We are trained in the Mei Zen Cosmetic Acupuncture System.  Mei Zen means beautiful face.
Cosmetic acupuncture and facial rejuvenation is a natural, holistic, and comprehensive skin rejuvenation designed to revitalize, restore, and refresh.  The term “cosmetic” is used because we expect an aesthetic outcome from the acupuncture treatment. While our process will improve the production of collagen and elastin to reduce wrinkles, our focus is to balance and improve your overall health and vitality.

The effect of this dual approach—cosmetic as well as overall health and vitality rejuvenation—results  in a younger looking, firmer, revitalized face.  Cosmetic acupuncture is the only cosmetic procedure that actually improves your health while you are receiving cosmetic results.  And that is the perfect solution for looking and feeling great.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) supports attaining youth and beauty from the inside out.  A key principle of TCM is that your outside appearance is both a symptom of, as well as a reflection of, your health inside.  In Chinese medicine, health is all about balance and harmony.  If you aren’t healthy, it is difficult to keep your face and skin vibrant and glowing, regardless of how many surgeries and injections you may have.

No surgery.  No one is injecting you with dangerous substances. No scars. No side effects.  No trauma.  No swelling. No discoloration. No recuperation time. No painful healing. Safe. Effective. The worse that can happen is the rare bruise.
Aging does not stop for anyone.  When someone says, “I should just have a facelift and be done with it,” they may not be looking at the long-term effects of a surgical procedure.  Surgical facelifts need to be repeated.  Some need “touch-up” within a few months.  Others need repeating every 5 to 7 years.  Medical procedures are painful and risky.

Cosmetic acupuncture, on the other hand, is a procedure that you can do once in your lifetime or once a year or once a month.  You can stop the process at any time, and you will not have the issue of surgically removed skin and soft tissue fraught with the potential for permanent damage—physically and cosmetically as well as emotionally.

With cosmetic acupuncture, your appearance will always be natural and reflect your improved health and the character you have spent a lifetime building.  It is a non-invasive, safe, effective, affordable, drug-free way to reduce wrinkles, firm and tone skin, and erase the effects of age.

Read this New York Times article on cosmetic acupuncture http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/fashion/13SKIN.html

A 1996 clinical trial reported in the International Journal of Clinical Acupuncture that among 300 cases treated with facial acupuncture, 90% had marked effects with one course of treatment.  Although results vary, an average person can eliminate anywhere from 5 to 10 years from your face.  The cumulative effects of stress, tension, and emotions are held in the face and body—and these will be released.  Of course, the results depend upon your lifestyle, age, health, commitment to following through with our recommended homecare program, and other factors such as exposure to toxins and harsh environments.

Expect to spend up to 2 hours on your first visit.  We either email or send you in advance the office forms you need to read and complete before your first visit.  After an initial consultation you will receive a comprehensive TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) exam, including a meridian analysis, and an acupuncture treatment to determine what we call a differential diagnosis in order for us to customize a cosmetic treatment plan for you.
Your first cosmetic acupuncture visit will begin with a close-up digital photograph of your identified problem areas.  We call this your “Before” picture.  At the end of the initial treatment protocols, we take your “After” picture.  A person’s daily exposure to toxins and other elements also contributes to the ultimate duration of the course. You should start to see truly significant differences after about the seventh visit.  At the end of your course of treatment, we will give you your “before” and “after” pictures so you can see the transformation.

Each treatment takes about one hour.

After the initial cosmetic acupuncture evaluation and treatment session, you will come in for a 10 session course of treatment.  The appointments are scheduled twice a week for 5 weeks.  Each session consists of facial and body acupuncture along with specific natural skin care acupressure mini-facials tailored to your specific needs. Keep in mind that additional treatments may be needed based on your age and condition of skin and health.

Our treatments are based upon TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).  TCM is a holistic healing method that treats the mind, body and spirit as one.  We go about smoothing wrinkles and clearing up complexion problems in a completely different way than conventional medicine.
We treat you, the individual, not just your symptom.  We treat you (w)holistically.  The herbs, herbal facial products, exercises, and affirmations you will be using address all aspects of your existence—the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  TCM treats the root causes of problems, not just the symptoms.  You are healing from the inside out.  Much of the root cause of wrinkles and cosmetic problems is not in the face, but in the internal body imbalances that can be improved with natural herbs, foods, and exercises.

We teach prevention of future problems.  Once your immediate cosmetic concerns are addressed, you will have the tools to prevent them from recurring.

Acupuncture and herbal medicine work together to restore the body to optimal functioning. While they work together, they also work differently. Acupuncture needles increase the flow of blood, oxygen, and energy through the body. Acupuncture supports cosmetic rejuvenation by restoring the body’s balance energetically and thus allows the spread of its rejuvenated essence to all parts of the body, especially the face.
Herbal medications, whether applied topically (facial creams, washes, masks, etc.) or taken internally, do not directly fight wrinkles or lift sagging skin. Whereas acupuncture enhances circulation and blood flow, herbs are natural energetic substances that gently correct underlying deficiencies and clear obstructions.  They help the body’s self-healing to correct the conditions that caused the wrinkles in the first place.

Together, acupuncture and herbs work synergistically to rejuvenate the body, and thus the face, from the inside out. Their powerful combination is more effective, and healthier, than just treating the face symptomatically.

Acupuncture is like a mosquito bite—sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don’t.  Our solid, single-use, sterile needles are extremely thin—not much thicker than a human hair.  They are not like the hollowed-out hypodermic needles used for shots.  Once the needles are in place, you will not feel them.

Research has shown that a cosmetic acupuncture facelift can last 3-5 years. It is important to understand that the aging process continues during this time. Diet, lifestyle and illnesses can affect the length of the results. When a patient experiences a dramatic event in their life a few extra treatments helps restore balance, rest, and well-being.

There are several different ways you can maintain your results. You will be counseled on diet and lifestyle as well as herbs, supplements and skin care that are specific to skin health. Ideally, a once a month appointment will help maintain the results.  We recommend a minimum of two treatments in one week every six months and repeat the 10 treatment protocol once a year.  If you follow our recommendations, including your home care plan, your results will be maintained.  Repeating the 10 treatment protocol once a year not only revitalizes the results it also boosts your immune system and balances you in body, mind, and spirit.

The beauty of our Cosmetic Acupuncture procedure is that there is no “down-time”.  After the treatment, you can continue with your daily activities—there is no pain or recuperation time.  The only quite rare side-effect is the possibility of minor, temporary bruising.  The most common side-effects are that you feel relaxed, refreshed, and revitalized.

Wear comfortable clothes or bring shorts and a short sleeve top.  Stop taking ibuprofen (advil), aspirin or excessive doses of Vitamin E two weeks prior to reduce the potential for bruising (unless you have been advised by your doctor to take additional Vitamin E or aspirin).
Do not wear make-up to the treatments (greasy substances have insulating properties that might block the energetic manipulation).  Your skin should be clean.  You can put your make-up on right after the treatment.

No sauna, hot tub, or hot showers for one hour before the treatments.

Do not wear sunscreen before the treatments; but do wear it after the treatments.

All of our patients receive an easy-to-follow, custom-designed, six step at-home facial rejuvenation plan to enhance the effectiveness of your treatments.  Your personal home-care binder consists of six sections detailing our self-help program: Recommended Nefeli Skin Care Remedies; Acupressure Massage Protocols; Recommended Herbal Supplements; Mind/Body/Spirit Exercises including Qi Gong and Guided Meditations; Dietary Recommendations; and a section on Lifestyle Choices.

The cost for the initial consultation, examination, meridian analysis, and treatment is $195.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and personal checks. The value received from the cosmetic acupuncture treatments far outweighs the cost incurred by medical cosmetic procedures such as surgery, injections, microdermabrasion, chemicals, as well as your time away from family and work and the side effects suffered from those conventional medical treatments.

Each follow-up cosmetic acupuncture treatment, if paid for at the time of service, costs $195. Our Cosmetic Acupuncture Program consists of twice a week sessions for 5 weeks.  We offer a pre-paid, cost savings package price of $1560 for ten treatments. This is a $390 (20%) savings—the equivalent of Two Free Treatments—plus you get our Home Care Program binder at no charge.  Our pre-paid cost savings packages include 10 customized acupuncture sessions complete with specific natural skin care acupressure mini-facials tailored to your specific needs. Keep in mind that additional treatments may be needed based on your age and condition of skin and health. Cost of additional treatments will be discussed prior to occurring.

Cosmetic acupuncture is currently considered an elective procedure similar to other cosmetic procedures, so you will be responsible for paying for the treatments. If you have a Health Savings Account, you may be eligible for reimbursement.

The sooner the better. Beginning this process during a time when the damage is being done but not yet seen is optimal. Generally speaking, this is occurs in your thirties. Collagen and elastin begin to break down, cell turnover and oil production slows.

Thousands of years of empirical results have provided enough data to safely predict that you will get results.  However, no one can guarantee that they will be the exact results that you want.  Not even plastic surgery is guaranteed to give you the exact results that you think you want.
Results are also dependent on your behavior.  You may be expected to take some herbs.  You will be expected to take care of your skin with a recommended skin care regimen.  And you will be expected to keep all of your appointments twice weekly, follow some nutritional guidelines, do some Qi Gong exercises, and practice your affirmations.  This program is not just about getting acupuncture.   Lifestyle changes may be necessary to keep results if you are a smoker, excessive sunbather, drink alcohol excessively or use drugs.

A good candidate for Cosmetic Acupuncture is someone who wants to look and feel his or her best but does not want surgery.  For example, bridal parties, business women/men, busy moms, housewives, models, actors, newscasters, people going to class reunions, salespeople, and realtors.

We will not perform cosmetic acupuncture on pregnant women.  However, post-partum treatments can help with stretch marks, cellulite, boost your immune system, and bring you back to feeling revitalized.

Cosmetic acupuncture helps maintain the results of Botox without further injections of dangerous and toxic substances.
If you’ve already had plastic surgery, Cosmetic Acupuncture is a good adjunctive therapy to help the healing process, soften scars and improve blood and Qi flow to the area around the surgical site as well as surrounding areas. In addition, acupuncture has been found to improve the healing of recent surgical scars and help you feel your energetic best in a shorter period of time.