Acupuncture helps rejuvenate skin
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By Lee Seung-hun
Throughout history, we humans have always desired to stay young, both mentally and physically.
Among that desire to stay young is the wish to appear younger than one’s age.
As such, most of us wish to maintain clear and firm skin, which is associated with health and youth.
In recent years as interest in esthetic beauty has increased, demand for cosmetic surgical options has increased and along with it, interest in the non-surgical Oriental cosmetic treatments have been peaking.
For centuries, Oriental medicine has treated facial asymmetry from Bell’s palsy with acupuncture to bring back the symmetry.
Acupuncture has been applied to treat the drooping half of the face caused by the facial nerve paralysis.
The treatment techniques have been fine-tuned and developed in more recent years to be used for cosmetic and treatment purposes.
Cosmetic acupuncture utilizes the needles to stimulate the acupuncture points in the 6 meridian systems present in the face as well as the muscle layer according to the human anatomy to induce the rejuvenation of the skin and to relax the muscles.
Without a surgical operation, the treatment utilizes acupuncture to lessen the lines on the face, restore elasticity to loose skin, and balance facial asymmetry.
Due to its effectiveness in improving the overall skin appearance, Oriental cosmetic treatments are favored by middle-aged female patients.
As a non-surgical treatment, cosmetic acupuncture has the advantage that treated patients can resume their lives right after it has been administered, as well as there are less concerns for side-effects.
Unlike other popular cosmetic treatments like botox, peeling agents, fat transfer or thread lifting, cosmetic acupuncture does not require the injection of foreign substances onto the skin, but it stimulates our own body’s reaction to induce changes that are natural and do not appear artificial.
Many patients also experience better circulation of the blood and qi around the facial region, which brings about clear and healthier complexion.
Patients with existing headaches sometimes feel their pain alleviated. Others with eye issues such as bloodshot eyes, difficulty keeping the eyes open or dulled eye sight due to fatigue in the eye region can also feel their symptoms alleviated with the treatment.
With the advent of smart phones and social networking services, taking selfies at events and places has become a common practice.
If you feel that you are not quite photogenic whenever you take your selfies, it might be because of the facial asymmetry. Facial symmetry alone can have the affect of making a person look younger.
As mentioned before, cosmetic acupuncture is effective treatment to adjust the asymmetry to achieve balance.
Especially, if you asymmetry is accompanied with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues such as chewing foods on only one side, clicking noises when opening the lower jaw, or pain in the TMJ area, adjusting the TMJ as part of the treatment package can bring about better symmetry of your face.
TMJ adjustment comes in the form of Chuna chiropractic and specially made adjustment device.
One of the distinguishing marks of Oriental medicine is that it seeks to store overall balance in our whole body.
As such cosmetic treatments for the facial area do not solely treat the face but our bodily functions as a whole and are tailored for individual patients.
Oriental medicine views that parts of our face corresponds to our internal organs, which will intricately reflect their functions. For example, our forehead is connected to the heart, jaw to the kidneys, nose to the spleen, left cheek to the liver and right cheek to the lungs.
Each region’s skin tone and complexion is a reflection of the health and function of the corresponding organ.
What this means is that to have a healthy skin on our face, our internal organs must function in harmony. Therefore, Oriental cosmetic treatments can call for Hanyak medication along with cosmetic acupuncture for better results.
If you are interested in looking younger and healthier without appearing artificial, cosmetic acupuncture is worth the consideration.
The writer practices oriental medicine at the UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong, Seoul.