The use of Botox and dermal fillers to help treat facial wrinkles and sagging skin carries certain risks. Allergic reactions, pain, and swelling are common, and more serious side effects can occur. Facial rejuvenation acupuncture stimulates the body’s own production of skin-supporting collagen instead.

An Interview with Gudrun Snyder

Gudrun Snyder is the founder of Moon Rabbit Acupuncture in Chicago. We spoke to her about the procedure.

Many people have a fear of needles. How do you ease those fears when a patient schedules a session?

One of the most common questions we receive is “does acupuncture hurt?” The short answer is it depends, but overall acupuncture should not be painful. First, it is important to know that acupuncturists use hair-thin needles that are 30 to 40 times thinner than anything you would experience at your physician’s office.

I usually show our most apprehensive patients what the needle looks like, and they immediately breathe a sigh of relief, exclaiming “I had no idea the needles are so tiny!” They are so thin that some patients report not even feeling them go in. That said, everyone has a different sensitivity to touch and pain. Most likely, when you get acupuncture, you will feel it, but it shouldn’t hurt. Often people feel a sense of calm once the needles are inserted, and some even fall asleep!

Tell us how a typical facial acupuncture treatment works.

Cosmetic acupuncture, aka facial rejuvenation acupuncture, works by stimulating the body’s natural production of collagen. Similar to microneedling, it creates microtraumas in the skin and triggers the body’s natural healing response. This starts a cascade of biochemical reactions that result in increased blood flow, as well as increasing collagen and elastin. Wrinkles are often created by a decrease in this collagen and elasticity and by the chronic overuse of certain muscles in the face.

Often, we have a facial expression that we make that is uniquely our own, whether it be smiling more on one side than the other or furrowing the brows. Cosmetic acupuncture relieves the tension of these overused muscles—so instead of freezing them like Botox, it relaxes your face. All of this combined helps achieve a more youthful, glowing appearance.

At your first appointment, you will meet with your acupuncturist to discuss your health concerns and wellness goals. Depending on your skin care goals, current skin situation, and age, your treatment will be between 30 and 60 minutes. Primarily we treat fine lines and wrinkles, scarring, and minor to moderate acne. In general we recommend multiple sessions—ideally 10—that are relatively close together (one time per week or biweekly) to achieve the best results.

At every cosmetic acupuncture treatment with Moon Rabbit we also treat your overall well-being goals. Because, as we all know, beauty really does come from within, and when you aren’t feeling your best, you can’t look your best. The treatment is completed with either jade rolling, gua sha, or face cupping accompanied with the application of a facial serum chosen for individual needs.  

How long do the effects of facial rejuvenation acupuncture last?

The effects are cumulative, so the more you do it, the more lasting results you will see. Some people report up to five years of lasting change after their initial 10 sessions, with only monthly or seasonal tune-up sessions. 

After the first treatment, the results will be subtle and you should expect to see an improvement in skin tone, texture, and overall glow due to improved circulation. As you progress in your treatments, you may notice a reduction in fine lines, puffiness, and, as a bonus, better sleep and overall health. 

In an ideal world we like to see you twice a week for a total of 10 sessions. I have patients who report incredible results by coming for every-other-week sessions ongoing. One patient (a former Botox lover) even reported that when she went to get additional Botox, her injector said she didn’t need anything done. All due to acupuncture and her ongoing wellness and beauty routines!

What are the risks associated with conventional cosmetic procedures?

So many women (and men!) are feeling the pressure to have a youthful appearance, thus the surge in Botox, fillers, and other facial treatments and plastic surgery. There are many risks associated with injections, chemical peels, and other beauty treatments. I leave it up to the medical experts who work with these systems to discuss in detail what the specific risks are, but as an Eastern medicine doctor we look at beauty holistically and try to offer an alternative to some of the more risky treatments that are available.

Are there side effects from facial rejuvenation acupuncture?

The wonderful thing about facial rejuvenation acupuncture is that it addresses wrinkles, fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness, but it does not have the relatively more risky side effects associated with Botox, fillers, or surgery.

The most common side effect for facial acupuncture is bruising. This usually resolves within a few days. Additionally, unlike Botox or fillers, cosmetic acupuncture is not a quick fix. You should not expect to see drastic changes in your appearance after your first treatment. The idea is to create small changes over time that lead to long-term changes in your skin and body’s health. 

You don’t have to be an endurance athlete to use a percussive therapy device, though they’re very popular among triathletes, ultramarathoners, and the like. Massage guns, which deliver a combo of rapid, repetitive pressure and vibrations to engage both the soft tissue and the outer skin, will relax muscles whether they’re sore from running or hunching over a desk all day long.

Percussive Therapy Device Options

An ideal choice weighs less than three pounds, has a two-hour-plus battery life and a maximum noise level of 55–65 decibels, and comes with four or more attachments.

If you’re in the market for one, things to consider include:

• Price

  Massage guns range from under $100 to $600 or more.

• Need and Purpose

  Look at higher-end models if you’re an athlete or are treating a condition like sciatica or tendinitis.

• Mechanics

  • Percussion Force

    Industry standard is 30–50 pounds of force for moderate intensity.

  • Stroke Length

    Industry standard is 13–16 mm stroke length (how much the head can move) for deep tissue massage.

  • Speed

    Look for more than three speeds with 1,400–2,800 percussions per minute.

• Ergonomics

  The jigsaw and triangular frames found on pricier models offer top-notch ergonomics, but the standard handheld model is also ergonomically sound.

The relationship you cultivate with your body is arguably the most important one in your life. Your body is the vehicle that allows you to live your human experience.

Yet, too many of us focus on perfecting our outsides with the hope of experiencing more peace, self-love, and belonging on the inside.

Negative Effects of Self-Judgment

Many people view and judge their bodies in terms of one dimension, their physical appearance.

Self-criticism, body shaming, exercising to the point of injury, dieting, cosmetic procedures, and surgery are a few behaviors people adopt to try and fit unrealistic beauty standards that reward outward appearances.

Overemphasis on the physical leads to defining beauty and self-worth based on size, weight, shape, color, tone, youthfulness, and mobility.

This myopic view ignores the crucial role our minds and environments have on our perceptions and how we can influence the way we feel about ourselves from the inside.

After all, even if we change our outward appearances to conform to a magazine cover or celebrity ideal, we can still feel deeply dissatisfied within ourselves until we learn how to love ourselves, honor our inherent value, accept our imperfections, and nourish our thoughts.

Fortunately, some thought leaders in the health and television industries strive to encourage body positivity narratives and practices that remind us that until we go inside our bodies, our quest for body positivity might still be in vain.

What Is Body Positivity?

Body positivity social movements challenge outdated social constructs that define perceptions of beauty and health. These movements bring attention to the critical narratives in the media and in our own minds that feed the false notion that aging is bad.

Unrealistic social messages say if we work hard enough to change our bodies, we can turn back time. Body positivity advocates vary in their views, but trend toward an emphasis that beauty exists in all of us and in all body types, ages, orientations, sizes, and abilities.

Instead of trying to conform to ideals, advocates encourage embracing individual differences and choosing healthy lifestyle choices and attitudes that result in confident minds and bodies.

Actor Melora Hardin is known for many roles, including Jan Levinson on The Office and Jacqueline Carlyle on The Bold Type. In ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, Hardin danced her way to the semifinals and defied any judgments that a woman in her 50s couldn’t compete with her younger counterparts.

While Hardin spends most of her life in the spotlight, when she speaks about body positivity, she doesn’t give energy to outside appearances.

Instead, she uses her voice and social influence to remind us that the crux of body positivity comes from rekindling sensory awareness, communing with nature, and deepening our relationship with our inner voice.

We are really backwards in a lot of ways that we talk about body image and body acceptance. Body positivity is not about the pounds or the way it looks. It’s about the way it feels, and it’s about working towards taking the best care of the vehicle that you have to go through this lifetime with, with the most reverence that you can. Melora Hardin

When we lose connection with our bodies through trauma, stress, perfectionism, overwork, and excess media consumption, we do not pay close attention to our body’s needs. Consequently, we miss out on some of the most treasured human experiences our bodies can provide.

For example, by focusing almost exclusively on how we look, we miss out on enjoying and appreciating sensory experiences such as tasting, feeling, indulging, and listening, which are some of the purest and simplest pleasures on earth, Hardin says.

She describes the positive effect being close to older adults, including her 92-year-old father, has had on her vision for her own aging process. “I want to be a healthy, vital old person,” she says, recommending that people take care of themselves early in life and imagine who they want to be as they age.

A Deeper Version of Self-Care

Self-care includes acknowledging the loss and grief associated with the passage of time. We are only 20 once, and it’s easy to ruminate about the way we used to be rather than embrace who we are and our abilities in the present moment.

Hardin discourages social pressures that influence decisions to use Botox and have plastic surgery and instead hopes that people will find healthy ways to “get into a relationship with loss” as opposed to “desperately trying to hold onto something that has already been lost to them.”

Her grounded approach to life is evident when she acknowledges an undeniable fact: We are losing things from the day we are born. Once we accept loss, then “we can decide to lose things,” she says. For example, she decided to give up Coca-Cola because doing so benefits her lifestyle and body now.

Instead of focusing on the loss, or feelings of deprivation, she shifts her perspective toward gratitude: She enjoyed certain choices at one point in her life; now it is time to choose differently.

How to Increase Body Positivity

Growing body positivity from the inside out may seem challenging at first, but implementing simple practices brings the path to body connection within reach.

Fumiko Takatsu, founder of the Face Yoga Method, teaches simple face exercises that embrace pro-aging and empower people to deepen their relationship with themselves. Since aging can carry a negative connotation, “pro-aging,” Takatsu explains, “has a positive, satisfied meaning.”

When we focus on pro-aging, we “accept our age, embrace it, act healthier, and feel in control of how we age,” she says. “It is up to us how we see ourselves and how we want to live our lives.”

Body positivity is “feeling, seeing, and understanding that you are the owner of your body,” Takatsu says. “You feel free from external factors. You accept, forgive, appreciate, and love your body the way it is.”

One way to increase body positivity is to “start listening to your body every day, noticing, and asking very small questions [such as] what does my body want to eat today?” Takatsu says.

“Being aware of your body’s small voices will make you more aware of its needs.”

Female-pattern hair loss, also known as alopecia, can begin as early as the late teens. It is often genetically caused and, instead of a bald spot on the top of the scalp as is common in men, there is thinning over the crown.

Several natural solutions have proven effective.

Supplements to Reduce Hair Loss

• Omega 3s

  As if improved cardiovascular health weren’t enough, the nutrients in omega-3 fatty acids (found in many supplement forms and in fatty, cold-water fish like salmon and sardines) can help you maintain a healthy head of hair. Freshly ground flaxseeds also offer omega 3s.

• Omega 6

  The essential omega-6 fatty acid known as gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) can be found in black currant oil and evening primrose oil. GLA taken in capsules or soft gels can reduce hair loss. The results could take six to eight weeks, so be patient.

• Combined Regimen

  The Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology reported a study in which 80 women with mild female pattern hair loss took a combination of fish oil, black currant oil, vitamin E, vitamin C, and lycopene supplements daily for six months.

  The results were noteworthy: 87 percent had increased hair density, the diameter of their hair strands became measurably thicker, and nearly 90 percent of the women reported decreased hair loss.

  Here’s what they took each day:

  Studied Daily Dosages

  Supplement	Dosage
  Fish Oil	460 mg
  Black Currant Oil	460 mg*
  Vitamin E	5 mg
  Vitamin C	30 mg
  Lycopene	1 mg

  *Black currant oil may lower blood pressure in those who already have low blood pressure, and it can also slow blood clotting, so consult your healthcare practitioner before using.

Many men hardly think twice about grooming. It’s a routine that needs to be done, nothing more, nothing less.

These preoccupied men brush their teeth, use any soap available, slap on some deodorant, and, if bearded, shave with the same shaving cream and razor they’ve probably been using for years.

But by not paying mind to the tools of grooming, they also probably fail to think about the provenance of these go-to products. Their choice of shaving cream, soap, and toothpaste might work well and are easy to spot on store shelves, but these products might not be sound for the environment, not to mention humans.

Natural Grooming Product Ingredients

If men want to remain healthy, it’s never too late to consider using natural grooming products. The product names might seem unfamiliar and the names of the underlying ingredients might not match their rugged sensibilities, but the polysyllabic names of chemicals that compose mass-marketed grooming products don’t exactly instill comfort.

Natural grooming products include a wide array of organic ingredients: vitamin E, tea tree oil, sunflower oil, chamomile, jojoba oil, and aloe vera, among others. If that list doesn’t engender a connection to nature and improved health, what will?

For many people, buying goods that come directly from the Earth stimulates a sense of good environmental stewardship and advances good health practices. Tree tea oil, for example, is believed to diminish the sources of acne, athlete’s foot, and dandruff, and treats lice.

Safely Sourced Ingredients & Body Care Products

Companies that make safely sourced grooming products also try to ensure these items simply work. What good is a natural shampoo if it doesn’t thoroughly clean a head of hair? Mass-produced shampoos and conditioners include silicones that might seem to dig deep and create smooth hair, but that presumption is a bit... hairy. Silicones can stick to strands of hair and block out vital nutrients.

Natural Products & Effectiveness

The perception of effectiveness is the reason many natural grooming companies are trying their hardest to move past the stigma of natural products seeming too hippie. As GQ observed, a wide array of natural products aim to work more effectively than a dash of patchouli but still adhere to the principles of sound sourcing.

A charcoal- and peppermint-based face wash is worth trying just to say it was tried. Similarly, what man wouldn’t want to brag that he used skincare extracted from Alpine caribou moss, an antioxidant-based plant from Finland?

While the market for natural female grooming products is substantially larger than the market for male products, men still have a bevy of natural products to choose from. It may indeed be time for men to start paying attention to what they put on their bodies.

Ayurveda has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years, but it is actually one of the oldest recorded forms of medicine in the world, dating back at least 5,000 years.

What is Ayurveda?

This complex system of medicine encompasses diet and nutrition, herbs, surgery, yoga, philosophy, and other holistic practices and continues to thrive to this day in India, interwoven with modern medicine.

Ayurveda means “the science of life.” Sanskrit poetry comprised sacred volumes of Vedas recording the knowledge of various aspects of healing, written by spiritual leaders and healers. The Vedic texts teach mantras, blessings, rituals, ceremonies, meditation, philosophy, and healing practices.

Ayurveda influenced ancient Greek and Roman medicine, the Buddha, traditional Chinese medicine, the Unani Tibb medicine of Islam, and beyond. Here in the modern West, we focus mainly on its applications in the diet, herbal medicine, yoga and meditation, and healing practices such as abhyanga oil massage, a neti pot nasal rinse, the detoxification practice of panchakarma, and rejuvenation via rasayana.

Ayurveda & the Five Elements

As with most ancient medical systems, Ayurveda is built on the foundation that energy comprises everything in the form of five basic elements: Earth/mass, air/motion, fire/radiant energy, water/cohesive factor, and ether/space.

The three humors of Ayurveda, called doshas, govern a person’s constitution: pitta, vata, and kapha. The dosha indicates the forces within us that are most likely to go out of balance. While we all have a little bit of all three doshas present, usually one or two predominate in an individual. Knowing your dosha helps you choose practices to help pacify these tendencies so you can stay in a better state of balance—the goal being a relative state of equilibrium among the three doshas.

The Doshas of Ayurveda

• Pitta (Fire/Hot + Water/Damp)

  People with this dominant dosha are fiery, of medium athletic build, and tend to show a lot of redness in their face and tongue. They generate body heat and body oil and have strong, driven personalities. Focus on cooling, drying remedies and foods, especially plant foods. Try to keep cool as best you can.

• Vata (Air + Ether/Dry):

  These people are like hummingbirds, lightly flittering from one thing to the next, frequently changing. They’re often thin-framed, tense, nervous, and dry by nature but also fun, social, and creative. Focus on grounding, nourishing, restorative, warm foods and herbs and oils, and make sure to get plenty of rest.

• Kapha (Earth/Cold + Water/Damp)

  These individuals are heavier set with oily skin and thick hair. They have a solid, stable, fluid, calm, and easy-going nature. These homebodies and loyal friends enjoy comfort and relaxation. Warm, light, aromatic, dry foods and herbs benefit them best, helping them to avoid getting too sluggish.

Popular Herbs in Ayurveda

Many herbs are employed in the practice of Ayurveda. These few are some of the herbs of Ayurveda that have attained the most popularity in the US.

• Triphala

  This blend of three fruits–haritaki, amalaki, and bibhitaki–helps balance all three doshas as a general tonic that particularly supports gentle detoxification through the colon and offers nutrition. It is one of our best long-term, safe herbs to ease constipation.

• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

  This building, warming tonic provides the strength and stamina of a stallion if consumed regularly and is often used as a male reproductive tonic, though women can take it as well. Quite a bit of modern research supports its ability to improve mood, sleep, energy, and resilience against stress.

• Tulsi (sanctum)

  Also called holy or sacred basil, this herb is warming, aromatic, and airy. It reduces inflammation, improves digestion and immune health, balances blood sugar, reduces stress, and brightens and calms the mind. It makes an excellent tea.

• Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

  Well-known as a super spice with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric warms, dries, and lightens the body. It supports detoxification via the liver, heart health, and digestion.

Additional popular herbs from Ayurveda include the bitter, cooling, drying brain tonic; the vegetal, cooling connective tissue-healing, circulation-enhancing, brain tonic gotu kola; the aromatic, fat-clearing resin; the spicy-pungent, anti-inflammatory seed nigella; and the moistening, nourishing women’s reproductive tonic.

Acupuncture is an effective treatment for opioid addiction because it stimulates the same endorphin cycle that opioids do, thereby minimizing cravings for the drugs, while easing withdrawal symptoms.

Those symptoms can vary in intensity depending on the intensity of the addiction and the rate of withdrawal. Someone who abruptly halts an opioid habit, for example, will experience rapid detox and potentially severe withdrawal symptoms. Stepping down slowly by reducing opioid use gradually is generally a less intense process.

How Does Acupuncture Help with Withdrawal?

Whether a person is going through rapid detox or a gradual cessation, acupuncture can be highly effective in ameliorating physical symptoms. It works to normalize the digestive system, avoiding the nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea associated with withdrawal, and it lessens muscle cramping, spasms, and achiness. It also reduces cravings, soothes the nerves and emotions, and promotes good sleep. In this way, it helps the patient through the withdrawal process and minimizes the chances of relapse.

What is the Science Behind Acupuncture?

Study of acupuncture’s mechanism of action during withdrawal is ongoing, and many questions remain. Nevertheless, it’s known that acupuncture has a direct impact on the brain by activating the body’s endogenous opioids and opioid-receptor sites.

One study noted, “Neurochemical and behavioral evidence have shown that acupuncture helps reduce the effects of positive and negative reinforcement involved in opiate addiction by modulating mesolimbic dopamine neurons.” Research with rats has shown that acupuncture ameliorates the symptoms of morphine withdrawal. And auricular acupuncture (acupuncture of the ear) has been shown to evoke a relaxation response that lessens cravings in opioid recovery patients.

Where Can You Get "Acudetox" Treatment?

The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA), established in 1985, has developed an increasingly popular “acudetox” treatment strategy for addiction recovery. It offers, among other protocols, a three- to five-point auricular acupuncture protocol that has shown great effectiveness as an adjunct detoxification and relaxation therapy to help recovering addicts through withdrawal. Today more than 1,000 addiction treatment centers across the United States use the NADA protocol as an adjunctive therapy.

The great benefit of the protocol is that it requires little training for practitioners compared to the four years of medical school that licensed acupuncturists are required to attend. This makes it an affordable and adaptable healing modality that can be easily implemented in opioid recovery centers.

For thousands of years, Chinese medicine has relied on face reading as a diagnostic tool to determine a person’s overall health. The method isn’t just about noting that someone looks pale or flushed: Face readers look for clues that serve as early warning signs of underperforming organs to potentially nip health issues in the bud.

How Does Face Reading Work?

“Your face is a mirror for the rest of the body, and it acts like a blueprint,” explains Lillian Pearl Bridges, founder of the Lotus Institute and a leading authority on face reading. “Certain places on the face link back to specific organs and provide clues about how those organs are functioning.”

For example, sunken cheeks can be a sign that your lungs aren’t functioning properly. Yellow-tinted whites of the eyes means there’s a problem with the liver, such as jaundice. And fatty deposits on your eyelids signify free-floating cholesterol—a warning that your arteries may be getting blocked.

What to Look For in Face Reading

While it takes years to perfect the science of face reading, even a novice may start to notice things they hadn’t before—if they know where to look and what to look for.

Bridges learned the technique from her Chinese grandmother. “I spent every weekend by her side and she taught me how to read faces,” she says. Bridges has made a career of helping people stay healthy, mostly with recommendations around nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle.

“I have a lot of clients who go on raw-food diets and as a result may not have enough digestive enzymes to process so much raw food,” she says. “I can tell because the area right above their upper lip turns white if the stomach is too cold, which can affect digestion.” She recommends eating cooked food and lots of ginger to warm up the stomach.

Reading the Clues

Underperforming kidneys are also common and can be detected by dark under-eye circles (beyond the normal signs of sleep deprivation).

“This is usually a sign of dehydration,” Bridges explains. “But water alone is not enough.” She is a strong believer in hot soup. “It has minerals that help you hold the fluids, especially when it’s made with bones and root vegetables. The kidneys play a big role in longevity so you want to take good care of them and always stay hydrated.”

The tip of the nose is linked to the heart, and its color shows how well the blood is flowing. If it’s very pale it might indicate a heavy menstrual cycle, or if it’s bluish the blood may be too thick. In this case Bridges suggests eating mu’er (wood ear) mushrooms, a natural blood thinner, or giving blood.

“It helps the new blood come in thinner and doesn’t harm the recipients because the blood is diluted first.”

While face reading is based on centuries of careful observation, the findings can both act as a warning or indicate good health and even pregnancy. So next time you look in the mirror, pay close attention to what you see.

When you’re young, you can’t imagine ever looking older—you just assume that the face looking back from the mirror at 25 will look the same when you’re 45.

Ingredients to Nourish Aging Skin

Sad to say, no matter how youthful we feel inside, at some point the passing of time will start to show on the outside. The good news is that there are many natural ingredients that nourish your skin inside and out and work to slow and even reverse the signs of aging.

• Fight Skin Damage with Antioxidants

  Sun exposure can result in the creation of free radicals and lead to skin damage. Examples of skin-protective antioxidants include vitamins C and E, as well as polyphenols found in green tea.

• Use Black Seed Oil to Soothe Skin Conditions

  A staple of Ayurvedic medicine, black seed oil (also known as black cumin oil) is typically used to treat psoriasis and painful skin eruptions. Black seed oil may inhibit the bacteria associated with eczema.

• Improve Skin with Collagen

  Several studies have found that regular supplementation with hydrolysed collagen stimulates collagen regeneration, improves skin’s elasticity and firmness, and reduces the appearance of dryness, wrinkles, and even cellulite.

• Hyaluronic Acid to Smooth Skin

  Known as “nature’s moisture magnet,” hyaluronic acid occurs naturally in the skin and is also found in many beauty products. It traps moisture, giving skin a smooth, firm appearance. Hyaluronic supplements have been shown to increase moisture in dry skin.

• Repair Sun Damage with Silicon

  Sun-damaged skin can get a boost from silicon. Studies show that women supplementing with silicon see significant improvements in skin roughness and elasticity.

• Resveratrol to Boost Skin Hydration

  Found in grapes and other plants, resveratrol is an antioxidant that can help limit damage caused by sun exposure. Studies show it can decrease the appearance of wrinkles, improve skin’s texture, and boost hydration.

Additional Help for Healthy Skin

There are many herbs, nutrients, and other natural ingredients that may boost skin health and fight the signs of aging, including:

• alpha lipoic acid
• argan oil
• calendula
• ellagic acid
• nut and plant oils
• vitamin A