The five elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood encompass all the aspects of the world, animate and inanimate and relate us directly as part of nature. The 5 element philosophy is useful in Chinese medicine because certain human qualities are attributed to each of the elements. A well rounded, healthy and balanced individual at all levels - physically, mentally and emotionally - will represent all 5 elements in balance and harmony with each other and the environment. However, life isn’t like that, internal and external influences can weaken the elements leading to disharmony and illness. Indeed, one element is thought to be constitutionally weak in all of us ( the causative factor or CF) and it is the job of the acupuncturist to discover this by questioning and observation. Treatment can then be directed towards rebalancing this element with the others and creating harmony. Note on the diagram how all the elements are linked. This can complicate treatment as they influence each other, one out of balance element affecting the rest.
Click on the diagram above to find out more about the elements, but to give a brief description of an element out of balance, we can look at wood. Just as real wood can become inflexible, when the wood element is out of balance we may see inflexibility and intolerance. The wood element is associated with the emotion anger and can manifest as someone with violent outbursts, but is more often seen as an easily frustrated or ratty person. Other aspects that might show are a green tinge to the face especially around the eyes, a loud voice with clipped words and perhaps even a rancid smell. If the wood element was the constitutional weakness, the person would be described as a Wood CF (causative factor), often simply referred to as a Wood type. Certain organs and their related functions are associated with each element e.g. the liver and gall bladder are the wood organs. The organs in turn are related to energy channels in the body and the acupuncture points that lie on them. Hence, to treat the wood element, points on the associated channels will most commonly be used. This links nicely with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) style of acupuncture, which more directly treats the individual organs and the substances, rather than the elements. 5 element treatment is at a slightly deeper level and is more constitutional, predominantly treating the constitutionally weak element to produce a holistic effect, even when the organs related to other elements are out of balance. In my experience, 5 element treatment can be the best style of treatment for mental-emotional problems.
