Corrective vs Symptomatic Care in Acupuncture
Updated: Oct 22
When you try acupuncture and Chinese medicine for a specific issue like pain, headaches, insomnia or a hormonal imbalance, it’s important to be clear on what you want out of it. Are you just looking for some symptomatic relief to help get you through? Or are you after something more corrective and long lasting?
Symptomatic care aims to reduce your symptoms now, while corrective care aims to work out why the problem developed and restore healthy function so it doesn’t keep coming back. Neither is wrong. Below I’ll explain the difference, when each makes sense, and what corrective care involves in the clinic.
What is symptomatic care?
Symptomatic care is treatment focused on relieving what you’re feeling right now. There’s nothing wrong with having a couple of acupuncture sessions for relief from something that’s giving you a bit of trouble. Sometimes some short term relief is all you need to get back on the right track, especially if it’s a recent acute issue, like a muscle strain or a few bad nights of sleep.
What is corrective care?
Corrective care is where we try to figure out how the body’s natural physiology has become impaired and work at restoring healthy circulation and vitality. For more chronic conditions that have developed over a long period of time, you’re probably looking for a longer term solution. Ideally we get you to a point where you feel better and no longer need the acupuncture. This typically doesn’t happen overnight.
What’s the difference? A gardening analogy
Think of the body as an ecosystem and the acupuncturist as a gardener. Say your garden has become overgrown with weeds.
A symptomatic approach is to pull the weeds out, or to use a chemical weed killer. You get a nice clear garden for a while, but the weeds regrow. And chemical weed killers can have hidden damaging impacts on the plants, the soil and ourselves.
A corrective approach is to remove the weeds, and also to address the soil conditions and plant more, or different, varieties. That makes the environment less hospitable to weeds, so they’re more easily managed in the future.
These changes take more time and effort, but at the end you’ll have a much healthier and more robust garden (body) for it.
What does corrective care involve?
Corrective care looks beyond the sore spot to the conditions that keep the problem going. For chronic pain, headaches and similar conditions, that usually means working on several things at once:
Releasing and balancing the muscles involved, such as tight trigger points and the weak muscles opposing them (see what a trigger point is and upper cross syndrome)
Stress and recovery, because a body stuck in fight-or-flight keeps holding tension (see pain, stress and fatigue)
Daily habits, such as posture, movement breaks, sleep and the balance of activity and rest (see the yin yang of chronic pain)
Exercise and self-care between sessions, so the changes hold
This takes more than one session, which is why I usually suggest a block of at least 6 sessions to see how you respond, then plan from there. Often people notice improvements within the first few sessions, but for chronic conditions it’s important to allow the cumulative effects to build over a series. As things improve, we space the sessions out. Read more on how long acupuncture takes to work and how often to come.
Do the benefits of acupuncture last?
Research on chronic pain suggests the benefits don’t simply vanish when treatment stops. A 2018 individual patient data meta-analysis in The Journal of Pain by Vickers and colleagues pooled data from 39 trials and 20,827 patients with chronic pain. Acupuncture reduced pain more than no acupuncture, and the effect decreased by only about 15% after a year.
That’s what the research reports. In the clinic, our goal is long term improvement, and we take a more holistic and individualised approach than could be replicated in a study.
Which one do you need?
If it’s recent and acute, symptomatic care may be all you need. If it’s been around for months or years, corrective care is usually the better goal. It helps to be clear with your acupuncturist about what you’re after, so you can agree on a plan that fits your goals, your time and your budget.
FAQs: Corrective vs Symptomatic Care
Q: What is the difference between corrective and symptomatic care?
A: Symptomatic care aims to relieve what you’re feeling now. Corrective care aims to work out why the problem developed and restore healthy function so it’s less likely to return.
Q: Is symptomatic care a bad option?
A: No. A couple of sessions for relief can be all you need, especially for a recent acute issue.
Q: How many sessions does corrective care take?
A: It varies, but I usually suggest a block of at least 6 sessions to see how you respond, then plan from there. Chronic conditions that developed over a long time typically need the cumulative effects to build over a series, and can take months of ongoing treatment to get the most benefit. That said, there should be signs of improvement within the early treatments.
Q: Will I need acupuncture forever?
A: The goal of corrective care is to get you to a point where you feel better and no longer need it. Some people choose to continue occasional sessions for maintenance.
Q: Which conditions suit corrective care?
A: Longer-standing issues such as chronic pain, headaches and migraines, insomnia and hormonal imbalances, where the body’s physiology has become impaired over time.
Ready to talk about your goals?
Whether you’re after quick relief or lasting change, you’re welcome to come and see me. I’ll work out what’s keeping the problem going and put together a plan with you.
If you’d like to try acupuncture for chronic pain in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, consider Acupuncture Grove in Bondi Junction. You can book online here or reach out with any questions here.
Also read:
Gavin Martin-Rentz is an AHPRA-registered acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner at Acupuncture Grove, Bondi Junction, Sydney, with over 10 years in practice.
Acupuncture Grove services Bondi Junction, Bondi Beach, Coogee, Clovelly, Bronte, Waverley, Randwick, Maroubra, Double Bay, Watsons Bay, Vaucluse and surrounding Sydney suburbs.
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