Facial Acupuncture--The Natural Face Lift!

I had an appointment today for Facial Rejuvenation at the Art of Wellness in Philadelphia.  The service was for Facial Acupuncture, which I bought at a discount from Eversave in hopes it would help to de-puff my puffy left eye.  Facial Acupuncture is supposed to be like a mini face lift, so even if it doesn’t help my eye…I’m excited to see what happens to the rest of my face.

After filling out an extensive questionnaire, Beata, my acupuncturist, led me back into her treatment room. She warned me that there could be some bruising, so if you have a special event to attend you should have the procedure done a few weeks beforehand.  (I bruised very slightly...see below.)

Beata started by putting a few needles in some of the basic acupuncture points on my body, then she moved onto my face and head.  I asked her if she thought this procedure would help my puffy left eye or my mylasma mustache and she said it might.  She worked very fast while she asked me questions about my profession and other things to direct my attention away from the pricks.  The pricks were definitely bearable.  Beata noticed that my (puffy) left eye watered when the needles were inserted around it, while the right one did not…interesting. If I opened my eyes I could look down and see a lot of needles (8-9?) just below my left eye.  I asked her how many needles she was using on my face and was surprised when she said, “about 80.”  80 needles…Wow!  She worked so quickly and relatively painlessly that I wouldn’t have guessed it was that many.  I would have taken a picture, but out of respect for her teacher, Beata did not want share the needle sequence. 

After she put the last needle in Beata told me to relax, covered me in the shiny, lightweight thermal blanket which keeps you warm without putting pressure on the needles, and then exited the room.  I meditated on relaxing every muscle in my face and body and let the needles do their work.  I definitely felt some “shifts” while lying on the table in the darkened room.  There was some movement and a barely audible sound in my left sinus area leading me to believe the needles she placed to treat my eye were ‘working.’  My finger twitched, my toes twitched a few times but aside from that I felt nothing but a divine relaxation.  It was beautiful.

After about 30 minutes Beata came back in to remove my needles.  There was some bleeding it was so minor that by time I got to the bathroom to check it had stopped.  There were no noticeable marks left from the needles or the locations that bled.  I asked about the benefits of facial acupuncture were and she said that enhanced circulation was one of the immediate effects. When circulation is increased in an area, oxygen is also increased, and there are many healing benefits that follow. (Please see the excerpt about facial acupuncture from the Art of Wellness’ website at the end of this post.)

 I was surprised how relaxing the procedure was...I practically floated out of the center.  I don’t know if facial acupuncture can help my left eye, but I definitely think it works to enliven the tissues and muscles in the face. After the session noticed the few lines in my face seemed to have softened, and my whole face looked 'brighter.'  I did bruise slightly, just above my jawline. This picture was taken 1 week after the treatment...but you can barely see the bruise.  The normal Facial Rejuvenation package calls for 6-9 sessions, I believe, and costs about  $135 per session.  They do offer inexpensive wellness memberships, however, which afford a lot of benefits and bring the cost of their services down by about 35%.  I will definitely be back for more.  I will also be trying some of their other services (of which they offer a wide array), so check back soon!  OH! And they are holding a Community Wellness Day tomorrow.  (See next post for details.) Make sure to visit their events calendar to see their upcoming events.

From Art of Wellness’ Website: “A facial rejuvenation using the ancient technique of acupuncture can improve muscle tone of the face and neck while addressing underlying imbalances that may have contributed to the aging process.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, wrinkles begin internally from weakness and imbalance of Qi. Qi circulates throughout the body within a series of pathways called meridians. Flowing through these pathways, Qi provides nourishment, support, and energy to every cell, tissue, muscle, and organ.

As we get older, it becomes more difficult for Qi to flow upwards to “lift” the face. This leads to inadequate muscle tone, and over time, wrinkles and sagging skin.  A variety of factors can contribute to this-poor diet, digestion and circulation, or emotional and environmental stresses.”