Acupuncture beauty is a method that uses needle puncture and moxibustion to nourish the organs, reduce swelling, regulate qi and blood, and alleviate or eliminate certain physiological or pathological conditions that affect appearance, thereby achieving the goal of strengthening the body, delaying aging, and enhancing beauty.
Acupuncture beauty includes two methods: needle puncture and moxibustion. Needle puncture involves inserting silver needles into acupuncture points and affected areas of the skin, and then applying appropriate techniques to induce patients to experience sensations such as soreness, numbness, swelling, and hot or cold, in order to achieve the purpose of beauty, fitness, and disease prevention. Moxibustion involves using moxa sticks or other herbal preparations, placing them on corresponding acupuncture points or areas, and igniting them to produce various physiological reactions in the body, achieving the goals of beauty, anti-aging, and disease treatment.
Selection of acupuncture needles: For acupuncture beauty, fine stainless steel needles are commonly used. Since facial and ear acupuncture points are often targeted, and the skin and muscles in these areas are relatively shallow, the needle length should not be too long. A needle length of 0.5 to 2 inches is appropriate.
Choice of body position: The person receiving acupuncture on facial acupuncture points can be in a lying or sitting position, but lying down is preferred whenever possible because it is more comfortable and durable, and helps prevent or reduce fainting from occurring. In addition, before acupuncture, explanations and education about acupuncture should be provided to first-time recipients, helping them understand the basic knowledge of acupuncture, alleviate their anxiety, and achieve better treatment results.
Attention to needle insertion angle and depth: Since the muscles on the face are not very abundant, it is generally suitable to insert the needle at an oblique angle. The needle should be inserted at a 45-degree angle to the skin or along the skin at a 15-degree angle.
Characteristics of acupuncture beauty: External appearance is only a part of the human body, and its condition is closely related to the organs, meridians, and qi and blood. Only when the organs function normally and qi and blood are vigorous can youthfulness be maintained. Therefore, beauty should start with nourishing the organs, regulating meridians, and harmonizing qi and blood. This is the true and fundamental method of beauty. Acupuncture beauty originates from this holistic concept, nourishing the organs, qi and blood, and promoting health and beauty.
Indications for acupuncture beauty: Acupuncture beauty has significant effects on treating conditions such as melasma, acne, flat warts, age spots, and hair loss. Acupuncture beauty does not have absolute contraindications, and it can be combined with other therapies to improve efficacy. Moreover, compared to Western beauty methods that focus solely on local skin nutrition for facial beautification, acupuncture beauty has more stable and long-lasting effects, which is an important reason why acupuncture beauty is receiving increasing attention.
Principle of acupuncture beauty: Acupuncture beauty involves stimulating specific acupuncture points with needles and using techniques such as tonifying, reducing, replenishing, and draining to stimulate the meridians, enhance the body's metabolism, accelerate facial blood circulation, and achieve the goal of beauty.
Acupuncture beauty differs slightly from acupuncture treatment of diseases because beauty acupuncture focuses on improving the body's metabolic capacity, unblocking meridians, regulating the organs' qi and blood, and nourishing the appearance, while acupuncture treatment focuses on correcting imbalances in the body's yin and yang, qi and blood. Beauty aims to nourish and regulate, while treatment aims to eliminate pathogenic factors and treat diseases. Therefore, there are differences in the selection of acupuncture points and needle techniques. For beauty acupuncture, points with tonifying and harmonizing effects are mainly selected, while for treatment, points are selected based on the patient's specific condition, such as yin-yang imbalance, deficiency or excess, and cold or heat.
Acupuncture points for beauty treatment:
- Treatment for dullness of the face: Acupuncture points such as Zusanli, Hegu, Gongsun, Taichong, Shenmen, Xinshu, Ganshu, and Pishu can be needled. Select 2-4 points each time, leave the needles in for 30 minutes, and complete 10 sessions as one course.
- Wrinkle reduction and increasing skin elasticity: Acupuncture points such as Xinshu, Ganshu, Shenshu, Xingjian, Sanyinjiao, Zhaohai, Zusanli, Hegu, Zhongwan, Fengchi, Sizhukong, Taibai, Yingxiang, and Chengjiang can be needled. Leave the needles in for 30 minutes, once every other day, and complete 10 sessions as one course.
- Skin color regulation: Acupuncture points such as Xinshu, Xiaochangshu, Ganshu, Shenmen, Guanyuan, Taixi, Xuehai, Gepeng, Taichong, Hegu, and Neiguan can be needled. Select 4-6 points each time, leave the needles in for 30 minutes, once every other day, and complete 10 sessions as one course.
- Anti-aging: Stimulate acupuncture points such as Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, Taixi, Guanyuan, Xinshu, Ganshu, and Guanyuanyu to achieve comprehensive anti-aging effects. Leave the needles in for 30 minutes, once every other day, and complete 10 sessions as one course.
Thread lifting beauty:
Facial thread lifting beauty is a latest minimally invasive surgical method that involves embedding the fourth-generation absorbable protein suture (PPDO) in the safe layer of the face. At the same time, it stimulates the skin and lifts the fascial layer, allowing already stiff or sagging muscle tissues to rearrange and recreate a beautiful face. The surgical site is called the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) layer, which is located between the subcutaneous fat and muscles, connecting the skin and muscles. This layer sags along with the skin due to aging, and by stimulating these areas, wrinkle improvement can be achieved. Different from traditional wrinkle removal methods, facial thread lifting is convenient and has the same effect as traditional facelift surgery, but without cutting the skin, so there are basically no scars after the surgery. Additionally, there is minimal postoperative swelling, which has little impact on daily life.
Advantages of thread lifting for facial lifting:
Epidermis: Brightens the skin, promotes local tissue microcirculation, enhances cell regeneration and tissue repair capabilities, moisturizes the skin, and improves overall skin tone and texture.
Dermis: Regenerates collagen. PPDO threads penetrate the deep dermis, stimulate collagen regeneration and recombination of elastic fibers, regenerate connective tissue support, resulting in long-lasting support. The skin also regains its elasticity, radiance, and tightness, and fine lines fade and disappear.
Subcutaneous tissue: Utilizes PPDO threads to construct a three-dimensional network that supports and fills the collapsed subcutaneous tissues. It also promotes subcutaneous blood circulation, resulting in a rosy and radiant complexion.
SMAS fascia: Lifts the sagging muscles by tightly grasping the root cause of facial sagging: the SMAS fascia layer. By lifting the deep layers, the skin is comprehensively lifted and restored to its youthful position, while the effect appears natural and the superficial skin does not feel tight.
Indications for thread lifting:
- Treatment of wrinkles: Forehead wrinkles, frown lines, crow's feet, nasolabial folds, tear troughs, marionette lines, etc.
- Improvement of skin texture: Skin tightening, pore reduction, brightening, and hydration.
- Volume reduction: Lifting the jawline, improving double chin, and creating a small V-shaped face.
Actions and principles of thread lifting:
- Anti-aging and firming: After thread lifting, the skin tissue is damaged, causing wounds. The body then secretes a large amount of nutrients to promote wound healing. The main forces in these secreted nutrients are collagen and hyaluronic acid, which help the skin resist aging and firmness.
- Facial lifting: The tiny barbs on the threads used in thread lifting can hang within the skin, stimulating the fascial layer and achieving a certain lifting effect. For people with sagging facial muscles, thread lifting can lift the facial contours and make the face appear younger.
- Wrinkle improvement: Thread lifting can improve fine lines around the eyes and mouth. It can also improve forehead wrinkles by stimulating fat, muscles, and fascial layers, and smoothing out wrinkles.
- Double chin improvement: Thread lifting can improve sagging chin and cheek muscles. The thread material used in thread lifting can lift the fat and muscles of the chin and cheekbones, providing anti-double chin and lifting effects.
Side effects of thread lifting:
- Facial asymmetry: The use of barbed threads in thread lifting can cause facial asymmetry, which may be due to the patient's pre-existing facial asymmetry or the patient's inability to immediately adapt to the changes after the procedure. Facial asymmetry may occur immediately after the thread lifting procedure, or it may gradually become more noticeable over several days or even months. It is more noticeable when making facial expressions.
- Surface irregularities: After thread lifting, the skin surface may become uneven with concave and convex areas. This is due to uneven contraction forces between the tunnel created by the embedded threads and the surrounding tissues. Mild surface irregularities are normal and commonly occur with thicker barbed threads. They usually improve gradually within two weeks and do not require special treatment.
- Infection and rejection: Some people may experience allergic reactions after thread lifting, which is generally related to insufficient sterilization and disinfection during the procedure. As long as strict aseptic techniques are followed during the procedure, and the recipient takes proper care of the operative site, early adverse reactions can be controlled to prevent infection and rejection.
Suitable candidates for thread lifting:
The ideal candidates for thread lifting are generally between the ages of 30 and 60, with a significant number of wrinkles and sagging skin. With proper thread lifting techniques, facial sagging and wrinkles can be improved.
Thread lifting is suitable for full-face lifting. It can effectively improve crow's feet, marionette lines, and other areas. For the eye area and the area around the lips, special threads are used. These two areas are special because there is no fat under the eye and lip areas, only muscles. Therefore, it is recommended to use smooth threads and implant them in the shallow muscle layer.
Note: The translation is provided for informational purposes only and may not fully capture the intended meaning.
