DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture » Skin Care

Facelifts with acupuncture?

DAAN — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:13:20 +0000

It may sound strange, but many people are using acupuncture to get a ‘facelift” and achieve a more youthful appearance, without resorting to surgery:

Interested in getting a face lift? Rather than chasing the latest fad, you might consider an alternative. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using its tools and talents for thousands of years for cosmetic purposes. Doctors first developed this art in the process of treating patients with acupuncture who had suffered facial paralysis. It quickly became evident that the specific placement of acupuncture needles not only had a therapeutic effect, but also created dramatic cosmetic results.

Face lifts are by far the most common elective cosmetic surgery. Though common, surgical face lifts carry risks, can have permanent and unforeseen consequences, and often create an unnatural look. And chemical peels? In addition to burning your skin, those chemicals are absorbed directly into the bloodstream. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard enough time keeping chemicals out of my air, water, and food to go dumping them into my face.

Not to worry, the techniques utilized in Chinese medicine offers the aesthetically conscious consumer a very safe, affordable alternative. Facial rejuvenation experts are able to use acupuncture and Chinese herbs to greatly enhance skin tone, luster, and elasticity. Traditional Chinese physicians are able to work with your own body mechanics to restore your inherent, natural radiance and vitality – thus the term facial rejuvenation. True beauty can’t be faked or forced – it only comes from within. Chinese medicine understands that true beauty is only possible with physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Your physician will not only help you to look healthier and more youthful, but feel that way as well. Living with grace and beauty – this is the treatment philosophy that life beauty makes the human body beautiful. Don’t fake beauty – feel it and live it.

Chapped lips – what they mean from a TCM perspective

DAAN — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:18:16 +0000

During fall, chapped, dry lips are a common problem. But before you slather on the chapstick, consider what chap lips may be telling you about your health:

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that chapped lips are also a symptom of shang huo (fire-ascending) that often appears in the dry autumn. The “fire” (yang energy) may also cause toothache, sore throat, poor appetite, mouth ulcers, constipation, acne and insomnia.

Adopting a regular lifestyle (regular meals, regular hours, regular sleep) and eating a cool and moist (yin energy) diet may be more effective than wearing lip gloss.

At this time of year, the dominant pathogenic “dry” energy in the universe is a major cause of shang huo. Besides, as the temperature drops, most people put on more clothes, stay in heated rooms and eat more “hot” (yang) and spicy food to warm them up.

However, internal heat cannot be released as efficiently as in summer, through sweating. Fatigue and lack of sleep aggravate the energy imbalance.

Generally, to prevent and relieve “fire-ascending,” TCM recommends a regular lifestyle, plenty of sleep, lots of water, “cool” (yin energy) foods, proper exercise and a cheerful mood.

Recommended are moistening juices, fruits such as pears, sugar cane, cucumber, chrysanthemum and green tea. Vitamin-rich carrots and other vegetables with B vitamins can help relieve dry lips and mouth ulcers.

Herbs for healthy skin

DAAN — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:50:43 +0000

Not only are they good for your health, herbs are good for your skin:

They’ve always been the wonder-workers of folklore, but now herb extracts are the latest magical ingredient in high-tech skincare.

For many, the idea that a face cream is made with natural, botanical or organic ingredients has great appeal.

But, until recently, these creams were seen as little more than nice skin-conditioners.

Natural high: Herbs have become big business

If you wanted active anti-ageing ingredients, that meant the latest high-tech compounds, the ceramides and peptides derived from a test-tube rather than a living plant.

‘Customers no longer have to make a decision between something that works and something that’s natural,’ says Georgie Cleeve, founder of new British skincare brand, Oskia, which has just launched at Liberty.

‘We can pinpoint compounds that we need and extract them from natural ingredients, for maximum effectiveness.’

That herbs and spices are pharmacologically active is beyond dispute; there are compounds within them that have long established effects. For example, lavender is well-known for inducing drowsiness.

‘Now science is proving what the herbalists would say they knew all along: that herbs, plants and spices can offer genuine long-term benefits for skincare’

Now thanks to advances in technology, skincare scientists are more easily able to identify and remove these active extracts and use them in anti-ageing face creams that produce results.

Treating eczema naturally

DAAN — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:41:08 +0000

Eczema is a difficult to treat skin condition characterized by skin inflammation, dryness, and itching. Here are some actions you can take to help relieve this condition. And even if you don’t have eczema, they are good general health practices:

1. Do a diet check. You eczema could actually be the result of a slight allergic reaction. Try and avoid foods that can cause eczema flare-ups, like citrus fruits, eggs, shellfish, chocolate, wheat, and cow’s milk. Cut back on animal fat, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and overly processed foods. Stick to whole grains and eat a lot of Vitamin A and potassium, like carrots and spinach.

2. Treat dry skin with severe hydration. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day.

3. Invest in a vitamin. Your body could be lacking a certain nutrient that’s making your skin go haywire. Vitamin C and Vitamin F are often helpful in hydrating skin from the inside out.

4. Try some herbs and oils. Herbal remedies can be calming, which can help rash-prone skin, and with direct contact, can relieve itch and treat eczema. Visit an herbalist who is trained in Chinese Medicine or Ayurvedic Medicine.
5. Relax, relax, relax. Our skin often responds to whatever is going on inside us. If we’re stressed out, our skin will get stressed out. If we relax, so will our skin. Stress-induced rashes, such as eczema often clear up on their own if some serious relaxation. Try and cut back on some of your obligations and spend more YOU time unwinding. Your body, inside and out, will thank you! Bookmark and Share

Green tea benefits for the skin

DAAN — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:35:22 +0000

We know green tea, besides being delicious and relaxing, has many health benefits. But green tea may also be good for your skin:

Tea is made by steeping processed leaves, buds or twigs. Green tea is just one type of tea along with black, oolong and white tea. These teas vary in color, flavor, fermentation and processing. Yet, all four types come from the same plant — Camilla Sinensis. Regardless of processing methods, all teas contain valuable ingredients. Green tea is the most studied of the teas and boasts many benefits.

Antioxidants and free radicals
Free radicals cause skin damage, resulting in signs of aging, like fine lines, wrinkles, discoloration and elasticity loss. Fortunately, antioxidants counter this free radical damage. Green tea contains large amounts of antioxidant polyphenols and catechins. To help boost catechins’ absorption by the intestines, Yahoo! Health suggests adding citrus juices, like lemon, lime or grapefruit, to your tea.

You can take advantage of green tea’s antioxidant and anti-aging benefits topically, too. Many skincare products feature this ingredient.

Antioxidants and the sun
The antioxidants in green tea have important implications for sun exposure, too. Studies suggest that green tea helps make sunscreen even more effective. Applying green tea to skin may also reduce sunburn, inflammation and sun damage.

Plus, it may help stave off skin cancer, thanks to green tea’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics. According to mice studies, conducted by Santosh Katiyar, Ph.D., professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, green tea may be able to prevent skin cancer cells from developing and even destroy some cancerous cells. To get these benefits, you can drink five to six cups a day, Dr. Katiyar tells Rosemary Pennington on 90.3 FM WBHM, a Birmingham radio station. While this may not be feasible, he also says that applying green tea’s polyphenols is just as effective as drinking the tea.

However, green tea by itself doesn’t provide sufficient sun protection and doesn’t block UV rays. So you still need to use sunscreen daily!

The antioxidants in green tea may aid skin’s elasticity, which helps skin retain a smooth texture, free of wrinkles and sagging. According to a 2005 study, “Researchers found that the women taking green tea supplements showed improvement in their skin’s elastic content,” writes Allison Tannis in Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles: Eat Your Way to Firmer, More Beautiful Skin with the 100 Best Anti-Aging Foods. And because green tea has the amino acid L-theanine, it also reduces cortisol, a hormone that can destroy the collagen that keeps skin firm, according to Yahoo! Food.

Chinese herbs for eczema

DAAN — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:12:01 +0000

Traditional Chinese medicine may be helpful in the treatment of eczema:

Adults with eczema also can benefit from traditional Chinese medicine, Japanese researchers report.

They studied 274 men and women who had suffered from eczema for an average of 12 years. Nearly one-third had severe or very severe symptoms, with patches of chronically itchy, dry, inflamed skin over at least 10% of their body.

“Medicinal Chinese herbal remedies were selected and administered in accordance with the sufferer’s symptoms — an approach known as Sho in oriental medicine,” says Yoshiteru Shimoide, MD, head of the Yoshiteru Shimoide Clinic of Internal Medicine in Kagoshima City.

After 3-4 months of treatment, 87% of the patients were symptom-free. An additional 12% markedly improved, he tells WebMD.

One patient showed mild abnormalities in liver function, which were alleviated by stopping the herbal therapy.