• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Robert Keller, L.Ac.

Classical Chinese Medicine

  • Chinese Medicine
  • Acupuncture
  • Herbology
  • Dietary Therapy
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Articles
  • About
  • Contact
  • Herbal Pharmacy
You are here: Home / Acupuncture / Symptomatic Treatment

Symptomatic Treatment

April 23, 2020 in Filed Under: Acupuncture by Robert Keller

The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of symptoms in Chinese medicine. It is meant to clarify the purpose of symptom evaluation, and to distinguish this from “symptomatic treatment”. The reason I am writing this is because it is sometimes paraphrased back to me by patients, that I do not care what is causing their problem because I only treat the symptoms. This is incorrect.

Chinese medicine considers the individual presentation of symptoms to be a direct expression of the disease mechanisms at work. The only way to make a correct diagnosis and to administer an effective treatment is to properly evaluate symptoms. In fact, in Chinese medicine, proper assessment of symptoms leads directly to the appropriate treatment. This stands in contrast to Western medicine, where it is possible to consider only the general symptoms which define a disease, and then possibly administer a treatment that has nothing to do with the diagnosis.

For example, in Western medicine there are neither diagnostic criteria nor specific treatment for a common cold. If a person has a few symptoms such as sneezing and a scratchy throat, they might be diagnosed with a cold. The treatment might be a decongestant and some aspirin, meant to address some of the discomfort the person is experiencing. This is symptomatic treatment, as it is neither specific to the condition nor does it not address the cause of the illness.

Chinese medicine would be concerned with the onset of symptoms and the weather and time of year. Questions such as the following would also be important: Are there chills or sensations of heat? If so, what time of day do they occur? Do they come at the same time, different times, or do they alternate? Is the throat hot, scratchy, or dry? Is there discomfort on one side of the throat or both? Is there a change in thirst, hunger, urination, or bowels? If the person is thirsty, is the thirst for warm or for cold? Does the liquid quench the thirst? Are there any headaches or body aches? Is the nose runny or stuffy? Is the mucus thick or thin, and is it clear, white, yellow, green, or brown? Is the shade pale or bright, light or dark? Is there any blood, and if so, what color and texture is it? This list goes on. I consider this to be symptom evaluation. It leads to a pattern diagnosis such as Wind Cold with transformative Heat in the Lungs, in addition to the disease diagnosis of “common cold”. The difference between pattern and disease diagnosis is the consideration in the former of a person’s unique symptom presentation, including those symptoms unrelated to the most immediate problem. One disease may have many different pattern presentations, and therefore many different treatments.

The proper evaluation of specific symptoms will lead to specific treatment, and consideration of only general symptoms will lead to a more generalized treatment. There is nothing wrong with treating symptoms, but the treatment will always be more effective if those symptoms are well examined. As a practitioner of Chinese medicine, I care about both what is causing a person’s symptoms and what those symptoms are. My job is to evaluate both from the perspective of Chinese medicine, so that I can treat from the perspective of Chinese medicine.

Primary Sidebar

Stay in Touch

Be notified of new articles and specials

Browse by Topic

  • Acupuncture
  • Causes of Disease
  • Chinese Medicine
  • Cosmology
  • Dietary Therapy
  • Dry Needling
  • Fundamental Principles
  • Herbology
  • Illness
  • Injury
  • Intuition
  • Organs and Elements
  • Pain Management
  • Philosophy
  • Physiology

Recent Articles

  • The Secret Inner Channel of the Heart
  • Dreams and Dao in Chinese Medicine
  • Red Horse – Chinese Herbal Formula for Balancing the Heart
  • The Treatment of Dysmenorrhea with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine
  • Optimal Treatment Dates According to the Cycle of Seasonal Nodes
  • Stems and Branches Herbal Pharmacy
  • Nutrition Basics in the Context of Chinese Dietary Therapy – Part 1
  • Chinese Medicine as Supportive Therapy
  • Most People have a Compromised Digestive System
  • The Chinese Medical Concept of Contraindications 

Footer

Location

851 Route 73 North, Suite G
Marlton, NJ 08053
856-751-3444

Follow on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Browse

About
Blog
Contact

Stay in Touch

Subscribe to my newsletter and get notified of new articles and posts.

Copyright © 2023 · Robert Keller, L.AC. | Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine serving Cherry Hill, Marlton, Haddonfield, Medford, Moorestown, Mt. Laurel and Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey.
All information, images and art are property of or licensed by Robert Keller and may not be copied or reproduced without permission.