Acne face mapping: What Is Your Acne Trying to Tell You?

Have you ever wondered why you seem to breakout in the same place ALL THE TIME?  Arrrgh! Aggravating as it may be, your skin is trying to tell you something; the location of your acne is a clear sign that something is going on inside your body. 

Your internal health is often manifested through the skin, so by examining where exactly you get breakouts and "face mapping" where your zits pop up, you can better determine what's causing it and begin to take action to prevent them from popping up in the first place.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) explains that your breakouts are not random coincidences.  Each organ of the body is connected to certain areas of the face.  Face mapping is based on many years of observation by the Chinese ancient medicine system, that's why TCM is so beneficial, it can help you determine how to treat the acne causes and not just the acne symptoms.  

Zone 1 & 3: Can be alleviated by eating less junk food, yes it's tempting, but if you want your acne to go away, stop it at once.  Drink more alkaline water and eat more Yin (cooling) type foods as opposed to Yang (warming) type foods such as: cucumbers, radishes, strawberries, tofu and turmeric.

Zone 2: Can best be treated as indicated; cutting out alcohol, greasy food and dairy.  But also taking advantage of performing a liver flush, it can really eliminate toxic build-up.  One great product with fantastic results is the Liver Rescue 5+. 

Zone 4 & 10: Are areas connected to the kidneys so increase your intake of pure, clean, filtered water & cut down on coffee or eliminate it all together.  All that caffeine is terrible for the kidneys.  Perform a kidney cleanse with Dr. Christopher's Kidney Formula ,  this is excellent for flushing toxins and encouraging proper waste filtration. 

Zone 5 & 9:  Are for your cheeks which are connected to the respiratory system.  If you smoke, cut it out, if you have allergies, this is a major area of concern and where you will see breakouts generally.   What if you don't do either but are still experiencing acne on your cheeks?  Then your body is overheating, you are eating too many warming foods (yang), eat cooling foods instead such as: green leafy vegetables, wheatgrass juice, barley juice, blue green algae juice can really help.  Also, dirty cell phones and not changing your pillow case often is another reason.

Garden of Life makes a stupendously delicious wheatgrass juice that cleanses the blood and clears the skin of congestion.  Barley juice, is another option, should be selected only in its finest and most purest form, from nutrient rich organic soil minus the chemicals, Synergy Natural Organic Barley Grass is a natural detoxifier since it rids the body of stored toxins.  It supports healthy blood and circulation.  Lastly, Klamath Blue-Green Algae is a superfood loaded with digestive-friendly enzymes, which also detoxify and rejuvenate the whole body.  If you prefer capsule form to powder, this algae is the perfect choice. 

Zone 6 & 8: Are for the eyes, also connected to the kidneys.  If you're dehydrated, you'll see signs of this in dark circles; drink more pure filtered water and less soda, sugary juices, coffee and sweet tea.  Eye health is extremely important; Nature's Bounty Extra Strength Bilberry Extract supports healthy function as it contains anthocyanosides (a known antioxidant).  Bilberry extract has been shown to help improve daytime and nighttime vision and bring relief from eye floaters.

Zone 7:  Is for your nose; breakouts here can indicate a poor diet, constipation, bloating, gastrointestinal issues, poor blood circulation and indigestion.  Decrease your intake of spicy and pungent foods, eat less meat, have less salt, exercise regularly and get more fresh air.  Also make sure you get enough B vitamins (not all B vitamins are created equal).  A popular brand in the organic community and one I also take is the Organic Super B Complex; grown as whole food----not made in a lab.

Zone 11 & 13: Jaw line breakouts can be contributed to extensive dental work and eating right before bed. It's important to go to bed early and wake up early, get between 7-8 hours of sleep if possible.  Reduce your stress levels by doing yoga, meditating, anything stress-free.  Also toothpaste & mouthwash can be the culprit here too.  Try a healthier alternative to fluoride toothpastes like: PerioPaste Organic Toothpaste and get rid of alcohol based mouthwashes, they contain ethanol--a known carcinogen that can penetrate the mouth lining.  Switch to alcohol free an alcohol free mouthwash like: Nature's Answer Periowash, made with organic herbs and Coq10.  Lastly, get hormone levels checked, as your hormones may be imbalanced as well.

Zone 12: Is the chin area which means hormones, hormones, hormones! They're imbalanced and there are plenty of healthy things you can do to regulate them; eating right of course, exercising, staying hydrated, keeping stress levels down and taking supplements to help bring your hormones back into a balanced state.  Gaia Herbs Women's Balance promotes a healthy emotional attitude, regulates those crazy hormone surges and supports healthy transitions.

Zone 14:  Is constantly overlooked and shouldn't be.  Any breakouts around the neck area could indicate that your adrenal glands are overworked and that you are stressed.  De-stress as much as possible (stress is at the heart of many conditions) and take a respite.  I have seen significant improvement in adrenal health function using herbs to heal: Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health will enable your body to adapt to stress in a healthier way.

**Note:  I have also found that it's important to take a healthy organic wholefood source multivitamin without synthetics or imitation ingredients--it really does supply your body with everything you need to function properly and promotes glowing, healthy, beautiful skin, and isn't that what we all want?  One favorite is Organic Multi Vita Min Herb for Women which is a COMPLETE herbal formula for energy, hormones, brain, digestion, immunity and heart.

Men can benefit from this as well since this company makes a multivitamin targeted to support men of all ages with wide-ranging needs.  Check out the amazing benefits a well balance wholefood multivitamin can provide men with: Organic Multi Vita Min Herb for Men. 


For more information on the causes of acne, I find this helpful guide from my friends at ThankYourSkin about the 92 SNEAKY CAUSES OF ACNE extremely useful; they share valuable information along with eye catching infographic diagrams so you can always be two steps ahead of those nasty acne lurkers!

Stay Beautiful,

R.L xx

Disclaimer:  As always, when looking into face mapping, it's best to keep an open-mind, since this guide will help steer you in the right direction of what could be wrong.  Just because you tend to breakout on your forehead doesn't automatically mean something is wrong with your liver.  Take action into changing your diet and doing a detox first, if things don't change, seek medical advice.