What’s your prediction for the “hot health trend in 2024”? Ice plunges and mouth tape seemed to dominate the health and wellness space in 2023, so we’re excited to see the next big wellness trend to emerge in 2024.

We think it’ll be ear seeds, and we have five valid reasons why.

What are ear seeds?

Before we jump in on the “why” of ear seeds as the hot health trend in 2024, let’s answer the question of “What are ear seeds?” If you’ve never heard of them, you’re among the 98% of Americans who also haven’t (so don’t feel left behind).

Ear seeds are tiny beads or pellets that attach to the ear with a small piece of adhesive tape. Using tweezers, you put them on specific points that correspond to the part of the body that’s giving you trouble. Maybe you suffer from migraines, deal with abdominal pain, or want to lose weight. Ear seeds can help with all of those issues and more. The key is in knowing where to place them.

We recommend a tool called Auriculo 360, which has a 3D ear that you can rotate, zoom, and expand with the touch of your fingertips on the screen. The 3D ear features hundreds of primary and secondary points and protocols that will help you see where to place the ear seeds. Two-dimensional ear seed charts that you find elsewhere are a good starting point, but you really can’t beat a 3D tool that’s made specifically for the purpose of auriculotherapy (or “therapy of the ear”).

Why will ear seeds be a hot health trend in 2024?

Reason 1: Ear seeds are inexpensive when funds are tight

Let’s face it: The U.S. economy still isn’t doing great in 2023, and we don’t see much changing in 2024. As a result, we’re looking for more efficient ways to stretch our dollar. Ear seeds are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to their potential benefits.

Paying less than $30 for a My First Ear Seeds Kit, which includes the basic ear seeds and accessories you need to get started, is an economical way to practice self care at home.

Reason 2: Ear seeds can be worn both in the office and at home

With more companies requiring employees to return to work after a few years of working remotely or on hybrid schedules, people are looking for ways to bring wellness to the workplace. In addition to using the office gym, setting aside some time to meditate, and bringing gallon-sized water jugs to the workplace, ear seeds are a way to activate the body’s connected pathways.

You can reap the benefits while you work, and the silver stainless steel or 24K gold ear seeds we sell are inconspicuous enough that you could wear them in the boardroom and nobody would bat an eye.

Reason 3: Ear seeds have been studied and found to help with mental health

After a tumultuous last few years, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues are still on the rise. Discuss with your trusted healthcare professional whether ear seeds could be a complementary therapy to your pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. We have a great article summarizing ear seeds for anxiety here.

Reason 4: Ear seeds’ side effects are rare and short-lived

We wrote a whole other article on the topic of ear seeds’ side effects. So if you’re hesitant to try auriculotherapy (arguably the hot health trend in 2024!), just know that researchers analyzed several studies and found ear seeds’ side effects to be rare — and when there were side effects, they were minimal and not long-lasting.

In an age where we place a high value and emphasis on informed consent, ear seeds are a great biohacking tool for the reason that informed consent is usually a cornerstone of this type of treatment.

Reason 5: Ear seeds provide a very bioindividualized experience

We increasingly expect any type of healthcare to be tailor-fit and customized to our individual needs, and ear seeds align with this expectation very well. Every hot health trend in 2024 will likely need to meet this criteria in some way or another. Ear seeds have a head start by their inherent nature of pinpointing the exact ear points to specially treat the conditions, symptoms or issues we are uniquely experiencing.

To sum it up

Ear seeds have been around for hundreds of years, harkening back to the ancient traditions of Chinese medicine. But in the United States, they have yet to reach the attention of the masses. The opportunity for these very tiny seeds to make a big difference in the health of the collective public at scale (along with the adoption of healthier lifestyles overall) is yet to be seen, but we’re optimistic.

Here’s to ear seeds being the hot health trend in 2024!