Enhancing Your Natural Beauty With Acupuncture
I am frequently asked by patients in the Acupuncture by Andrea clinic “Is there anything acupuncture or herbs can do for my complexion or help with the aging process?” In the natural health care field we know that the first step in outward beauty is inner health. Consuming healthy foods and drinking plenty of water for balanced nutrition and proper digestion, along with quality sleep and keeping stress low will reflect on the outside the level of good health that is happening on the inside.
The second step in achieving outer beauty is receiving regular, targeted acupuncture treatments and taking the right herbal medicinals. I receive a lot of questions about how to lose weight, achieve clear, healthy skin and maintain shiny and luxurious hair. All of these questions align with what I as a practitioner am considering with each patient as they walk through the clinic doors—I am diagnosing you, for your benefit, from the start of each appointment. I assess if a patient’s facial skin is clear or where they have blemish issues, if your hair is shiny and healthy or diminished and dry. I look for visible veins around the nose and chin, if your eyes look bright or red and dry. I watch to see if you are walking upright and exuding an air of confidence and happiness or are you exhibiting signs of slumped posture and depression or self-neglect. All of these observations tell me a story about each patient’s lifestyle and health and my observations lead to a better treatment for you and your body, with better health outcomes.
Weight Loss
When I am treating someone interested in losing weight, I start their treatment with moving the liver since it is the main organ of dispersing qi, as well as the filter for blood. The liver also metabolizes everything we put in our mouth AND deals with emotions. So “moving” the liver is essential to any weight loss or skin condition improvement. Then we discuss dietary choices. Generally, all of us have room for change and improvement in our diet and exercise regimen.
After the assessment, I allow time for a discussion on your specific needs and weight gain and loss history (or struggle). Weight loss is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the U.S. and most of us are on a never- ending search for the magic pill to thinness. However, as anyone who has tried dieting knows, there are no magic pills, diets or treatments. With acupuncture, there are ways to help you achieve the goals you otherwise struggle to attain.
Cosmetic body acupuncture treatments designed to flush the liver, move the bowels and move excess fluid to suppress the appetite and increase energy, can all result in weight loss; some form of dietary guidelines must also be followed in order to maintain the progress made through these treatments.
Herbalite is an Evergreen Herbs formula carried in the clinic for weight loss. It clears heat in the stomach, dispels dampness, promotes weight loss and treats obesity by suppressing the appetite and increasing metabolic and energy levels.
Glowing Skin
Issues of healthy or problem skin start with similar treatments as those for weight loss. If you are trying to normalize and achieve clear skin after multiple breakouts, I will look at your liver, kidney and hormone function, your dietary choices (specifically dairy, wheat, alcohol and water intake). Stress levels play a large role in skin disorders, not only on your face but over your entire body. If a patient’s skin is dry, I may recommend moisturizing foods like honey or spinach and most fruits, to replace hot, drying, spicy foods. I will again assess liver function and blood disbursement and treat that organ and the kidney so they can more easily circulate the blood throughout the entire body, nourishing and fortifying the skin, the largest organ in the human body.
Margarite Acne Pills contain a traditional formula for clearing skin blemishes by cooling the internal digestive system. Pimples that flare up on the skin are the body’s way of clearing heat. If we cool the heat via the internal organs, the body has no need for acne! Small doses of this formula clear the skin quickly, followed by dietary changes to help maintain clear digestion through regular bowel movements. In this treatment, TCM works with the cause of the outbreak (internal heat), rather than the usual external treatment through application of drying topical ointments that cause a never-ending cycle of frustration with only temporary results. We need to begin with the cause of the outbreak, not the symptom, to achieve long-term progress and healthy, glowing skin.
Ming Mu di Huang Wan is a long name for a little pill that generously tonifies blood, boosting the kidney and liver, to nourish the skin. These organs work best when they are moist and cool. As we age, drying is a natural process that can interfere with those states and we see mucous or viscous areas like the eyes, start to have complications (dry, itchy, red). These yin organs are “stuck” because of the lack of moisture, and cannot feed the blood to their respective channel or outlet. The eyes, distant from the organs located in the mid-section, receive less than their normal allotment of moisturizing blood and fluids and start to dry out. Ming Mu pills help to soothe and moisturize the liver and boost kidney function so blood can flow more freely towards the eyes, fingernails, the face, and the hair.
Skin care also requires a series of treatments that are designed to increase blood flow to the face and neck through plumping the skin and collagen to fill in the crevices. The increased blood flow to the face helps with the vitality and youthfulness most of us desire as we age by bringing nutrients and moisture to the surface.
Luxurious Hair
In TCM, the head hair is under the umbrella of the kidneys and their functions. So are the bones, the ears, and sexual functions. It’s all about the strength of the “battery” as the kidneys are referred to in Chinese Medicine. As long as there is vitality and strength and the adrenals are not under a lot of duress, the kidneys are strong and filter blood appropriately. So head hair stays shiny and retains the color that we were born with. A highly stressful job, or living situation or extremely intense, manual work including standing on your feet for many hours a day for years at a time, prematurely ages us and we can see it in many areas (knee pain, low back pain, sagging skin), and we see the greying of the hair as a general sign of aging.
Kidney tonifying formulas like Herbal Times Shou Wu Wan can boost and strengthen kidney function over time and help keep the hair healthy and shiny. Read more about the history of the He Shou wu herb.
Natural Breast Augmentation
Venus formula from Evergreen, carried in the Acupuncture by Andrea offices, is a proprietary formula made by the genius pharmacist and herbalist John Chen. This formula can enhance breast size naturally. The herbal blend tonifies the kidneys directing blood flow toward the chest and breast area, with a result of increasing size. While this formula is not for everyone and precautions need to be taken depending on the individual, it has great outcomes and could be prescribed more frequently for its successful tonifying and strengthening abilities.
Acupuncture treatments for physical enhancement and skincare are available at the Acupuncture by Andrea clinic. If you are interested in weight loss, skin rejuvenation, breast enhancement and overall youthfulness, schedule a consultation today.