Did you know that there are organs on your face?

In Chinese Medicine, the face can be mapped by organ systems. This is may be useful for understanding the cause of acne, moles, wrinkles, sun spots, etc. First, a naturopathic doctor or doctor of traditional Chinese medicine determine will determine where is the acne/mole/wrinkle/spot is located on the "TCM Face". Second, the doctor will ask questions to see if the corresponding TCM organ is dysfunctioning. For instance,   for chin acne, they may ask about urination frequency, urine color, urine smell, the amount of water you drink, etc. 

Obviously this is one theory behind face "imperfections". At CCNM, we actually aren't trained in face reading; the image below is just something I came across online that falls in-line with Chinese Medicine principles and I personally like the theory. So please don't go thinking that all NDs are hokey-pokey, fortune-telling, face-readers because they most definitely are not trained to act this way!

I have heard from a Western perspective, however, that jaw line acne is a result of hormonal imbalance. Evidence comes from research on polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS); a disease in which androgen hormones are in excess and jaw and chin acne can be symptoms (note that there are other defining PCOS symptoms; please talk to you doctor/health care provider if you are curious about the diagnosis of PCOS). 

Image source here.