Acupuncture facelift

Sunday, 26 November 2006

Step aside botox. Because acupuncture facelift is now being favoured as the natural therapy to rejuvenate the skin.

Increasingly, many spas in the Western countries are including cosmetic acupuncture as a feature in their beauty treatments. Although the effects are not as immediate and drastic as from botox, having your face pierced with disposable hair-thin needles is said to reduce the appearance of fine lines, soften deeper lines and boost overall collagen production. More importantly, it is considered a far less invasive and more holistic approach to beauty.

Because cosmetic acupuncture takes a user’s overall health into consideration, one’s internal organs would actually be fortified with each treatment. And as as result, a person who is suffering from insomnia may be able to sleep better and have her skin tone enhanced or under-eye bags reduced. Weight gain have also been reported to be controlled in some instances.

Besides addressing a patient’s condition holistically, the practitioner will probably work locally, inserting painless, ultra-fine needles into–and around–specific wrinkles, acu-points or muscle points, depending on the technique employed.

Techniques can be spartan or luxuriant, and practitioners will often incorporate herbal poultices, moisturizers, pulsed light or essential oils into a treatment. An imperceptible electrical current may also be passed among the needles.

But ironically, while acupuncture stems from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), I have yet to hear of this treatment being popularly offered over here as facelift. Most of the acupuncture treatments are available mainly for medial reasons. And even though certain spas and larger TCM centres have started to offer acupuncture-point facials by stimulating the appropriate meridians or acu-points, needles have been spared.

I suppose it won’t take long though before it catches on in a big way here. Afterall, we have many trained acupuncturists and a ready market of women who are keen to retain their youth without going under the knife or having chemical injections.