Treatments: Root and branch

The root and what shows

本標 běn biāo

The root is the underlying cause; the branch is what the patient notices. They rarely coincide, and deciding which to start with is the most important call in the whole consultation.

Root (Ben)

the background pattern, slow to correct

Branch (Biao)

the symptom that brought the patient in

General rule

in chronic cases, the root

Exception

if the branch is urgent or unbearable, it goes first

Common mistake: Always treating the root on principle. Pain that prevents sleep blocks any background recovery.

Where do you start in each case?

• A disabling migraine that stops them working todayWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once
• Years of fatigue with no acute symptomWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once
• Irritable bowel with background tension and frequent flaresWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once
• Scanty periods in someone with blood deficiency and no painWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once
• Total insomnia for four nightsWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once
• Chronic mucus on a base of weak digestionWith the branchWith the rootWith both at once

A patient has a significant underlying deficiency and, on top, an acute accumulation that needs draining. How do you resolve it?

1. Drain hard: the acute rules
2. Tonify first and drain once they are stronger
3. Drain gently while supporting the background, adjusting the proportion by response

Dosage and timeframe are part of the principle

A well-written principle can still fail on rhythm. Acute pictures ask for short, closely spaced sessions; background ones for spaced-out, sustained work. Promising the wrong timeframe destroys the treatment even when the diagnosis is right.

Acute pattern

two or three sessions in the same week

Chronic pattern

one a week, then spacing out

Kidney deficiency

months, and it is said up front

Review signal

four or five sessions with no change at all

Common mistake: Not setting a review point. Without one, a treatment that is not working can drag on indefinitely.

Five sessions and the patient notices absolutely no change, not even in minor signs. What do you do?

1. Review the diagnosis from the start, including the possibility that this route cannot treat the case
2. Increase the number of needles and the intensity
3. Carry on unchanged: chronic pictures take time

Match each pattern with its principle.