Hello Readers! 

Today let’s talk about a matter most people have interest and curiosities about: Esthetics.

In present society, worrying about your body or how your face looks it’s a growing trend, and every day we see hundreds of new treatments arising, designed to make us look perfect and age prettier.

Chinese Medicine already has its own technique arsenal in order to improve esthetics, dating from 3 thousand years ago and yes, acupuncture is included in this context and might help in a more natural way those who seek to improve their appearance.

How can Acupuncture be used on esthetics?

Usually we shall divide the esthetics treatments, falling into two categories: facial and body.

1- Facial Esthetics

In this category, we are looking at reducing expression marks, softening skin stains and patches, healing acne, softening scars and pathological marks such as chicken pox etc.

In this situation, we shall use local needles, inside the wrinkles, surrounding stains and even transfixing acne, since we know that needles have a nutrition effect, anti-inflammatory, collagen and elastin stimulant plus analgesic effects on the spots they are used on. However, only doing that won’t be enough.

In Chinese Medicine, we must treat not only the place where the discomfort arises, but we must also understand its source. Balancing the organism in a general way is essential to an esthetic treatment.

To make it simple, when we talk about “face”, the bigger problems will show up on the skin, and, in Chinese Medicine, skin is Lung’s responsibility. Everytime we intend to treat someone’s skin, we must strengthen their Lung.

A few important points are:

• LU9 – Nourish the skin
• LU5- Diminish irritations and inflammations 
• LU3 – In order to treat skin problems which worsen when under emotional stress

Treatments must be done on average 2 times a week, with 48 hours break in-between sessions.

In case there isn’t improvement on the patient’s condition after 3 sessions, the therapist shall then reevaluate the case in order to find out other energetic imbalances affecting the Lung and consequently generating skin problems.

2- Body Esthetics

As in facial esthetics, on the body we shall use needles on the spots that discomfort is stronger. We may treat, spots and scars even cellulite and flaccidity, those which are the top complaints at the office.

If the complaint is skin-related, as in facial matter, Lung must be treated.

However when the patient complains about flaccidity, liquid retention, which ends up creating cellulites, localized fat, the therapist must pay attention to the patient’s Spleen, that may be falling on it’s keep muscle strength and removing organism humidity duties. That is why, in these situations, Spleen must be strengthened.

Some important points are:

• SP2 – tone Spleen
• SP3 – tone Spleen and removes humidity
• SP6 – giving it’s Yin tone potential, improves muscle nutrition and corporal structures.
• SP9 – removes humidity

Treatment must be done 2 times a week, with 48 hours break in-between sessions and the patient’s condition must have improved in 3 sessions. In corporal esthetics it is extremely important that the evaluation is thoroughly detailed in order to check existing imbalances in other organs. The Spleen is easily affected by Liver, Heart and Lung.

When other imbalances are discovered, they shall be treated together.

Other techniques may and shall be associated with esthetic treatment, such as electroacupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, diet therapy, cosmetics such as pearl powder, but I suppose that I shall leave all those techniques to another post, right?

Hope that you liked it!

The warmest regards and a kiss!

Profa. Fernanda Mara