People will try all sorts to look and feel better, even having chemicals injected into their face. But an age-old natural treatment exists that can help rejuvenate your skin along while giving other benefits such as reducing stress and promoting better sleep – cosmetic acupuncture.
When I first started offering acupuncture, more than 10 years ago, for clients at Petersfield Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic it was as pain relief for acute and chronic pains, from tennis elbow and back pain to old injuries that wouldn’t heal.
But over the past 2 years, since I started practising cosmetic acupuncture, its popularity has exploded as an alternative to surgery or botox injections, mainly because it is less intrusive and can have many beneficial side effects.
A short history of acupuncture
Acupuncture was first recorded in Chinese medical texts around 100BC, however, the practice is likely to be much older. Chinese scholars, even back then, had a deep understanding of the body as a complete system. Acupuncture developed using the Taoist concept of energy, or Qi, channels (pronounced chi) along which life force flows. These are also known as meridians. Qi can be stimulated at particular points on the body using very fine needles.
How can cosmetic acupuncture help you?
I don’t just use acupuncture for treating aches, pains and sports injuries now. I offer a cosmetic service for clients who want help to reduce wrinkles, look younger and more radiant and feel good.
Compared to the alternatives, cosmetic acupuncture is a completely natural and holistic approach to reducing lines and wrinkles as well as stress.
The technique works by lifting the whole face as well as targeting specific lines and wrinkles, and because acupuncture body points are used, the process offers added benefits:
- A feeling of well-being
- Patients reporting that they feel healthier
- Better sleep patterns
- brighter eyes
- More energy
- Feeling less stressed
How cosmetic acupuncture works
When needles are inserted at certain points along meridians, they cause micro trauma. This initiates the healing response, improving blood flow, stimulating cell re-growth and releasing energy and endorphins. The result is an increase in the production of collagen, the protein that keeps the skin youthful and elastic.
Is cosmetic facial acupuncture safe?
People, rightly, can be nervous about the thought of having needles placed in the skin, but facial acupuncture needles are extremely fine and patients report no pain when they are inserted; in fact, they say the experience is relaxing.
However, effects such as short term bruising have been known and I recommend you make sure your acupuncturist is a registered practitioner with a professional body such as the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, of which I am a member, or the British Acupuncture Council.
I must also point out that I am not an acupuncturist – I won’t promise to help you lose weight, stop smoking or improve your sex life! I use acupuncture purely for pain relief, and now for facial rejuvenation.
A special offer for a New You in the New Year
Christmas can be stressful and we all need some invigoration in the middle of a cold and dark winter, so Petersfield Physio is offering a special offer for the New Year.
In January and February you can buy 3 treatments and get the 4th free, saving £75. Contact us and see if facial acupuncture can help you like it’s helped so many other of my clients.
Post written in collaboration with Bill Blogs.
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