Facial Acupuncture A safe alternative to surgery

This article was passed on to me by
one of my patients that have under
gone a series of facial acupuncture
treatments. I find the results depend
largely on over all health and life style.
Patients come in enticed by the thought
that the face can be lifted and renewed
with acupuncture and leave with the
feeling of over all health and well
being. Facial acupuncture not only
addresses the facial area, but the whole
body is treated to bring the organs into
balance which naturally energizes the
body and relieves many health issues.
Nora Isaacs of the New York times
wrote..
Jane Becker, a composer and solo
pianist, celebrated her 50th birthday
at the dermatologist, paying $1,500
for shots of Restylane and Botox.
But three months later, their wrinklesmoothing
effects wore off. So, she
turned to a less-artificial youth tonic:
facial acupuncture. Like many women
who have tried acupuncture in pursuit
of beauty, Ms. Becker hoped that
having needles strategically inserted
into her face would be cheaper and last
longer than her birthday injections.
Ms. Becker, now 53, started with 10
sessions in five weeks ($1,000) and
has gone for monthly maintenance
since ($105 a session).
Facial acupuncture is not cheap due
to the special equipment, time and
product used in the procedure, but
it pays in other ways, she said. After
a treatment I feel light, relaxed and
energized. I also sleep better. “I can
really see a difference in my face,”
said Ms. Becker, who sees Steven
Sonmore, a licensed acupuncturist
in Minneapolis. “It looks younger,
smoother, brighter and uplifted.”
Early adopters like Ms. Becker first
spread word of the virtues of a socalled
acupuncture face-lift. Then
before the 2005 Academy Awards,
a crew of facial acupuncturists
descended on Soho House, a makeshift
celebrity hangout in Los Angeles,
and A-listers jumped at the chance to
transform their skin from the inside
out. Now, thanks to more robust
marketing, cosmetic acupuncture has
caught the attention of more of the
wrinkled public. Its holistic approach
appeals in particular to women who
want to slow signs of aging, but don’t
want to undergo surgery or to inject
chemicals. Whether it is called facial
rejuvenation, acupuncture face-lift or
Facial Acupuncture
A safe alternative to surgery
cosmetic acupuncture, the aim is to
tackle wrinkles, muscle tension that
may be causing unsightly lines, as well
as systematic issues standing between
you and glowing skin. Just as with
traditional needling, putting needles
on acupuncture points stimulates the
body’s natural energies, called qi, but
with added benefits
“There’s a rise in interest all over the
country,” said Martha Lucas, a licensed
acupuncturist who helped create
the Mei Zen cosmetic acupuncture
system in 2003. She teaches a dozen
seminars annually to rooms of more
than 30 budding facialists. “L.A.
used to be the biggest market. But
now we get people from the Midwest
calling.” Practitioners of this style of
cosmetic acupuncture called Mei Zen
(“beautiful person” in Chinese) offer
their services in 16 states.
Mary Elizabeth Wakefield, (My
teacher) a licensed acupuncturist who
headed the 2005 Oscars event, has
trained more than 2,000 teachers in 40
states in her technique: constitutional
facial acupuncture.
This year to date, she has trained
almost 1,200 practitioners, up from
100 in 2001, she said. “For centuries,
the ancient Chinese have promoted
health and beauty,” Ms. Wakefield
said, “but we’ve taken it to another
level.”
Cosmetic Acupuncture works. A halfdozen
women interviewed for this
article said they have seen puffiness
decrease, under-eye bags disappear
and lines diminish or soften, especially
around the eyes and lips.
Dr. Richard G. Glogau, a clinical
professor of dermatology at University
of California, San Francisco, said these
changes were quite possible. “It’s
obvious that people carry around a lot
of muscle tension in their face, which
gives them frowns and wrinkles,” he
said. “My take on this is that they are
producing relaxation in the muscles.”
My own patients have been presently
surprised to the lifting and softened
effect of the procedure.
So there you have it…a real alternative
to look into before you are consider
going under the knife. Questions and
comments can be directed to organicselect@
hotmail.com