I Tried Facial Acupuncture- and it was Amazing! Getty Images
As a beauty editor, I’m lucky to have access to new anti-aging creams and acne potions, but there’s little I’ve tried that works to eliminate my recent bout with hormonal acne. Like clockwork every month, a deep bump or two will appear on my chin. Worse, my brown skin has started to look like a constellation of spots from the hyperpigmentation that these cysts have been leaving behind. So when I heard that acupuncture could help improve the look of acne and wrinkles, I was definitely intrigued enough to give it a try.
I made an appointment to see New York naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist Dr. Gabrielle Francis. In her serene SoHo space, I drank an herbal tea as I filled out a detailed questionnaire asking me about everything from my childhood illnesses to "wellness goals.” Once finished, Dr. Francis explained the treatment to me: Acupuncture involves the use of fine, sterile needles inserted into specific points on the meridians, or energy channels, meant to improve the flow and balance of energies, she said. When I asked how exactly that would help my skin, Dr. Francis said that acupuncture can work to increase blood flow, which carries oxygen and nutrients, and aid in eliminating toxins – all of which could give my complexion a cleansing of sorts.
I was brought back to a dim room, where I reclined face up on a cozy bed. I barely felt any sensation as Dr. Francis inserted super-thin needles into various points over my face. I have a pretty low pain tolerance – I wince whenever I have blood work done – so this was a pleasant surprise. For an hour and a half, I rested on this bed. At first I felt a little antsy and wondered if I should be using the time to check work emails. But eventually my mind drifted off. Before I knew it, I was asleep for over an hour. After the doctor removed the needles, I felt like I’d slept a full night. I was so relaxed, and my overall mood and energy was better – which I had heard was a common side effect of acupuncture. Other colleagues who had done acupuncture reported the same: “It made me feel good in the way that two glasses of red wine does,” one editor told me.
Over the next few days, I waited to find the usual pimples pop up on my chin. I’m not sure if it was a combination of the new moisturizer I was using, or the gluten, dairy, and alcohol-free cleanse I was trying, but my skin did clear up within three days. I’m definitely up for being a human pincushion again. Perhaps I’ll make an appointment – after Fashion Week.
The average personal spend on gifts this Christmas is expected to be $906. Are you over or under? Over Under Original article and pictures take www.instyle.com site
I Got an Acupuncture Facial and Survived to Tell the Tale
"This seems like it would be up your alley." I get an email led with this exact sentence fairly frequently, almost always from a co-worker and almost always about either a cool all-natural product or a vaguely ominous beauty treatment. (As a fan of green beauty and a self-dubbed guinea pig, both are in my wheelhouse.) In the case of a note I received from my colleague Faith recently, it was a little bit of both: The subject line was "Facial Acupuncture."
"Um, YES," I replied without a second thought—or before reading the rest of the email, for that matter. I happen to be a huge fan of acupuncture, and oddly enough, putting needles in my face. It was only after pressing send that I thought I'd give the rest of the message a requisite glance. "At the end of each needle session, facial cupping and gua sha facial massage is administered," it read. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap, I said silently, my stomach churning. (Lesson: Always read emails before replying.)
My wariness wasn't unjustified—I'm familiar with gua sha and cupping and what they entail. They're both ancient eastern healing practices, and they're both, uh, intense. Cupping is exactly what it sounds like: The practitioner affixes suction cups to certain points of the body in order to draw stagnant blood and energy to the surface of the skin. Gua sha involves scraping spoons across the skin to achieve a similar result. Both leave behind bruises and marks, sometimes for days. In my experience, they're definitely therapeutic, but they're definitely not pretty. (Although if you're curious, my friend Julie Kosin's gua sha "after" picture for Harper's Bazaar is about as artistic as one could possibly make it look.)
I've experienced these treatments on my back and shoulders. You can probably understand why I would be a tad uneasy about getting spoons scraped across my face.
My nerves were hardly quelled when a preparatory package arrived at my desk a few days before my appointment. I almost had to laugh at the cheerfully worded instructions, which advised to start taking the enclosed arnica tablets ahead of time, to "help with the bruising." Oh. Good.
On the day of the facial, I (rather dramatically) asked my co-workers to wish me luck and warned them that there was a good chance I would be working from home the following day, as if I were heading off to a fairly significant surgery rather than a beauty treatment. Even as I laid on the massage table amid the spa soundtrack and wafting essential oils, chatting casually with the very kind practitioner, Samantha, my growing sense of calm was periodically interrupted by nervous pangs in my stomach. After a brief discussion about any health or mood matters that were bothering me, she explained the benefits of the practice: In addition to restoring balance to my mind and body via the acupuncture, the gua sha and cupping would act like a kind of facial massage, stimulating lymph and blood flow. (She said it innocuously enough, but the words "to help with bruising" kept flashing in my mind.)
In spite of myself, I felt serene as Samantha deftly slipped tiny needles into various points across my body, including my forehead and at the top of my skull. This part felt familiar, and I even dozed off after she left me to rest in complete darkness. Maybe it was a good thing that I was still a little groggy as she took the needles out again several minutes later, and applied a layer of oil to my face to prep for what was coming next. Still, I braced myself…
… and was completely thrown off when it felt like nothing more than a gentle massage. This was nothing like the intense pressure and scraping I was used to. It was even… enjoyable?
I had fully expected that the most memorable part of this experience would be the mark it left on my skin. It was, but it also turned out the mark it left on my skin was not what I had expected. "Take a look in the mirror," Samantha said with a smile. I did—and was completely awestruck to see a bruise-free, glowing face staring back at me, open-mouthed. I was so amazed with the lit-from-within, radiant effect—which, by the way, would last several days—that I couldn't even feel mad at myself for the fruitless nerves. Even if I was an idiot for being so over-anxious, at least I was an idiot with really great skin.
Needless to say, I didn't work from home the following day.
How Your Tongue Can Detect The State of Your Health
The tongue is one of the most important diagnostic areas in ancient medical traditions. What makes the tongue such a great diagnostic tool? In Chinese medicine, the tongue is a “map” of the internal body. Like the face, the tongue is divided into five-element
Wonder if you’re coming down with a cold? Stick out your tongue and say “Ah!” Or at least give it a glance. Your tongue is one of the easiest ways to check in with your health status. The tongue is such an important diagnostic tool for Chinese medicine practitioners that it merits a full article.
How Chinese medicine uses the tongue to interpret your health
The tongue is one of the most important diagnostic areas in ancient medical traditions. What makes the tongue such a great diagnostic tool? Your tongue, containing water, electrolytes, mucus, and enzymes, is a very sensitive organ and its appearance changes with many physical changes in the body. In Chinese medicine, the tongue is a “map” of the internal body. Like the face, the tongue is divided into five-element zones that correspond to your internal organ networks.
Get in front of the mirror and look at your tongue right now. The tip exhibits the fire element; behind the tongue tip is the metal element; both right and left sides the wood element; in the center towards the back is the earth element; and the very back of your tongue is the water element. Now that you know what element is where, how do you translate what your tongue is telling you?
Signs and symptoms
Here is what you want to see: A normal tongue should be pink, muscular without tooth marking or discoloration, and have a very thin clear coating that exhibits proper salivary secretions. Monitor your evolving health level by noticing color, shape, and coating changes in specific zones.
Tongue Color: When the color becomes deeper — going from pale to scarlet to purple — it means that there is increasing heat in the body. Heat may mean inflammation, infection, or hyperactivity of the organ network. When the tongue’s color becomes lighter — from pink to pale to paper white — it indicates cold, which can mean anemia, pathogenic cold factor, or low energy and function of the corresponding organ network. I treat patients with low immune system function, sometimes due to chemotherapy or chronic fatigue syndrome, and many of them exhibit a pale tongue indicating low energy.
Tongue Coating: The thickness and color of the coating, or a lack of coating, can indicate different issues. When the coat of your tongue becomes thick, it is frequently a sign of imbalance in the digestive system. When the coat turns thick and cruddy, it generally points to decreased immune system with Candida (yeast infection). When the coat turns yellow, it often signals infection or inflammation in the body. A peeling coat is usually a sign of damage or weakening to certain systems of the body.
You can further diagnose underlying problems by analyzing the regions of your tongue; these show you which organ network is affected.
1. Tongue tip
Fire: Cardiovascular System
The fire element zone, which corresponds to the heart-small intestine network, is located at the tip of the tongue. This includes matters of the heart, both emotions and the physical health. In Chinese medicine, the spirit is said to reside in the heart network. Stress and anxiety will show up as red color and red dots on the tip of the tongue. Increasing heat signs means hyperactivity in the heart network due to stress and tension.
2. Sides of your tongue
Wood: Liver Network
The sides of your tongue display the wood element. Teeth markings on the sides of the tongue usually mean stagnant energy in the liver network. You may also notice a bluish-green or purplish hue or spots in this zone. Dark spots may indicate more serious problems. On several occasions, I’ve noticed purple spots in the wood zone in patients that suffer from low energy, discomfort, distension around the lower ribs, and swelling in the abdomen.
3. Behind the tongue tip
Metal: Respiratory and Immune System
The band-like area across the tongue and just behind the tip is the metal element zone, which corresponds to the respiratory and the immune systems. When this area turns reddish, or when red pin-sized dots occur, it usually means a respiratory infection is on its way or is settling into the body. Paleness in the metal zone may reflect a weakened immune system. In rare fungal infections of the lungs, there may appear a brownish black coating over this zone, which was the case with several of my patients who suffer from lesions in their lungs.
4. Center of the tongue
Earth: Digestive System
This area is the earth element zone, and it is related to the stomach-spleen-pancreas network. Problems of the digestive system most often show up here in the center of the tongue. G.E.R.D. — stomach and esophagus acid reflux that keeps many people awake at night — may be seen with redness and a yellowish coating in the center of the tongue. Subtle changes in this area may indicate digestive problems that have not surfaced yet; observe this area and take prophylactic steps if necessary.
5. Back of your tongue
Water: Kidney-Bladder Network
The back of the tongue reflects many of the body’s functions, but is mainly the domain of the water element, or kidney-bladder network, which includes the hormonal system and sexual glands. The two large, elevated papilla on the back of the tongue are a normal part of the taste buds. What you should look for is color and coating. For example, when I see a thick yellow coating at the back-center of the tongue in my female patients, I know that they are very likely to get a bladder infection. I tell them to immediately start drinking 8 to 12 glasses of filtered water a day, take 5,000 mg of vitamin C, and to drink cranberry juice or take its extract — this regimen will typically help prevent a bladder infection. More often than not, those who didn’t follow this preventive treatment will call me a few days later with an infection.
Your body alerts you to imbalances in many more ways than just your tongue. Ideally, you should confirm your findings from your tongue with observations from others, such as the eyes, face, and nails. You can learn more in Secrets of Self-Healing, which contains in-depth information on this subject.
You can keep all five elements balanced in your body with a specialized combination of 44 traditional Chinese herbs that support healthy function of the bodily systems, the Five Elements of Health Formula.
I hope this article helps you translate your tongue! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.
