Chances are if you’re into holistic wellness, you’ve probably heard of ear seeding. Over the last few years I feel like I’ve seen more culture specific wellness trends take off and become mainstream. For example, Gua sha has had the Tiktok girlies in a chokehold! Now, ear seeding is starting to take the wellness world by storm. It can’t hurt that it can act as a cute accessory too!

What is Ear Seeding?

According to Forbes, ear seeding is a form of acupressure. “Rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, ear seeding is a type of auriculotherapy aka ear acupuncture. Instead of inserting thin needles, the treatment involves applying tiny seeds to specific pressure points on your ears to stimulate the acupoints without piercing the skin.

‘Traditionally, ear seeds come from the flowering herb Vaccaria but nowadays, they are typically made of metal or ceramic,’ says Martin Seeley, CEO and resident sleep expert at MattressNextDay. Some versions are also available as gemmed or nude-colored beads that blend in with your skin tone. Waterproof adhesive or tape is used to stick them on your ears.”

This is what it looked like on my ears.

The bandages and stick on gems are the ear seeds (not the earrings on my lobes or tragus). They had a few options for the type of ear seeds. Here is what some of the other options look like:

Is Ear Seeding Worth the Hype?

It looks cute and all, but is it worth the hype? First, let me share how I even got into ear seeding. I’ve been doing acupuncture on average once a month for almost a year now.

Acupuncture has roots in traditional Chinese medicine and aims to balance the life forces known as Qi (pronounced “chi”) that are responsible for different health issues. By inserting very thin needles into the skin at different depths, they stimulate sensory nerves in the skin and muscles. It is a flexible treatment that can target numerous health concerns at once and carries a low risk of side effects.

I started going to acupuncture to help with my stress, anxiety, and depression management, along with managing my PMS symptoms and even some pain in my left thigh. It has helped me tremendously! My leg pain has pretty much ceased completely and I’ve noticed that in between sessions it’s much easier to stay emotionally balanced.

Because of the noticeable benefits I decided to keep acupuncture in my “toolbox” of treatments and habits that help me stay happy and healthy! I make sure that this “toolbox” includes rituals that touch on every single aspect of my being. Self-care should be multi-dimensional!

A few months ago my practitioner at Seyhart Wellness in Santa Monica was offering free add on bodywork to my acupuncture experience. I chose to try ear seeding. The ear seeds last about 3-5 days and can help extend the effectiveness of your acupuncture treatment.

Mine stayed on for about 3.5 days. The first day was pretty uncomfortable since it’s putting constant pressure on your pressure points. After that they didn’t bother me at all. I wanted to give it some time after they fell off my ears to determine whether I noticed a difference or not. After about a week I reflected on how I was feeling.

I definitely noticed that I still was feeling really good and hoped that it would last until my next session. Over the next few weeks I felt confident that it definitely was a positive addition to my acupuncture experience. It’s not a cure-all (nothing is, which is why you need an assortment of self-care rituals/habits that work best for you), but I would definitely try it again.

Conclusion

I have loved my experience with acupuncture and ear seeding seemingly helped the effects last a little longer. I would definitely say that it’s worth a try if you’re considering it. Over the next few months I will be trying it again to see how it continues to work for me.

If you’ve tried it before, let me know what your experience was like in the comments! Or, if you’re convinced to give it a shot, let me know and I hope your experience is just as wonderful as mine was! Happy seeding!

xoxo, Arielle