In this article, I’d like to share a useful and practical life hack that has served me well over the years— Acupressure Ear Seeds. It is the epitome of convenience meets health. I can literally be sitting on the sofa watching the newest Korean drama (currently The Eternal King if you were wondering) while getting microdoses of health benefits.
With the work force shifting to a work-from-home environment, this is the perfect time to add ear seeds to your self-care routine. You can be on a Zoom call and massaging these acupressure points along the ear to help boost circulation (people will think you are listening very intentionally as you massage your ears).
First let's understand what ear seeds are. I will show you the specific protocols in separate posts.
I like to call it “Acupuncture To-Go” without needles.
First things first. What is an ear seed?
The seed itself is an herb from the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia called “Wang bu liu xing” (王不留行) or in Latin “vaccaria seeds”. It has properties of boosting blood circulation. Apart from being used as ear seeds, it is used in many Chinese herbal formulas.
Wang bu liu xing seeds from TCM Wiki
Funny Story. My Hospital Ear Seeding Experience:
Ear seeds work as amazing supplemental treatments to acupuncture. I spent some time learning at integrative hospitals in China where ear seeds have become common protocol.
The acupuncturist I followed saw mostly more serious cases of stroke recovery, pain, and bells palsy. Following the patient's acupuncture treatments (most patients came at least 3 times a week due to their conditions), I would help place ear seeds on their ears so that they could continue to get additional health benefits during their days off.
The effects of acupuncture + ear seeds were really quite amazing and patients loved getting ear seeds. Funny fact...
I had patients bringing in their extended family members to come "assist them in their treatment" so that they too could get a couple of ear seeds.
Haha! Good times. Now I'd love to share it with you so that you don't need to bring your entire family in. You guys can do it as a fun family "bonding experience" at home as social distancing measures helps make time for such activities.
Okay cool. So how does it work?
The ear seeds are placed on acupressure points on the ear with a small bandage. The points depend on what condition you want to help treat (ie. back pain, stress, neck pain, anxiety).
Ear Seeds Photo from Walmart
The black dots are the seeds, the peach squares are the adhesive bandages.
Ear Chart Picture:
I worked with my graphic designer to create a "MOMA-worthy" ear chart rather than the traditional ones that I don't enjoy looking at. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I have a poster of this on my wall at home. If I'm going to look at this often, might as well make it cute.
A pretty ear chart. "Felt cute, might delete later."
You choose points to help boost circulation to specific areas of your body in need. It's that simple. If you have back pain, you can feel around the area of "lumbar vertebrae" for tender points. Then place the seed on the most tender point and massage it.
There are many different protocols for different health purposes. I will share popular protocols soon in a separate post. If you would like to see a specific protocol, just leave a comment and I will do my best to share one to fit it.
Quick Ear Seed History (Skip if you aren't interested):
I think it's important to point out that ear seeds are actually a "modern" invention meaning that it was invented within the last century. It was not historically used as a treatment in Chinese medicine until the late 1950's. So you won't find it in the classics ie. Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (黃帝內經).
The concept of auricular microsystem was actually invented by a French neurologist in the 1950's who mapped out sensory and nerve connections between the ear and the body. The idea was later shared with the Chinese medicine community who then expanded upon the idea.
It has since become a very popular and fun way to continue to help maintain health in between acupuncture treatments.
Inexpensive and Effective. What more do I need to say?
All this costs the grand total of less than $7. That is like the price of one medium-sized San Francisco boutique cafe cappuccino made with oat milk + tip.
You can find a pack of 600 ear seeds on Amazon for $6.59 last I checked. If you break down the math, it literally costs one cent per ear seed. You need around 5 at a time. That’s 5 cents. That is…unless you want the fancy crystal ones that celebrities like Penelope Cruz are swarming over these days!
I’ve found ear seeds to be a great addition for combating stress and pain in my personal entrepreneurial life. It is not the same as a full-on acupuncture treatment but it’s a great way to give myself an edge during stressful and painful times.
I'm working on making some videos and posts for specific protocols so that you can add it to your self-care routine too! Stay posted. Stay healthy. Thanks for reading!
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