Your body may not be well for various reasons. I use an example of a tree as a metaphor to illustrate how chinese medicine views pathology.

A tree’s branches are prematurely breaking off. We would view it with 2 main aspects in mind: deficiency or excess.

Deficient
The first tree is weak and cannot absorb the nutrients of normal water and sunlight. Therefore it cannot transport nourishment out to the branches. The branches fall out. We would say that this tree is deficient.

Remedy: It has not absorbed sunlight and water. Since the branches are the main problem, one may want to pour more water and sunlight at the branch areas. This method is not helpful and may be detrimental because the tree is not strong enough to withstand these aggressive approaches. Slowly rebuilding the tree from its root (with fertilizers) is how we would grow healthy branches. When the trunk is strong, the branches too will be strong.

Excess
The second tree is infestated with insects. They attack the tree from the inside out and compromises its ability to grow and generate healthy branches. The tree is not well in this instance due to an obstructing factor of insects. The insects impair the tree’s ability to produce strong branches. We would say this tree has an excess. An excess is an external factor that hinders natural livelihood. In this case, the excess is insects.

How would you help this tree?

If you give it fertilizer, we would say that the insects would feed off these nutrients, grow stronger, and continue to live vibrantly within this tree. The branches would still not get its proper nutrients and continue to break off.

Remedy: You must first eliminate the insects without killing the tree. Once the insects are eradicated, new healthy branches will generate but ONLY if the tree still has vitality. If, however, its vitality has been usurped by the insects, it will need assistance to rebuild itself. At this point, fertilizers would strengthen the tree. And over a period of time, it will generate strong healthy branches that won’t break off.

As you can see from this metaphor, eliminating hindrances (insects) is challenging and requires caution to not cause further harm to the tree. Rebuilding a new healthy tree from its roots takes time. Did you notice that attempts were not made towards fixing the branches?