Have you heard of Ear Seeds?
You’ve certainly heard of acupuncture. This complementary medicine and form of Traditional Chinese Medicine sees fine needles inserted in the skin at specific points along what are considered to be lines of energy (meridians).
And Ear Seeds are similar – it is a non-invasive way to manage stress, improve sleep, and promote emotional balance.
VIP Magazine spoke to Charlotte Yau, the founder of Muihood, a skincare and wellness brand rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), that’s on a mission to make ancient rituals more accessible for the modern world.
“I feel like with Chinese medicine rather than just here’s a topical ointment or take these pills, it’s very much being like let’s just unpack everything and understand what this root cause is until we can even look at where to start,” she tells us.
Charlotte explained what Ear Seeds are and how we can use TCM in our everyday life.
What are Ear Seeds?
Charlotte explains: “Our ears have lots of different acupressure points and our ears essentially are a mini micro-organism of our whole body. In Chinese medicine, we look at the body by looking at your Chi. Chi is the energy that is supposed to freely and naturally without any blockages move all throughout your body to make sure that you are living well, that you’re digesting your food, that you have the right energy levels, you’re sleeping.
“So ear seeds are these little stickers and inside them has these little balls. So these little balls essentially stick onto certain parts of your ear depending on what you’re trying to treat and they provide constant pressure to that point. What it essentially does is with that constant pressure is sending signals to our body and to our brain of releasing endorphins to that area right.”
She goes on to say: “It’s very similar to acupuncture in the sense of it is sending signals and it’s looking at your body through meridians and targeting specific organs but it’s done in a way that’s like way more non-invasive than just like accessible.”
@monavand I know ear seeding is trendy but it’s a very old, traditional practice and is based on the belief that certain points on your exterior body align with your interior 🤍 would you guys try this?! #earseeding #traditionalmedicine #acupressure #acupuncture #ItsGreatOutdoors #AmazonMusicProudHeroes ♬ original sound – k⭑
What can you use them for?
“In Chinese medicine, it is used in a different variety of ways but for me for example I would be using ear seeds mostly like because I have quite a struggle sleeping. I’m always either flying for work or whatever so I’m constantly jet-legged. They really help just reset my body right,” Charlotte explains.
“They are most commonly used for either stress or anxiety, hormone imbalances, or if you need to focus.”
She adds that they can be great for migraines and headaches as well as other aches and pains in the body.
How to use them?
“These stickers would last three to five days and you apply them to the different pressure points on your ear that match up with the area you need to treat. When you need essentially a boost, you just massage those points in your ear and when you apply them you essentially stick on the exact same points for both sides of your ear. It is essentially when you are massaging them it’s sending the signals to your brain and your body.
“Ear seeds are a great way for people who are afraid of needles and don’t want to do acupuncture. It’s non-invasive, no needles, it’s great for that. Also with ear seeds, I like ours because they’re kind of chic, they’re kind of like jewellery. You can wear them every day, they’re really stylish, they don’t look out of place.
“Because normally whenever I go to our family doctor when I was a kid I always suffered from really bad tension headaches like migraines and it was really bad when it was like when I sat or something um and they would essentially back in the day they would have these magnet balls and stick them to it and tap them just using adhesive tape and your ears would literally be bandaged up with these stickers. Now I want the benefits but I don’t want to look like I’ve got a bandaged ear!”
She adds: “We honestly have made it a lot easier for you to follow so even with the ear maps, you just look at the map and then place the ear seed yourself so you don’t need a practitioner to guide you, you don’t need anyone to do it for you, you can essentially just stick them on.
“What you would do before you apply them, get an alcohol wipe just to wipe down your ear to make sure they stick on properly and then also make sure that you know you don’t have anything that will slip and slide.”
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How often should you use Ear Seeds?
Most Ear Seed kits last three to five days. But should we have them on constantly?
“I would always say whenever you need like a bit of extra support, you wouldn’t go to acupuncture every day. It’s a bit like a body MOT right? There are days where you feel great and you’re just like oh it’s fine I can just breeze through life and do your daily things and then there are obviously days where you just need a bit of support.
“Ear seeds really apply to that. With our ear seeds yeah you’d keep them on no longer than five days because essentially you would want to reset your body.”
Oh and they do stay on when you’re showering, so don’t worry about washing them off!
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Can everyone use them?
Well, yes, of course.
“Pregnancy we wouldn’t really advise it, you still can but it’s just something that as a practitioner we wouldn’t recommend. You can do without essentially. Other than that it’s suitable for everyone.”
You can find out more about Ear Seeds and Chinese Medicine here.