Most people are already familiar with the concept of acupuncture: releasing the blockage of essential Qi, or life force, to promote healing. But I am often asked about Five-Element acupuncture, which is the classical Chinese form that I practice.

According to classical Five-Element acupuncture, the five elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water – exist in everything and everyone. When an imbalance occurs, illness can result. So, Five-Element diagnoses and treats the element that is out of balance, enabling healing to occur in the body.

Each element has an odor, color, sound and emotion attached to it that can be perceived when that element is out of balance. In addition, each patient’s unique body, mind and spirit are taken into account when determining diagnosis and treatment, so that each individual receives customized treatment.

Each person has a unique balance of the five elements – no two people are the same, regardless of the similarity of their symptoms.  The goal of the 5 Element practitioner is to pin-point and treat the underlying causative factor of  “Dis-ease”.  Treating the causative factor enables the person to heal completely. 

This is the essential difference between acupuncture and Western (or allopathic) medicine, where patients presenting the same symptoms usually are treated in the exact same way and given the exact same dose of the exact same prescription drug. An acupuncture patient receives an hour of my time – more during the intake session – to diagnose and treat an imbalance and, in most cases, arises from my table already feeling better.

This is one reason why more people are turning to alternative medical treatments – for individualized care, a personal relationship with the practitioner, natural treatment free from adverse side effects and the promotion of improved sleep and overall calmative effect.