You probably already know that your complexion can tell you a lot about your overall health. But did you know that the location of your “problem areas” can also be revelatory? The Chinese have known this for thousands of years. They invented face-mapping, a process that stems from the belief that each organ of your body is linked to a corresponding area on your face. The idea is that breakouts or rashes on specific facial areas may be solved by dealing with unhealthy habits or disease in a corresponding body system.
It breaks down like this:
But here’s the thing—for the Chinese, these literal organs are just the beginning of the solution. They also see skin issues in particular facial regions as indicative of emotional problems, because they associate emotions with particular organs. For example, grief is thought to settle in the lungs. So to a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, a persistent cough or a constantly broken-out cheeks may mean that their patient is deeply sad.
It’s a fascinating subject and the regions can be further subdivided, going much deeper than our chart here. Because we believe in an integrative—or whole body—approach to aesthetics at Elizabeth Adams MD, we do think the location of your facial issues is significant. So for each client who schedules a consultation, we do a face-mapping, as part of the overall diagnostic plan. This helps us consider specific nutritional needs and lifestyle adjustment when formulating your personal aesthetics plan. It’s definitely only part of the process—gut testing and understanding your lifestyle and history are also crucial parts of the equation— but it is one more tool in our arsenal to blast away beauty bummers!