Five Element acupuncture, CF *

One of the main differences between the Eight Principle and the Five Element acupuncture is the before mentioned CF (constitutional or causative factor).

The goal of the Five Element acupuncture is to assist the body in it's repair and operation by building up it's weaknesses. The fundamental weakness is the CF as it is considered our greatest strength that over a lot of use transforms into our greatest weakness.

The CF is one of the five elements and the organs associated with that element. Here is the list, one more time:

Wood (Liver + Gallbladder)
Fire (Heart + Small Intestine, Pericardium + Triple Heater)
Earth (Spleen + Stomach)
Metal (Lung + Large Intestine)
Water (Kidney + Bladder)

So this list shows that for the Wood CF, the greatest strength and also the greatest weakness are Liver and Gallbladder pair; for the Fire CF the weakness are Heart and Small Intestine and also the Pericardium and Triple Heater and for the Earth CF it is the Stomach and so on.

So in order to assist the body in it's healing process, Five Element acupuncturist performs detective work of identifying each patient's CF and then proceeds to treat it in order to make it stronger.

A large part of Five Element acupuncture is dedicated to this process but you don't need to be an acupuncturist to benefit from this theory. You (and everyone else) should learn how to identify your CF and then adapt your lifestyle choices to make your CF organs healthier.

In the following posts we'll look at each of the 5 CFs and how to identify which one are yours.