• Tongue Diagnosis  •

Written by People’s Acupuncture of AVL practitioner Tara Bunch

You may notice that occasionally we ask to look at your tongue. This is not to play a guessing game of what you had for breakfast or lunch. Tongue diagnosis is one of the many methods we use to determine a treatment plan for our patients. When looking at a tongue we are looking at three things: color, shape, and coating.

Color

The color indicates the status of the circulation of Qi and Blood. A healthy tongue is light pink or pale red.

Pale: Qi Deficiency

Dark Red: Heat

Purple: Stasis

Shape

The shape and also size of the tongue tell us a lot. We are looking for things like a swollen tongue, a very thin tongue, a tongue with lots of scallops (teeth marks) around the edges. These things inform us of what may be going on internally for our patients.

Coating

All tongues have a coating or what we call “fur.” A thin coat of fur on the tongue is what we want to see. During our tongue diagnosis, we are looking for imbalances such as a thick yellow coating, an irregular coating, or no coating at all. This is why it is best to not brush your tongue on the day of your acupuncture treatments so we can get a true reading of your tongue coating.

Tongue Mapping

The tongue is mapped with different organ systems. Much like the foot in reflexology, the tongue also reflects the internal parts of the body. Broken down into different areas; tip, center, sides, and the root.

Tip: Heart, Lungs and emotions

Sides: Liver, Gallbladder, emotions

Center: Stomach, Spleen – digestion

Root: Kidneys, Bladder, Intestines.

Lastly, we are looking for any markings; bumps, cracks, red, or dark spots. These indicate stasis, heat, or deficiencies throughout the body.

Tongue diagnosis together with pulse diagnosis (see January 2026 newsletter), what you tell us about what you are experiencing, and our own observations, make up the foundation for how we determine how to best treat our patients.

• Our New Clinic Administrator  •

Ashlie has lived in the Asheville area for over 16 years and has worked in various community settings such as the local farmers markets, a residential treatment center, homeless shelter, and most recently served on the board of at her local community center.

She is excited to be plugged back into the Asheville community by working at the clinic. Ashlie believes in the power of community care, and the benefits of community support.

When Ashlie is not working for the clinic she is a personal trainer, helping others build strength and feel confident in their body. Ashlie is also a full time mom of two, and lives on the edge of Buncombe county with her husband, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 rabbits and 16 chickens.

As we soon say goodbye to our outgoing administrator Leah Cheaney, we look forward to having Ashlie join our team.

• Seeking Saturday Acupuncturist •

We are still hiring for a part-time licensed Acupuncturist to take-over Saturdays so we can get back to a 7 days a week schedule. We have a great team of Acupuncturists and we are excited to add another practitioner to our roster so that we can continue to meet the scheduling needs of our lovely community. Please send this on to your acupuncturist friends.

Hiring information can be found here

• Note from Aimee •

Love,
Aimee and the People’s Acupuncture