I’ve been noticing it for some time now, and I expect you have too. Line-free, shiny foreheads; sculpted faces with all too prominent cheekbones; pumped up lips. These days it’s rare to not know at least one person dabbling in cosmetic procedures.

For those in doubt, the figures speak for themselves. According to the Australian College of Cosmetic Surgery, in 2018, Australians spent around a billion dollars on around 500,000 cosmetic procedures in one year alone. While it is no longer a taboo subject, it’s not to say injectables, such as Botox, are not without risk, and the constant pressure from social media is concerning.

“To put Botox in really young people is not ideal,” says Irene Prantalos, a doctor of Chinese Medicine.

“From a natural perspective I don’t like the idea of putting something in your body, that even though it’s been used for a long time, you really don’t know what these people are going to look like long-term. There’s reasons our muscles contract; they’re not meant to be paralysed. What are the ramifications when a muscle no longer wants to contract?”

The owner of Salubre Skin Clinic, she says she is seeing an increasing number of clients interested in alternative approaches to anti-ageing that are less obvious, one of which is Cosmetic Acupuncture, also known as facial rejuvenation.

“Cosmetic Acupuncture is a natural way of improving the health of our skin. We’re trying to promote circulation, relax the muscles, and improve general well-being with every treatment. So over say a weekly three month course, you’d be healthier than you were from the beginning,” she explains.

This is where it differs to other anti-ageing treatments, with the focus being on improving general health, to get the results you are looking for.

Cosmetic Acupuncture is by no means a new practice. Used for thousands of years by doctors in China, there is literature that highlights over 2,000 prescriptions formulated for herbal medicine and acupuncture in the treatment of ageing skin as far back as the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD) to the last dynasty Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 AD).

The treatment carried out by Dr Prantalos includes the combination of local acu-points on the face and body to bring the body back to a wellness state of health.

What does Cosmetic Acupuncture entail?
1. Cleansing/exfoliating:

The facial skin is cleansed and a masque applied to the face and neck to gently exfoliate the dead surface cells.
2. Lymphatic drainage:

Face gently massaged with a Jade Roller to promote circulation, tighten pores and help with the natural process of draining excess fluid around the skin. Jade stone follows for its cooling effect.
3. Collagen Induction Therapy:

A 0.5 or 1 mm skin needling roller is used to initiate ‘micro-traumas’ in the skin, particularly the dermal layer, to instigate the skin’s ‘natural healing process’ and stimulate collagen
and elastin production.
4. Cosmetic Acupuncture:

A combination of small, fine and intra-dermal needles are used to stimulate specific acupuncture points to assist in treating individual concerns. After 25 minutes needles are removed. An LED light can be added for additional rejuvenation, helping with effects of ageing as well as acne.
5. Application of anti-ageing serum and day cream:

A serum and cream are used on the face – ideally 100 per cent natural and free of any nasty chemicals, as collagen induction therapy increases skin’s absorption of cosmeceuticals by up to 1000 per cent!

Before the procedure.

Dr Prantalos using the Jade roller.

Using the jade stone.

During the skin needling.

The acupuncture.

Using the LED light for greater rejuvenation.

After the procedure – redness is normal.

Aside from its anti-ageing benefits, cosmetic acupuncture is also suitable for treating both acne-prone and sensitive skins, helps speed up healing of scarred skin, and can also be adapted to assisted with health issues arising from jaw clenching and sinuses.

As with all anti-ageing treatments, Dr Prantalos says “the earlier you start addressing it the better”, admitting that “if someone’s got very deep wrinkles, that’s going to be a lot harder to address than someone whose got very superficial thin lines”.

“One of my patients that came last week, she’s young, I had never treated her before. We did before, during and after photos, and you can see that a lot of the puffiness drained even with that one treatment,” she says.

Dr Prantalos suggests a treatment once, or in the best case scenario two to three times a week. Once happy with the results, the client can go into maintenance by popping in once every four to six weeks.

Depending on individual factors, results can usually be seen after six weeks.

“People aren’t going to go ‘hmm, has she had some work done?’ They might go, ‘Angela have you been on a holiday? You look rested.’ One of my patients said ‘I was talking to the mums at school and they’re saying I look rested, but I’m not really sleeping that much’. And I go ‘we’ve been doing this’ and she goes ‘oh yeah! Oh that makes sense!'”

What are the benefits of Cosmetic Acupuncture?
· Stimulation of collagen and elastin
· Tightens and tones the skin
· Lifts sagging jowls and upper eye lids
· Reduces facial puffiness and bags under the eyes
· Improves complexion of the facial skin

Cosmetic acupuncture is suitable for people of all ages wanting to look rejuvenated, without the “fake look” that can result from Botox, and the like.

“Common comments I get are ‘I hate this furrow here. People constantly think I’m angry and I’m not angry’, or ‘people think I’m sad and I’m not’. So they’re exhibiting an emotion that they’re not feeling, and they just want to look the way they’re feeling.”

But if you’re a smoker, bad news for you.

“I don’t do this for people who are smokers. These treatments won’t be beneficial as the effect smoking has on ageing can’t be simply rectified by acupuncture, while the person is still smoking.”

While some may be sceptical of the benefits of Chinese medicine, and used to quick results from going straight to pharmaceuticals (and toxins), it’s a practice that is very closely linked to our Greek ancestors, with crossovers in the two medicinal cultures, such as the use of herbs and cupping.

“There were two civilisations that were heavily involved in medicine and that was the Greeks and the Chinese. In fact, my grandmother got burnt in her village with a big bowl of boiling water that was on the fire, and she screamed and the women from the neighbourhood came to her rescue and went up to the fields and grabbed this leaf and wrapped her legs with it to rejuvenate her skin,” recalls Dr Prantalos.

“So the Greeks were historically very much aware of the botanical benefits and looking at things from a natural perspective – their roots are all about natural medicine.”

If anything, with societal pressures to look youthful mounting, Chinese Medicine’s approach to ageing is a breathe of fresh air, and good for mental health.

“It’s important to understand ageing is a natural physiological process to life and it isn’t a ‘diseased state’. However our choice in what we eat and how we live can accelerate this process or slow it down.”