I’ve been getting acupuncture for YEARS, but somehow never even thought about using those wonderful little needles to smooth out some the “character” I picked up along the way. After all, with my sparkling personality, I don’t need people reading my character on my face like a map. Make ‘em work for it. Make ‘em talk to me ’til they figure me out.

Much like acupuncture for other issues, the premise of an acupuncture facial is that the acupuncturist will treat your issues from the inside out by restoring the balance and flow of Qi (energy) – the blockage or stagnation of which is why you’re getting those nasty wrinkles, sags and bags. Physically, the treatment is carried out by using very thin needles in and around the problem spots to stimulate circulation, boost collagen production and plump fine lines.I saw this procedure in action recently when watching an episode of “10 Years Younger” on TLC. It was a really nice surprise too, since I think the show usually jumps too fast to using surgery as a solution. In this particular episode, the pre-aged lady had some serious double chin and eye baggage that was very drastically improved after acupuncture treatment. In fact, had I not seen the fact that they used acupuncture, I would have assumed they took their usual surgery route to achieve the results. While they didn’t mention how many sessions were required to achieve the results, it really can’t have been too many since I’m sure the show is filmed over the course of days rather than weeks or months.

Of course, detractors in the medical community scoff at the possibility that a bunch of tiny needles can be as effective as a nice fat injection of botox. In fact, there are even detractors within the acupuncture community who don’t agree with the facial-only treatments since they don’t treat the whole body – a key principle or Oriental medicine.

For me, after the amazing success I’ve had with acupuncture (longer post on that subject later), I’m willing to give it a try!

One last thought… if you care enough about your face, skin, character map to sit through the acupuncture treatments, you also need to consider what other steps you can take to give your body a better chance of retaining and maintaining your fabulous new look. In addition to all the usual advice about getting enough sleep, eating right, living right, I’ve got one extra to-do to add to the list: get your daily dose of wheatgrass. That’s right, wheatgrass. It’s amazing stuff.

Wheatgrass is pretty much all vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and trace minerals which work together to purify your system. Plus, there’s the chlorophyll. Best detox agent around. No way are you going to stay young, or at least look and feel young, unless you can keep your inside as clean and toxin-free as possible.