Traditional Chinese Medicine: Its Approach to Facial Beauty

Steven Schram

Beginning thousands of years ago, the practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) developed an indepth and very practical understanding of how the body works. As part of their understanding, they theorized a meridian system of energy channels running throughout the body. Application of this theory forms the foundation of current acupuncture techniques and it remains widely used throughout the world as a tool to help heal and balance the body. Part of this system is a subspecialty that deals with dermatology, complexion, and in particular, the face. What follows is a brief introduction to the critical concepts of TCM followed by specific techniques that help treat problems in facial complexion, including skin tone, color, lines, and texture.

Overview of Facial Acupuncture

Our first focus is on the acupuncture meridians. According to TCM Channel Theory, these meridians are major communication conduits that run to and from the surface of the body to the organs in the deep interior. The complex interplay of organ function is assisted by the interplay and overlapping of the meridian pathways. Briefly, there are 12 major acupuncture channels, plus eight “special” channels. Half of the major channels and seven of the special ones began, end, or traverse the face with the remaining channels exerting indirect influence.

Because the interior and exterior are so well connected, all TCM diagnostic techniques include skin examination as part of the evaluation and diagnosis procedure. And because so many channels traverse the face, it is a well-accepted understanding that the face reflects the underlying health of the person.

This means that to treat the face we must also treat the underlying health of the person. So when treating the face, not only are acupuncture needles applied directly to the face, they are also placed at other points on the body that affect health in general. This dual approach is what allows the clients’ vibrant internal health to shine more robustly through to their rejuvenated face.

It is important to understand that, although facial acupuncture is often referred to as an acupuncture facelift or facial rejuvenation, it is especially effective specifically because underlying health issues are simultaneously treated through the use of body acupuncture points. Thus it is much more than a simple cosmetic procedure and is in fact a revitalization process designed to help keep the whole body looking and feeling younger.

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Yin/Yang and the Basics of TCM

Fundamental to any discussion of TCM are the concepts of Yin and Yang. These are energetic relationships that represent mutual paired opposites and reflect the Chinese view on the bipolar nature of the universe in general. In brief, Yin is dark, cooling, contracting, and moistening and corresponds to structure. Yang is bright, warming, expanding, and drying and corresponds to function. They are complementary, and neither can exist without the other. In fact, under TCM, the interplay between Yin and Yang forms the foundation of life.

On of the primary tenets of Yin/Yang theory is that they transform into each other. The main idea is that, in health, both exist in a relative state of mutual abundance and balance. In other words, there should not be too much of one with respect to the other. As a corollary, there should not be too little of one to the other either. Applying these principles gives rise to four fundamental imbalances that a person can manifest.

There can be too much Yang: The person feels hot and the face may be red.
There can be too much Yin: The person feels cold and the face may be pale.
There can be too little Yang: The person feels cool and the face may be pale.
There can be too little Yin: The person feels warm the face may have flushed cheeks.

The first two conditions are termed excess conditions and the last two are termed deficiencies. (Although technically, the excess conditions refer to the strength of a pathogenic vector and deficiency relates to the strength of the defensive Qi, for the purpose of this chapter, we will stick to the understanding presented above.) Bear in mind that there can be many complex interactions of the four conditions among the various organ systems, and the simplistic analysis given here often evolves into multiple excesses and deficiencies among different organ systems. This is particularly so in the aged and geriatric population. The true art of TCM diagnostics lies in unraveling these complexities so the proper treatment can be designed.

Disease and Diagnosis

We have already mentioned the balance of Yin and Yang. Another important concept in understanding the disease state is the concept of obstruction of the movement of Qi and Blood by external environmental pathogenic evils. They are known as Wind, Heat, Fire, Cold, Dry, and Dampness. On simple terms according to TCM, disease results when an evil pathogen enters the body through any orifice or pore and proceeds to obstruct or interfere with the flow of Qi or Blood. If the response to the evil is strong, it is called an excess pattern. If the body’s defensive response is too weak to fight the pathogen effectively, it becomes a deficiency pattern. The evils can enter singly or be combined into more complex patterns. When describing a pattern, one describes the organ/meridian and the evil. Common patterns include Spleen Damp, Liver Wind, Spleen Yang Deficiency, Stomach Heat, etc. There are many hundreds of patterns! The art of TCM lies in elucidating the exact pattern of disharmony.

Although this discussion of patterns of disharmony may make little sense to a Western trained medical mind, within the 3000-year-old practice of TCM, such diagnostic analysis forms the basis of many successful treatment strategies. For our purposes, we will focus on several simple aspects of facial diagnosis.

Diagnostic Relationship between Health and Facial Appearance

The Chinese were keen in observation and they were able to correlate what they saw with other symptomatic and diagnostic factors. Although there are many correlations to consider, there are a few very significant diagnostic relationships between people’s health and how their face and hair looks.

Hair

Hair loss often indicates a Blood Deficiency.
Early graying of hair is a Deficiency of Kidney Essence.
Dull hair with split ends may indicate a Deficiency of Lung Qi.

Face Color

The color and moistness of the face reflect the state of Qi and Blood. It is important to distinguish between a dry and dull face versus a clear and shiny complexion. Moist, clear, and shiny, regardless of the color, are always favorable whereas dry and dull are not.
A slight green pallor is usually a liver pattern although it could also mean interior Cold, pain, or interior Wind.
A red face always indicates Heat. If only the cheeks are red, it is Deficiency Heat, while if the whole face is red, then it is Excess Heat.
A yellow cast to the face indicates a Spleen deficiency or Dampness, or both. A dull yellow could be Cold Damp whereas brighter shades would represent Damp Heat.
A white color may indicate Deficiency in Qi or Blood, Cold, or Yang Deficiency,
Irrespective of shading, a color can be described as deep, floating, clear, dull, thin, or thick. Deep is Interior whereas floating is Exterior. Clear is a Yang condition whereas dull points to Yin. Thin represents Qi Deficiency whereas thick is an Excess condition.