Cosmetic Acupuncture: This Doctor’s Go-To Natural Beauty Treatment

March is natural beauty month over on my blog (This Doctor’s Kitchen), and I thought I’d kick off a month of green beauty with my favourite go-to secret for beautiful skin: Cosmetic Acupuncture.

Cosmetic acupuncture is my favourite beauty treatment because it addresses both the mind and body. A typical treatment begins with body needles to relax the mind and improve balance within the physical body. Ultra-fine needles are then gently administered to the entire face. From years of preforming facial acupuncture on my patients I’ve developed a protocol that visibly improve skin firmness, texture and tone. There are even points that can be added to clear acne and the results have been astounding, and almost immediate. Delicate needles are inserted into muscles of the face to improve blood and energy circulation, nourishing the skin and increasing natural collagen production to diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Then, fine needles called intradermals are inserted into superficial lines of the face. These tiny needle puncture the top layer of the skin to trigger the body to create new collagen and elastin, which fills in fine lines. I find this style of cosmetic needling to be much more effective than dermal rolling or general facial needling because it targets specific lines to fill in superficial wrinkles.

I also prefer this therapy to botox, for myself and my patients, because it’s an all natural treatment that has been tried and tested for thousand of years. Botox, on the other hand, is anything but natural and actually comes from a toxin called botulism which paralyses the muscles of the face to inhibit expression. While botox eliminates movement in the face the goal of facial cosmetic is to improve the health of the skin while firming and tonifying facial muscles and increasing collagen production. This is why acupuncture is my favourite procedure to prevent aging of the facial skin and muscles.  You want to be stimulating collagen while it is naturally starting to decline, therefore fighting the aging process before it takes hold. Collagen declines by 1% every year after age 30, so I encourage my patients to start this treatment in their late twenties and early thirties. However, it’s never too late to start, because it boosts the health of your skin, which is beneficial to everyone.

I typically recommend a series of 5 weekly treatments followed by 1 maintenance session monthly. However, I do have some patients that continue to get this treatment biweekly because they love how relaxing it is and how it makes their skin look and feel.

For more information on my favourite natural beauty treatments follow along on my blog and instagram page.