steven's Blog

There are many cliches about beauty. Who has not heard of the popular saying that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. That old adage now has been rewritten as beauty lies in the hands of the skilled cosmetic surgeon.

Though the pain and perils of cosmetic surgery are well-known but the quest for lasting youth and beauty has meant that more people than ever before are willing to undergo surgery. But what if all that is sought after is possible after just a few painless pin-pricks? Acupuncture, popularly thought to have originated in China offers the possibility of taking years off one's face and other parts of the body.

Lacotse Catherine, a 49 year-old French lady living in India, decided to try acupuncture for her sagging facial skin and crow's feet and is happy with the results.

She says, with a broad smile on her face, "I took about 10-12 sessions for this problem but I also had other health problems when I first started getting acupuncture done. After the sessions, even my husband commented on the change in my face." And husbands do not lie, especially when it comes to being brutally honest about their wives' appearance.

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Both, Dr Raman Kapur and his wife Sunita Kapur are treating Catherine for cosmetic acupuncture.

"When it comes to wrinkles, in acupuncture we can only do a seven millimeter pull of the skin around the wrinkle. If a wrinkle requires more than that to be straightened, then the wrinkle cannot be removed", says Dr Raman Kapur.

That is why those who practice acupuncture do not call it a facelift, the term otherwise popularly used by cosmetic surgeons.

Acupuncture remedies

Acupuncture can and does offer remedies for many cosmetic problems like sagging facial skin, double chin, sagging breasts, breast augmentation, bags under the eyes, upper and lower medial eye areas, reducing male breasts, forehead wrinkles, cheeks, upper and lower epigastria area (middle of the stomach), obesity, sagging upper arm, obesity and cellulite.

Acupuncture needles stimulate collagen (protein) synthesis, which is how the wrinkles get smoothened out. The needles also increase blood supply to facial tissues and that is how the skin starts looking radiant and blemish free.

But for the effect to be permanent, the organ or organs responsible for the damage also needs to be treated. If your internal organs work well, then your face will show it. For instance, if the spleen channel (not to be confused with the organ) is deficient then the body will be prone to loose skin, cellulite and varicose veins. And that is why with ageing, when the energy flow of the channels reduces, wrinkles start appearing and the skin starts sagging.

Catherine puts it succinctly when she says, "Basically your disease is visible on your face in acupuncture."

Since we live in an imperfect world, there have to be caveats to what seems to be the discovery of a cosmetic heaven. If the skin is long gone due to the body's natural degenerative process then acupuncture offers little hope. And if the sagging part of the body needs more than a seven millimeter pull, then too acupuncture offers little hope.

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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 wrinkle-smoothing 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, Becker hoped that having needles strategically inserted into her face would be cheaper and last longer than her birthday injections. Becker, now 53, started with 10 sessions in five weeks ( $1000) and has gone for monthly maintenance since.

I can really see a difference in my face, said Becker, who sees a licensed acupuncturist in Minneapolis. "It looks younger, smoother, brighter and uplifted." Early adopters like Becker first spread word of the virtues of a so-called acupuncture face lift. 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.

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 do not want to undergo surgery or to inject chemicals.

Whether it is called facial rejuvenation, acupuncture face-lift or 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.

What does a cosmetic acupuncture session involve?

1. Application of local anesthetic cream on the face.

2. Using body acupuncture points to improve the flow of Qi and blood.

3. Tonifying the jaw muscles and tightening them.

4. Points on cheek, around eye, along nasolabial fold, chin line.

5. Use of special cosmetic needles on the face.

6. After removal of needles, special Jade roller is used for massage.

7. Entire treatment is totally painless and it is a one hour treatment session.

8. An average patient requires twice a week treatment for 6 weeks and thereafter once a month for maintenance of facial rejuvenation.

9. The cost of per treatment session is Rs. 2500.