Acupuncture and Face Reading

Although one usually thinks of needles when referring to acupuncture, your acupuncturist is often an all round doctor of Chinese medicine who uses many tools and diagnostic techniques to bring a patient to optimum health. It is the mark of a more skilled professional to be able to use face reading and acupuncture in combination during Chinese medical treatment.

In ancient Chinese medicine, analyzing the face was especially important in diagnosis as it was considered improper for a doctor to physically examine female patients. However, even in modern Oriental medicine, face reading is a key to unlocking health issues for your acupuncturist.

In reading a face, the first step would be to determine the shape of the face and features to see whether the face represents Earth, Water, Fire, Metal or Wood. These are known as “energy elements” and are thought to show certain strengths and weaknesses in the body.

Then the practitioner will look for balance in facial features. Eyes and eyebrows, forehead and hairline, jaw and chin, mouth and lips, cheeks and nose, are all studied for shape and balance. Then the acupuncturist will examine a spot in the center of the forehead, commonly known as the “third eye” to learn more about the heart. He or she will also assess the soft tissue, or “yin” element, and the bone structure of the face, the “yang” element.

The practitioner will not just look at the shape of the face, but also marks, such as laugh lines and wrinkles. These convey important information to the acupuncturist and add details to the health history that may not have surfaced during a verbal report alone. All this information then is noted on the patient’s chart for further assessment.

We all do some face reading starting from the time we are infants looking up at the faces of our parents. You may have thought that someone with a “strong chin” or “stiff upper lip” is someone very determined.

The acupuncture practitioner simply takes this to a much higher level through years of study. Face reading then, becomes a tool used to get the most complete health read-out possible so the acupuncturist can determine the correct course of action to take, to both reduce pain and help the patient build to a state of excellent health.