Treating the Lower to Heal the Upper and Vice Versa: Traditional Approaches to Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Treatment

Treating the lower part of the body to heal the upper and treating the upper to heal the lower (’上病下取，下病 上取’, ‘shang bing xia qu, xia bing shang qu’ – literally, ‘upper disease, below treat, lower disease, upper treat’)） has been a widely applied treatment principle in Chinese medicine since ancient times. This paper explores and analyses the features of this treatment principle based on classical Chinese texts, published clinical case studies and current research evidence, and aims to extend its clinical applications.