COSMETIC ACUPUNCTURE - EAST + WEST
When people ask me what I do, at the mention of "cosmetic acupuncture," I often get a questioning look.... (I love this, because I love explaining it.) This botox alternative is an antidote to the harmful anti-aging narrative, and fits into what I call PRO-Active Aging, or PRO-Aging. To really get into how biologically and energetically magical it truly is, I need to explain it from both Western and Eastern medical perspectives.
FROM THE WEST
Healthy Skin: We mostly think of "good" skin as firm, glowy, with balanced tone and minimal pores. Collagen and elastin maintain this integrity of the skin in both its strength and flexibility, and it is well known that our body's ability to produce these decreases as we move along the timeline. What used to be an "around the clock" process gets a little sleepy, and we need to start setting alarms and reminders for the body to make these more efficiently.
The Main Actors: In order to trip the alarm to create collagen and elastin, we need to get the message to the correct cells: meet FIBROBLASTS. Fibroblasts receive a repair signal from a micro trauma (think acupuncture & microneedling), and begin secreting proteins that become collagen, elastin, and other building blocks for our skin and connective tissue. This "wound healing" process takes about 30 days, (up to 45 days in advanced years), so keep that in mind when committing to a modality. For visible results, you'll need consistent stimulation followed by the right amount of time for the collagen and elastin to build.
The Process: In order to take advantage of our repair system, it is necessary to stimulate the right ways at the correct times. Cosmetic acupuncture shows best results when done as a series, ideally 2x a week for about 5 weeks. After that, you'll move to maintenance, which can mean once a quarter, once a month, or every few weeks depending on which decade of life you are in. At PUNCH Cosmetic Acupuncture, we set you up with a basic series after your consult, to prepare you for beautiful, effective results.
FROM THE EAST
Healthy Skin: From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, an important element of a healthy complexion includes the eyes---their brightness and amount of "life" present. This brightness of the eyes and face is called our Shen, or our spirit. "The eyes are the windows to the soul" saying is no joke. It is fairly easy to tell if someone is in a mental health crisis by looking at their eyes. Similarly, a healthy, grounded, happy spirit is just as visible, and acupuncture can help brighten your Shen, and it's so beautiful.
The Main Actors: Acupuncture utilizes invisible channels that guide in different directions throughout the body, with most connecting to a corresponding organ, emotion, and more. As an acupuncturist, I use my years of training to decide where to put tiny needles, to send the right signals to the right places in the body. For a cosmetic treatment, I start with a few points on the legs or arms that help nourish, ground, and send good flow of qi (our life force energy) and resources to the face. By the time we are ready to treat the face itself, it is already primed and ready to go, as you also begin to relax from the effects of the treatment.
The Process: Different treatment protocols are selected based on our goals, and we create these with the following in mind:
Directionality of the channels (we go for those that guide up and over the head for the "lifting" effect)
Location of channels and points that correlate to areas most affected in the aging process
Best placement to create the "micro trauma" in order to activate Fibroblast activity
Muscle tension (releasing tense muscles treats the root behind how fine lines are formed)
Lymph flow - is it being impeded by congestion in tight neck and/or jaw muscles?
Your state of mind ~ How are you feeling? What are your levels of stress, anxiety, frustration, or anger? (Yup, we have points for that and they WORK.)
In Conclusion: Cosmetic acupuncture works because of addressing ALL of the above. When we consistently treat the "upward" moving channels of the face, it begins to feel more natural to the body and it maintains more of a "lift." We can specifically target the jowl area, jawline, around the eyes, necklace lines, and just about anywhere on the face and neck. By releasing tension (both from systemic points and local facial muscle points), we are calming the mind, the body, and relaxing some of the root causes of wrinkle formation. In the process, we are stimulating fibroblasts to produce more collagen and elastin. This is how PRO-Active Aging works---we release from the inside out and outside in consistently to promote well-being and to therefore slow the effects of aging.
So, how does feeling less stressed and more lifted and glowy sound? Yes, it's that effective and therefore ridiculously cool.