In Chinese philosophy, all things are made from elemental substances. Namely, these are wood, fire, metal, earth and water. The same applies to TCM, as well. In the TCM world view of health, it is when these five essential substances get out of kilter with one another that ailments occur. By intervening with a patient's five essential elements, a practitioner can restore their balance or alignment and hence cure the patient. Therefore, despite the many different approaches to TCM mentioned above, the idea is always the same – to restore elemental harmony.