploring fascia, embryology, and systems science
- How does the body respond to acupuncture? - what happens when we insert a needle
- Can acupuncture help with hayfever and rhinitis?
- Will the treatment work? A look at how we estimate outcome probabilities in living, responsive, complex bodies
- How does acupuncture engage the body's pain relief mechanism? - expanding on an article in National Geographic
