It is so simple to understand what is going on internally with your health from just looking at what is happening on your face. Once you start to remember certain organ areas on the face, you will get the general idea of what is going on with you.
Traditional Chinese Medicine looks into every aspect of the body to help determine one's health progress and facial diagnosis is one of them. Looking at one's face, we have to take observe a few different aspects; the colouring, the hydration of the skin, any puffiness, location of any acne or pimples, circles around the eyes, drooping of the skin and wrinkles. All of these can show a lot about someone's health. (More on this further down)
Each area of the face will have different organs that are represented. Anything that shows on the face in these areas could mean that there is something really going on internally with that organ. Here is a picture below of how Chinese medicine represents organs on the face.
Colouring
Redness - In general terms, this is showing your body is retaining a lot of heat if your redness is constant. If it's just flushing of the face, it is still heat but not chronic.
Pale- When the face is lacking colour, your body is lacking nourishment from the digestive system. Your spleen and stomach are in control of turning your water and food into energy and nutrients for your body. If your body isn't retaining the nutrients or lacking in receiving the nutrients than you are not going to be able to feed your skin, it will be the last organ that receives anything.
Purple- If you have purple spots or a darker shade of colouring on your face, this is showing that blood is not moving freely within the body. If you feel really achey, this is a good indication that muscles are stiff and are not being looked after. When you show signs of this it is best to go and get a massage to get all the blood and fluid moving in the body.
Puffiness
Here I'm talking about mostly the eyes when you are waking up puffy or you have puffy eyes constantly. This is showing you that your body isn't clearing fluid properly or detoxifying. Your kidneys, bladder, stomach and liver meridians surround the eyes, these are all involved with detoxifying and breaking down food. If you think about it if your body can't break your food down properly it is going to just sit there until something can. Therefore if you have food sitting in your belly, you need fluid to come in and help get rid of it and balance it out.
Try going on a detox if you feel this way. Many of you would be thinking of doing it after a night out!
Greasy skin & Dehydration.
When you are showing signs of sticky skin, or really clammy greasy skin. This is going to be related to your diet and digestion. If you are eating lots of greasy unhealthy foods, lots of dairy, breads or chilli. This is harder for the body to break down, it takes extra energy but also your body doesn't know what to do with it sometimes so it comes out through the skin. Hence giving that greasy texture. Dehydration is easy to identify, where you have dry skin is where your body is lacking water. Drink more water. I know many people suffer from dry skin in the winter months. This is purely because a lot of people don't drink enough water in winter because it's cold. So keep your water at a warm temperature so you are more likely to drink it and put on a nice hydrating serum to protect your skin from the wind.
Acne & Pimples
Okay this is the one everyone is intrigued about and I love it!
If you pimples are light small whiteheads that are on the cheeks than this is going to be your digestive system, cut back on the sugar and processed carbohydrates and you will find this will go. Cystic acne on the jawline represents hormone disharmony in the body, your body can't balance out hormones properly so it builds up excess bacteria on the face. Getting pimples on the cheeks is a sign of stomach and spleen disharmony and therefore you know the reasons for your breakouts are mainly due to your diet.
Pimples around the forehead are due to a lot of heat and stress, the annoying little ones that arrive around your third eye is definitely due to exhaustion so be sure to keep a balance between your work and play life.
Another few extra tips to keep in mind is to keep your skin clean. At night make sure to cleanse your face with a natural cleanser that doesn't have any nasties to rip of your natural skin oils. so overnight your skin can breathe and not build up any excess makeup that can block your skin cells.
This facial diagram is an indication of what could be happening internally in the body. This doesn't mean it can cure what is happening but it is a good start to finding the issue. As the body is a complex organism as a Chinese medicine doctor we look into every aspect of the body to see where things need more balance.
If you are struggling with any of the above issues, Meraki Holistic Health specialises to finding out the root cause of skin concerns and getting your skin back to balance with cosmetic acupuncture treatment options.
You can also learn more through the Meraki Face Mapping ebook which you can get here
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