TCM uses different perspectives to analyze health problems. Five Element theory one of those approaches.

Central to understanding the Five Elements is to realize that Chinese medical terminology often is at the same time very poetic and very literal. The Chinese worldview is far more integrated than the typical Western viewpoint. The Western perspective tends to be linear; the Chinese perspective tends to be holistic or weblike. Pull on any strand in a web, and it will affect all parts of the web. Whereas Western thought tends to look at just what is happening along one strand (linear), holistic thought considers all parts of the web.

The Five Elements are descriptions of different aspects of energy, aspects of energy which go beyond the Western idea of kinetic-potential energy. These descriptions are at once both symbolic and literal, and the symbolism grew out of a culture very close to nature.

Notice what happens in the spring. The weather is starting to warm. Plants are pushing upward. Trees are leafing out. There is birth and new life in the animal kingdom. Energy levels are rising (in contrast to the winter when people were withdrawn, sleepy, gathered in and slow.) There are new beginnings in the spring. There is new energy released in new growth. This is the element WOOD. The spring is the time of increasing Yang (warm, upward, outward, rapid) in contrast to the winter which is the most Yin (cold, downward, inward, slow) time of the year.

The predominate atmospheric energy in the spring, the Wood time of year, is Wind. Summer is the most Yang time of the year. In fact, Yang energy gets so intense at this time that it starts to change into its opposite. People (and animals) tend to be bursting with energy and activity in the spring, yet at the height of summer there is so much heat people become exhausted and slow down. Autumn is the time of waning Yang and increasing Yin. People slow down, and gather inward for winter. Winter is the most Yin time of year, yet after several weeks of being restricted indoors, people begin to long for increased activity and letting loose and getting out. Yin begins to decrease and Yang increases in the spring.

This is not just a description of the seasons of the year and their effects on people. There are relationships between the Five Elements of nature which can be used in healing.

The 5 Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Wood is linked to the spring, the Liver (Yin Wood), the Gall Bladder (Yang Wood), the East, and Wind. Fire is linked to the summer, the Heart (Yin Fire), the Small Intestine (Yang Fire), the South, and Heat. Earth is linked to late summer, the Spleen (Yin Earth), the Stomach (Yang Earth), the center, and Dampness. Metal is linked to the fall, the Lungs (Yin Metal), the Large Intestine (Yang Metal), the West, and Dryness. Water is linked to the winter, the Kidneys (Yin Water), the Bladder (Yang Water), the north, and Cold.

This is not just an artificial system of correspondences. The Kidneys do tend to be vulnerable to Cold. The Liver does tend to be vulnerable to Wind, the Spleen to Dampness, the Heart to Heat, and the Lungs to Dryness. Often the spring does tend to be the most windy time of the year, the summer the hottest, the late summer the most humid, the fall dry, and the winter cold. Chinese Medicine pays attention to extreme or unseasonable weather. Extreme and/or unseasonable weather tends to trigger health imbalances in many people.

But this is not all there is to the 5 Element Theory. The 5 Element Theory also maps relationships between Elements which have practical applications both in diagnosis and treatment.

The elements are thought to create one another as a mother creates a child. One of the best known of the 5 Element relationships is the Mother-Son rule which states that if one tonifies the Mother, the Son automatically is tonified. If one sedates the Mother, the Son automatically is sedated. Wood is the Mother of Fire, Fire is the Mother of Earth, Earth is the Mother of Metal, Metal is the Mother of Water, and Water is the Mother of Wood.

A good way to remember part of this sequence is that when one burns Wood with Fire, ash (Earth) results. Metal is found within Earth - Earth is the Mother of Metal. Water makes possible the growth of Wood. Water is the Mother of Wood.

When one starts to look at some findings from Western medicine from a Chinese medicine, Five Elements perspective, the 5 Elements Theory starts to look even more valid. For example, certain liver problems can be traced to problems in the kidneys and urinary system. One role of the liver recognized by Western physiology is to detoxify the body. The kidneys get rid of waste products. If the kidneys are not doing their job of waste excretion properly, this can cause an overload on the liver and lead to liver problems. Likewise, a poorly functioning liver can overburden the kidneys. Sometimes, a big part of effective healing is knowing where to start, and the Five Element theory can provide extra insight.

Five Element Theory is primarily used in Acupuncture and in herbal treatments, but it is useful in many life situations as well.

"The Five Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine" was found at http://www.acupuncture.com/Diagnosis/fiveelements.htm