Understanding Acupuncture - 5 Element Acupuncture

When I explain to my patients that it may take the application of more than one system of acupuncture to address their issue, most of my patients are surpised to learn that there are multiple styles of acupuncture.  They say to me, "I thought that Acupuncture was just Acupuncture!"  Furthermore, when told that some systems of acupuncture directly work on the spirit and the emotions, they are incredulous.  "I thought acupuncture just worked on body pain!"  The truth is that acupuncture can be used for almost any medical or psychological problem - it is truly a remedy for body, mind, and spirit.  Today, we'll briefly discuss one of the systems that is commonly used to treat the mind and the spirit, "5 Element Acupuncture."
 
The 5 Elements, as used in Chinese medicine, include wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.  Each of these elements are associated with at least two organs (eg. wood is associated with the Liver and the Gallbladder) and their respective meridians.  Furthermore, some acupuncture points on each meridian also have specific elemental qualities associated with them.
 
As can be expected, each of the elements (and thus their associated organs as well) are involved in a dynamic balancing act with the other elements.  This balance is governed by specific rules which come with various names, such as the "Law of mother/daughter" (eg. wood stokes fire), or the "Cycle of destruction" (eg. water inhibits fire).   Pathology and disease, from this perspective, develop when there is an imbalance of the 5 elements and their associated organs and meridians within the body (eg. a deficiency of wood, or too much fire)
 
5 Element acupuncture, a part of Chinese medicine for centuries, but recently promoted in the West by Professor J.R. Worsley, is a style of Acupuncture that focuses on rebalancing the elements within the body.  Although the actual technique is a bit more complex, for simplicity sake, the basic concept involves the needling of specific elemental acupuncture points on the unbalanced meridians to stoke or inhibit specific elements, thereby leading to improved balance between the elements.  For instance, needling the wood point on a meridian can be used to stoke the fire element of it's associated organ.
 
Interestingly, it is important to know that an imbalance in one's personal elements can lead to not only physical symptoms, but also psychological symptoms.  For instance, many of my fibromyalgia patients not only experience tremendous improvements in their pain and fatigue, but their depression also improves once they are balanced through the 5 Element Acupuncture system. 
 
In addition to benefiting the mind and emotions, the 5 element system is also quite helpful in balancing the spirit.  Similar to the aforementioned "elemental points" on each meridian, there are also Shen (spirit) qualities associated with several acupuncture points on each meridian.  These points, when carefully used, may be used to cleanse and bolster a person's spirit, leading to a return of hope and an ability to begin planning for the future. 
 
While the 5 Element Acupuncture system isn't the solution for all troubles that can be addressed with acupuncture, it certainly provides a viable alternative for those individuals who are looking for greater balance within their body, mind, and spirit. 

 

For further information: Frank and the rest of the staff @ HeCares.net teach a course on 5 element acupuncture!