対症療法
Meanings
symptomatic treatment; allopathy
Medical term for treating symptoms rather than the underlying cause. Contrasts with 原因療法 (causal treatment).
See also: 原因療法
Symptomatic treatment does not provide a fundamental solution.
The doctor prescribed painkillers as symptomatic therapy.
makeshift solution; stopgap measure; temporary expedient
Figurative extension of the medical sense; used for any temporary fix that does not address the root cause.
That policy is nothing more than a stopgap measure.
We need fundamental reform, not a makeshift solution.
Usage patterns
- 〈事〉に対症療法を行うto administer symptomatic treatment for something
The doctor administered symptomatic treatment for the fever.
- 対症療法に頼るto rely on a stopgap fix instead of solving the root problem
Instead of making fundamental reforms, they just keep relying on stopgap measures.
- 対症療法にすぎないto be nothing more than a temporary fix
This measure is nothing more than a stopgap, and the problem will likely recur.