Look Younger With Facial Acupuncture

By Peichen Yen, LAc, DiplOM

Yens Acupuncture

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Look Younger With Facial Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been around for centuries. As a part of traditional Chinese medicine, it may help treat body pains, headaches or even nausea. But its supplementary benefits may surprise you — especially if you decide to let your acupuncturist have a go at your smile lines. Facial acupuncture is reportedly a safer alternative to surgery or Botox.

This cosmetic treatment is an extension of traditional acupuncture. It’s said to naturally help make the skin look younger, smoother, and all-around healthier. And unlike injection procedures, facial acupuncture addresses not only signs of aging, but also the skin’s overall health.

On the face, the acupuncturist will insert 40 to 70 tiny and painless needles. As the needles puncture the skin, they create wounds within its threshold, which are called positive microtraumas. When your body senses these wounds, it goes into repair mode. This is the same idea microneedling uses to get bright, anti-aging results — except acupuncture is a bit less intense, averaging about 50 punctures. Microneedling applies hundreds of pricks through a rolling device.

These punctures stimulate your lymphatic and circulatory system, which work together to deliver nutrients and oxygen to your skin cells, nourishing skin from the inside out. This helps even out your complexion and promotes your skin’s glow. The microtraumas also stimulate the production of collagen. This helps improve elasticity, minimizing fine lines and wrinkles.

Unlike Botox or dermal fillers, facial acupuncture isn’t a quick fix of any kind. The focus is to create long-term changes in the health of the skin and body.  This means better collagen stimulation, a brightened skin tone, reduced jaw tension, and a softer appearance overall on top of health benefits like reduced anxiety and tension.

People might see improvements after just five sessions of facial acupuncture, but 10 treatments once or twice a week is recommended to see optimum results. After that, you can get a treatment every 4 -8 weeks to maintain the results.

It’s a great treatment for those who are really busy and on the go. It allows the body time to relax and restore. If you’re unable to commit to that kind of time or money to maintain treatments, another way to help preserve your results afterward is to feed your skin through a well-balanced diet and well-formulated skin care routine.