Press here if stressed. What is earseeding, and why is everyone trying it?

I was commiserating with my fellow freelancers the other day when someone asked what I wear to work at home. The answer hasn’t changed much over the years: pyjamas, a silk headband, and lately, ear seeds—tiny studs that promise to blunt stress, steady cravings, or claim to help me sleep like a child instead of an adult with twelve tabs open in his mind.

The origins of ear acupuncuture

Ear acupuncture isn’t a recent invention. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the organ has long been treated as a microsystem of the body, with specific points used to influence organs and regulate qi to restore balance. And long before it acquired a name, practitioners in ancient China were already working with the ear through techniques like needling and pressure, using it as a site for intervention rather than ornament.

It wasn’t until 1957 that French neurologist Paul Nogier put a framework to it, coining the term auriculotherapy and proposing his now-famous inverted-foetus model — a way of visualising an existing practice that made it legible to Western medicine, without pretending to invent it. Later in 2001, Richard Niemtzow — a physician and acupuncturist in the US Armed Forces — created a protocol he called “battlefield acupuncture” in his search for fast relief for phantom limb and chronic pain in veterans.

So what’s the point of ear seeding for people like us, who don’t experience stress and strife on an actual battlefield?

What is ear seeding?

“I first noticed the shift in early 2024, when ear seeding began appearing widely on TikTok as an easy tool for instant de-stressing and facial contouring,” says Jungmin Lee, founder of Ksisters. She liked that it paired a longstanding TCM idea with modern convenience — “a tiny, painless patch you could wear throughout the day.”

As with most trends that start in Seoul, the category evolved quickly. Retailers began releasing versions dressed up in crystals, pearls, or skin-friendly adhesives — Returnity’s Ear Therapy Patch, $46, which Ksisters carries, is one of them — and to Lee, that signalled actual appetite rather than just an algorithmic curiosity. The real shift came when customers began asking for ear therapy unprompted, especially those already invested in gua sha, contouring tools, or stress-relief rituals.

And while I’m loyal to the efficiency of contemporary science, I’m equally susceptible to such alternative therapies. I’ve tried electrical vagus-nerve stimulators and hypnosis — anything short of inserting a crystal into an orifice — so a discreet sticker on my ear barely counts as experimentation. After a day of wearing the Returnity patch (two are recommended), I realised I was moving through it with fewer triggers. Anger? We don’t know her. Stress? I’m writing this story happily. Facial contouring? Not exactly, but I could just be a medical anomaly. 

How does ear seeding provide stress relief?

K-beauty has been Lee’s territory for the past eight years, but her perspective has never been limited to what works for Seoulites alone. It’s about balancing innovation with “Singapore’s respect for traditional practices like TCM,” along with making sure that a formula or format “works for Singapore’s weather and skin type in the long term, testing everything internally rather than relying on hype”. And with ear seeding, the appeal was obvious: it was “rooted in tradition, purposeful, and adapted for modern, practical use.” To her, the real draw was that it crossed cultures cleanly—a gentle, non-invasive tool that made its point without demanding much from the user.

Ear seeding also plays to another familiar vanity: it photographs well, which Lee has noticed as part of its steady traction online. But unlike the more outlandish instructions creators sometimes encourage their followers to attempt, wearing a Returnity Ear Therapy Patch is almost impossible to get wrong. You wash and dry the area, press the patch onto your ear, and leave it there for two days. Lee says people feel either a gentle pressure or a light buzz. I feel a shift in mood, as if someone pressed the right point long enough for my amygdala to calm down.

“Many people genuinely notice subtle benefits like stress relief, improved focus or relaxation,” Lee says, adding that the trend isn’t slowing because it offers a visual moment and a pressure-point payoff at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, there are limits. Dr Tham notes that there’s no solid evidence that ear seeding directly treats migraines or sinus congestion. The former likely improves because relaxation eases tension, or because a placebo does what a placebo does; the latter involves inflammation deep in the nasal passages and requires a doctor.

“It’s great that people are becoming more interested in wellness, but when social-media trends borrow elements of traditional practices without any medical context, it can be problematic,” he says. “The real issue is misuse and the risk of overlooking serious contraindications. Self-diagnosing from a TikTok clip means you miss the proper assessment and medical judgment a qualified practitioner uses to keep you safe.”

How long can you wear ear seeds?

I’m on my second day of feeling relatively relaxed, and I’m enjoying the compliments from people who’ve noticed my new look, so I’m a little reluctant to peel them off. I’ve even developed a mild smugness from explaining the vagus nerve to friends. But every shortcut has its limit, and in this case, the limit is intentional.

Prolonged pressure, according to Dr Tham, isn’t advisable, especially if you have existing conditions. He lists eczema, metal allergies, piercings and active infections as situations where you may be inviting bacteria into already vulnerable skin. Rubbing or scratching the area can also compromise the skin barrier. And if you wear hearing aids or cochlear implants, consider ear seeding firmly off the menu.

Like most wellness habits that flirt with ritual, the safest approach is the simplest: “hypoallergenic, non-metallic seeds with a gentle adhesive, worn for only a few hours and not days,” Tham says.

I’m planning to keep at it anyway, and have already coerced a few friends to try it, mostly because Lee assures me that Returnity — like every brand brought into Ksisters — has been vetted properly. “We first looked at its TCM roots before assessing how modern brands like Returnity adapted it safely,” she says. Each patch uses a 3M medical-grade adhesive and a calibrated acupressure depth of 0.67cm. Research from the KBI Korea Life Research Institute reports measurable shifts: a three cm³ decrease in cheek swelling, a 52% drop in stress levels after three hours of use, and a 0.47 cm³ reduction in jawline swelling.

“To separate hype from value, we ask if a product would still matter without TikTok, and the Returnity Ear Therapy Patch passed because it’s a well-made, gentle wellness tool,” Lee says. She met the founder in February 2025, and after months of internal testing to ensure it made sense for Singapore, they launched it later that year.

Feedback has been reassuring, Lee notes, with many first-time users reporting that it helps them focus better, unwind after work or sleep more soundly. “It’s rewarding to see people adopt something so small into their routine and genuinely feel supported,” Lee says. And while social media undoubtedly accelerated its visibility, the practice itself has decades of TCM and auriculotherapy behind it. Its simplicity, convenience, and subtle benefits make it easy to integrate into daily routines, which gives it potential to become a sustainable self-care habit rather than just a trend.”

Those who find it soothing usually keep it in their rotation, she adds. I would know. There’s now a sheet of pearl-embellished patches in my cosmetic bag, ready for me to make a point whenever I need it.