How does Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treat disease?

In TCM, symptoms are identified as either deficiency or excess. Both deficiency or excess can occur in a person at the same time, but with respect to different organs. For example, a person could have Liver Yang Excess but also have Kidney Yin Deficiency. We assign these patterns according to whether the symptoms are present. The patterns then dictate the treatment principle. In this example, we would clear the Liver Excess and nourish the Kidney Deficiency. The goal is to restore balance. The ultimate goal is to restore enough balance to the body that it can rebalance itself.