5 Elements & Traditional Chinese Medicine — constitutional and clinical
Acupuncture at Create Your Wellness is practised within two interconnected frameworks: 5 Elements Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Both are rooted in the same foundational understanding of health, each with a distinct emphasis that allows for the most nuanced treatment of the individual.
In practice, both frameworks are drawn upon together, allowing treatment that is simultaneously constitutional and clinical — addressing both the underlying pattern of the person and the specific presenting concern.
TCM acupuncture operates within a diagnostic framework developed and refined over more than two thousand years of clinical observation. Diagnosis involves tongue examination, pulse diagnosis at twelve distinct positions each corresponding to a specific organ system, and a comprehensive health history. The goal is to identify the specific pattern of disharmony — in Qi, Blood, Yin, Yang, or Fluids, in the relevant organ systems and meridians — that is driving the presenting condition. Treatment corrects that specific pattern.
5 Elements acupuncture works at a deeper constitutional level. Rather than focusing primarily on the current pattern, it addresses the fundamental elemental typology of the individual — the constitutional pattern that shapes how a person experiences health, illness, and the transitions of life. The five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — correspond to specific organ systems, meridians, emotions, and aspects of human experience. Supporting the primary constitutional element produces change at a depth and breadth that purely symptom-focused treatment does not reach.
Each element corresponds to specific organ systems, meridians, emotions, seasons, and aspects of human experience. Supporting the primary constitutional element produces change at a depth that symptom-focused treatment alone cannot reach.
Liver & Gallbladder · Vision, planning, growth, flexibility · Spring
Heart & Small Intestine · Joy, connection, warmth, consciousness · Summer
Spleen & Stomach · Nourishment, stability, empathy, digestion · Late Summer
Lung & Large Intestine · Grief, letting go, refinement, boundary · Autumn
Kidney & Bladder · Fear, will, ancestry, deepest reserves · Winter
Colin has been practising 5 Elements and TCM acupuncture for over 17 years, with particular depth in women's health, fertility, pain management, and mental and emotional wellbeing.
The clinic in Watford serves clients from across Hertfordshire including St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Harrow, Bushey, and North London. Initial consultations allow adequate time for the full assessment that effective acupuncture requires — because a treatment is only as good as the diagnosis it is based upon.
Acupuncture needles are extremely fine — much finer than hypodermic needles. Most people describe sensations as a dull ache, warmth, or tingling around the needle site rather than pain. Many people fall asleep during treatment. It is significantly more comfortable than most first-timers expect.
TCM focuses primarily on the presenting pattern — identifying specific disharmonies and treating them. 5 Elements works at a constitutional level, addressing the fundamental elemental typology that shapes how you experience health and life. At Create Your Wellness, both frameworks are drawn upon together for the most comprehensive and effective treatment.
This depends entirely on your condition, its chronicity, and your overall health picture. Acute conditions may respond in 4–6 sessions. Chronic conditions typically benefit from a longer course of treatment. An assessment of likely treatment duration is given at the initial consultation.
Absolutely. Acupuncture works as a complementary therapy alongside conventional medical care. Please do not discontinue any prescribed treatments without speaking with your GP. Acupuncture can often reduce the symptomatic burden of a condition whilst conventional treatment addresses its management.
A treatment is only as good as the diagnosis it is based upon. Initial consultations at Create Your Wellness allow adequate time to understand your full health picture before any treatment begins.
Watford, Hertfordshire · Serving Hertfordshire & surrounding areas
