When treating a new patient, a practitioner usually begins by testing for the patient’s Constitutional Factor. If a practitioner is treating a patient on the correct CF, the patient is likely to feel healthier because the most underlying imbalance is being treated. Sometimes the patient does not experience an improvement in well-being. The patient feels no change or on rare occasions experiences a worsening of symptoms. There are many potential reasons for this lack of progress. For a practitioner of Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture, one of the main reasons is a block to treatment.

An alternative situation occurs when the practitioner anticipates that there is a block and treatment begins with removing the block.

The four blocks are: