beauty facial acupuncture - RootsofEasternMedicine.com

Beauty Facial Acupuncture

	A new fad is sweeping the nation as women (and some men, as well) attempt to stave off the signs of aging with an angry red poker
What we avoid

The dwindling popularity of more invasive methods such as plastic surgery (well, maybe not dwindling in Los Angeles) has unfortunately not been met with a reduction in commercially promoted vanity.
	What we want

	With the ever growing popularity of holistic and alternative healing methods, some of today's acupuncturists have unfortunately mutated centuries of refined and polished techniques into a gimmick to cash in on people's insecurities.
Insecurity $$

The face in Chinese medicine

The face is one of the most important diagnostic tools in the arsenal of a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. The face can be used to gain understanding of disharmonies and pathologies in the body of a patient. Some very experienced practitioners are so uncanny in their abilities to diagnose based on the face that it appears at first glance to be a psychic phenomenon.
	High level facial diagnosticians seem to posses otherworldly powers

More basic facial diagnosis

There is nothing psychic about this skill. Because the face paints a picture of what is going on in the body, its features can be interpretted the same way historians can interpret ancient text. And as some historians are better at translating ancient text, it stands to reason that some Doctors are better at facial diagnosis. Some basic principles are as follows:

	Dark circles under the eyes can indicate fatigue, poor sleep, or possible kidney deficiency. The kidneys in Chinese medicine are the foundation of our bodies; they hold our genetic strength, and our core will power.
Dark circles under the eyes can relate to the kidneys

Pasty complexion can result from qi deficiency (or low energy), dampness (or poor fluid metabolism/circulation), or immune deficiency.
	Pasty complexion can relate to fluid metabolism

	Uneven complexion, such as red cheeks with pale skin on the rest of the face is indicative of deficient heat, or yin deficiency in the body. This often involves hormonal imbalances as seen in menopausal women and often accompanies hot flashes.
Malor flush, or red cheeks typically indicates deficient heat in the body. If very red check your blood pressure as soon as possible.

Wrinkles (probably the reason most people seek facial acupuncture in the first place) tend to be the result of a three fold problem.

1) The first obvious one is sun damage, which, while being an external rather than internal factor, is compounded by the following two variables.

2) Facial tension: This is the primary component most facial acupuncture deals with. If your eyebrows are furrowed or there is other excess muscle tension in your face, it will of course exacerbate any wrinkles found there. But if internal tension or discomforts are not addressed, any facial tension released by facial acupuncture will shortly return.

guy scowling angrily so wrinkles appear on his face

Small aches and pains, small elevations in blood pressure, minor deficiencies in nutrition, subtle deficits in posture, digestive abnormalities, daily stressors, and many other things can add up to leave a person in a general state of unease, which can lead to undue facial tension.

Please be aware that when I say subtle, small, or minor, I mean you may not even notice that you are not feeling well. You may very well be used to it. In spite of your awareness or lack of awareness of this internal tension, it can and will nonetheless lead to facial tension, which can accentuate wrinkles. To address this tension, the whole body must be treated, not just the face.

3) The third, probably most important component in treating wrinkles is treating the blood. The bottom line is that all the nutrients, oxygen, hormones, enzymes, and vitamins necessary for skin health are brought to the skin by the blood. If the blood is young, the skin will be young. If the blood is old, the skin will be old.

A complete blood count (CBC) only measures quantities, not qualities within the blood. While the numbers may look good it does not necessarily mean health. 4 apples may mean 4 shiny, crisp, healthy apples, or 4 bruised, worm infested apples. Gross aberrations of quality such as sickle cell anemia will be detected, but subtle quality deficits will be missed.

Now I know that red blood cells are constantly produced by the body, so you may ask how they could possibly be "old". Some people just produce stronger, healthier blood cells and plasma than others. The good news is that Chinese Medicine has very effective strategies to enhance the health of your blood and its components.

To treat the blood a variety of options are available; tui na medical massage, qi nei zang, herbs, whole body acupuncture, meditative qi gong practices, among others (all of which are available at Roots of Eastern Medicine Acupuncture Clinic). Notice that this list does not include facial acupuncture. It is very difficult to influence the blood with the use of facial needles alone.

There are of course more examples than these but I'm using this to illustrate the fact that a healthy body is a necessary requisite for a naturally attractive face. A healthy face requires an adequate circulation of healthy blood to reach the skin, and this is only possible if the internal organs are functioning properly.

A simple test

Just look at your face in the mirror after a night of restless sleep, during times of stress such as being caught in traffic, on the forth day of a stubborn head cold, or when you are grimacing after stubbing your toe.
	We all know that even one nights restless sleep can dramatically change our face

You have good face days and bad face days because the appearance of the face is inextricably linked to the health of your body and mind. When your body and mind are functioning correctly, your face will have natural beauty.

	Ask any M.D. if you should use makeup to cover up your recently yellow complexion, and most likely he will laugh and recommend you get checked for hepatitis.
Yellow complexion can indicate jaundice, and often relates to diseases of the liver

You may get a red face in the case of a high fever, but no one assumes your face has a problem. You need to treat the fever.
	A fever can cause a red face

So what's the point of telling me all this?

EVERY Chinese medicine treatment will improve your face if it is a correct treatment, which means, if it improves the health of your internal organs. Treating your body as a whole will invariably improve your face because the face is inextricably linked to the health of the body.

Differentiating acupuncture from ‘facial acupuncture' is meaningless because every acupuncture treatment is aimed at enhancing the overall health of the patient, and this will undoubtedly improve the face.

The face is a measure of health, much like a thermometer is a measure of temperature. The idea of filling the face full of acupuncture needles to enhance beauty is as ridiculous as pushing the dials on a thermometer to warm the weather on a cold day.
	Would you turn the dial to change the weather?

	If you have back pain, and you fix your back, your face will look better. If you have high blood pressure or cholesterol, and you take natural steps to correct these, your face will look better. If you have stomach problems, PMS, allergies, or even just high stress, and you take the steps necessary to correct these problems, your face will look better.
If you take the steps to naturally improve your health you will have natural beauty

But if you have health problems that you do not address, and merely focus on your face, the treatments will invariably plateau because treatments will be attempting to adjust an effect rather than a cause. So called ‘facial acupuncture' will invariably be ineffective if it doesn't focus on these underlying issues.
	'Facial Acupuncture'

Other diagnostic tools in Chinese medicine

	Checking the tongue and taking the pulse are other ways to measure health in Chinese medicine. The better looking your tongue, the healthier you are. But tongue acupuncture never caught on because in spite of Gene Simmons best efforts to the contrary, the tongue never became a widely accepted symbol of beauty.
Gene Simmons wasn't able to start a 'tongue acupuncture' fad

Facial acupuncture

The most important acupuncture points for influencing the face aren't even on the face. Exceptions to this rule include Bell's Palsy (temporary facial paralysis), and blepharospasm (twitching eyelids); disorders that result from dysfunctional nerves on the face, but most people going to get facial acupuncture aren't doing so because of issues like these. For those seeking facial beauty, it is a natural result of whole body health.

This is not to say that putting a large quantity of needles in the face is never called for, as it often is in cases like Bell's Palsy

To actually increase blood flow and nutrient flow to the face to enhance beauty, most of the important points are on the neck, trunk, and limbs. Facial massage and acupuncture are merely addressing the result of a problem, rather than the cause.

Now this is not implying that there are not very important points on the face and head for influencing the health of the whole body (there are points like these on the head and face). It's just that traditionally accepted methods for improving whole body health or treating whole body imbalances very rarely (if ever) include filling the face full of needles, other than actual disorders of the face itself as listed above.

And acupuncturists themselves aren't necessarily to blame for the 'facial acupuncture' phenomenon, because they are practicing in a western minded society, where parts of the body are viewed as independent from other parts, and people assume more is better. So patient satisfaction often depends on an obvious focus on the area in question (in this case the face), and the more needles they use, the more effective patients will perceive the treatment.

Often times we view parts of our body as independent from other parts

Is it all just vanity?

Subconsciously we all know that an attractive face represents health, and an unattractive face represents illness. That is why they appear attractive. We have a genetic predisposition to perceive in this manner. People with attractive faces and bodies are more likely to bear healthy offspring.
	In some ways we are genetically hard-wired to seek out beauty, so its no shock that it is important to us

I encourage you to dig deeper. Beauty is important in that it measures health. But use your motivation to improve your looks to take steps to improve your health. Do not get caught up beautifying your face to pretend you are healthy.
	Dig deeper to find the core issue, encourage your doctor to do the same

	If you find a lifestyle, health practitioner, or acupuncturist that makes you healthier, in both body and mind; that is the best facial treatment you can have. Anything else is like putting makeup on, only temporary.
Makeup is only temporary

Incredible things are possible with Chinese Medicine. You can erase signs of aging and enhance your beauty, but only when the treatment is grounded in long standing Traditional Chinese Medicine Principles.

Make an appointment at Roots of Eastern Medicine Acupuncture Clinic to make a core change in your body. Treat the roots, not just the symptoms.