We all know that there is a tremendous interest these days in any product or procedure that is touted as being “anti-aging”. No matter what the state of the economy, people continue to spend billions of dollars a year on therapies and procedures that promise to make them look younger, thinner, or more beautiful. You can have a procedure to modify almost anything about your body with which you are dissatisfied. People are having chin implants, fat transplantation, arm lifts, ear plastic surgery, cosmetic foot surgery, and even (believe it or not) cosmetic leg lengthening surgery. The industry has gone so far that there is now a book written for children about mommy’s plastic surgery. When children’s books are being written about how kids can keep up with the world of cosmetic “improvements”, the field has reached a new low in my opinion.

Many cosmetic procedures began as medical treatments. Plastic surgery began as a blessing to those who had been disfigured in an accident, born with a cleft palate, or injured in combat. In fact, war injuries accelerated experimentation in plastic surgery after World War I. The history of Botox also begins with its beneficial use. In the 1950s it was discovered to relax hypertensive muscles and spasms and is still used to give relief to patients who suffer from facial, neck, or shoulder spasms.

Acupuncture treatments didn’t start out being “cosmetic” either but there were unintended outcomes (i.e., “cosmetic” results) of using certain points and techniques. For me, one of the most enjoyable parts of my practice is having the skills and knowledge to help use “the least” to help people maintain their youthful appearance. You can be youthful by using your own body! With the use of needling, herbs, QiGong, and/or nutritional advice – all basic therapies included in the system of Chinese medicine – our medicine can stave off the outward signs of aging. That’s because when I use Chinese medicine for “cosmetic” results, that is, do the Mei Zen Cosmetic Acupuncture protocol, I am treating the internal causes of aging, not just the outward results of it. That is the true beauty of Chinese medicine; it treats wrinkles from the inside and the outside.

Chinese medicine can help you maintain a youthful appearance with the use of one of the “least” aggressive procedures available: cosmetic acupuncture. Cosmetic acupuncture improves your health rather than damaging it. It uses your own body to be youthful rather than injecting toxins into it. Chinese medicine can create a vibrancy and healthfulness inside that is reflected on the outside. 

For beautiful skin, please check out my skin care line too! (www.MyZenSkinCare.com)

Time changes our bodies in many ways and our skin is no exception. As we age, our skin slowly loses its ability to renew itself, changing the perfect smoothness of baby skin to adult skin that can be drier, rougher, and more prone to show damage. Time, sun exposure, and environmental toxins can all chip away at our skin health, making some conditions, such as skin cancer, more common for older individuals. But, by caring for and monitoring your aging skin, you can help your skin age more gracefully.

As we reach our senior years, thin skin, visible blood vessels, and bruising on the hands and forearms all become more common even without any obvious injury. TIP: wear long sleeves or gloves when you garden to protect you hands and forearms.

Wrinkling is also common with age. Areas that have received the most sun exposure throughout your life, such as the face, neck, upper chest, and arms, may begin to develop deep furrows and appear darker over time. TIP: Wear sunscreen always. My very own

We know that Cosmetic Acupuncture works but what then? Education is a key part to the practice of Chinese medicine and when you practice cosmetic acupuncture, facial rejuvenation, etc. it’s time talk about skin with your patients. We often talk or hear about building the skin up, making it thicker. But we are also told to exfoliate. Those pieces of advice sound contradictory when you think about it. They’re not though; we have to remember that in a way, we have two skins. The deeper layers are the dermal layers and the superficial layers compose the epidermis. The dermis holds the foundation of our skin, the skins circulatory system, and the skins nerve receptors. The foundation is a web of collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin are produced by fibroblasts and as we age we produce fewer new fibroblasts so that web wears out (slowly.) Fibroblasts also produce sugar protein molecules that act like sponges to trap and hold moisture for the skin. Thickening the dermis, or building it up, refers to building up the collagen and elastin that is accomplished by stimulating the production fibroblasts in the dermal layer. We can do that mechanically, chemically, and energetically. The action of an acupuncture needle is a mechanical and energetic stimulation; the suction involved in microdermabrasion and the physical manipulation of some facial massage techniques are both physical stimulations; ingredients such as alpha hydroxy acids are chemical means of stimulation. Further, stimulating fibroblasts also stimulates the skins immune system leading to overall healthier skin.

What about exfoliation? Thick skin sounds great unless that thickness is in the epidermis. Left to its own devices, environmental abuse, and a little neglect, as skin ages the dermis thins and the epidermis thickens. A thickened epidermis has a rough texture, clogged pores, is dehydrated, and potentially, with more advanced age develops thickened plaques of keratin. The outermost layer of the epidermis is composed of keratin and that keratin sloughs off as part of the skins regular cell renewal schedule. When those old cells don’t slough off well pores get clogged. With age, the cell renewal process slows down giving the keratin a chance to build up. That keratinized surface creates a barrier that most moisturizing products cannot penetrate so your nice, expensive moisturizer is now just sitting on top of the skin doing nothing. By exfoliating, or thinning the epidermis, we remove the potential for keratin build up. Exfoliation disrupts the skins barrier function and the disruptive action also stimulates fibroblasts in the dermis and especially stimulates the fibroblasts to produce those hydrophilic sugar protein sponges. Now your products can penetrate more effectively, hydration and antioxidants go to the deeper layers, and we can keep our pores clear up. Our skin’s surface is softer, smoother, and clearer with fewer fine lines. And as we accelerate cell turnover we move sun damaged cells from below the surface of the skin to the surface and then off.

Both processes really go together. The ideal skin program incorporates exfoliation, the stimulation and development of the dermis, applying hydrating and antioxidant ingredients to the skin, and nutrition that increases antioxidants and essential fatty acids.

What do we know about the skin around the eyes? It’s thin, it’s delicate, it gets rubbed and tugged at, and it has small, easily clogged pores (milia, anyone?) Where do most people see their first wrinkle? Add in dark circles and bags and you have aging skin around the eyes. Eye cream formulations are typically lighter and absorb really well. Regular moisturizer is typically heavier and can clog the pores around the eye area. There is a wide range of cosmeceuticals designed for eye creams. The area can be targeted with those as long as they are in a nice delivery system. Such ingredients would be wasted and too expensive in a regular moisturizer. The eye area is smaller than the rest of the face therefore eye creams come in a smaller size. Every line’s eye cream is smaller and more expensive than the rest of their products. Think highly specialized and highly concentrated for the area around your eyes.

A good cleanser is a desirable product. It should be gentle but effective at removing excess oil, skin cell build-up, pore debris, dirt, and may also stimulate skin cell regeneration. If the cleanser is focusing on the pore clarifying aspect of skin care, but not in a way that is too drying or excessively stripping, then we can use other products to address our other goals.

Products should have a good delivery system because the skin is designed to keep things out. If you can’t get your active ingredients into the skin, they aren’t going to do any good. In a product you have active ingredients (actives) and functional ingredients. Functional ingredients are things like stabilizers and emulsifiers that give you a cream that is esthetically pleasing and stable. Active ingredients are the ingredients that moisturize, stimulate collagen, exfoliate, etc. They are strong and stimulating, creating change in the skin. A few examples include gou qi zi extract that is a botanical that is rich in Vitamin C and polysaccharides that help rebuild the skin’s network of collagen and elastin. Tamarind seed extract is another source of polysaccharides and antioxidants and help hydrate skin. Licorice root extract is both an important Western cosmeceutical and Chinese herb. The plant’s active saponins have a cortisol-like action that makes it a powerful antioxicant. Using powerful actives and effective delivery systems may lead to the potential to bring herbs down into the skin. Bioactive or biogenic ingredients include jojoba, squalane, beta- glucans, hyaluronic acid as examples. Biogenic ingredients are either found naturally in the skin already or closely mimic something like sebum. This allows for greater penetration past the stratum corneum.

Years ago I developed a natural skin care line based on Chinese medicine. It’s called My Zen Skin Care, http://www.myzenskincare.com . Our products are designed to excel. While our Yin Balancing Facial Serum is an anti ager, sebum balancer, and has some healing ability, it wouldn’t be appropriate for someone with active acne and probably not enough on its own for someone with really dry skin. So we have products for acne and extra dry skin. Our pearl cream can covers the bases by offering antioxidant protection, anti-aging, and light moisture, but specializes in dealing with hyperpigmention (aka discoloration, dark spots, age spots, melasma, sun damage, etc.). Check out our site, or email us at jennifer@myzenskincare.com for a brochure or more information!

By Martha Lucas, Ph.D., L.Ac.