Chinese Medicine Micro-Needling
What is Chinese Medicine Micro-needling?
Chinese medicine has been doing some sort of cosmetic acupuncture for thousands of years. The Empress and her entourage used all sorts of techniques and products from Chinese medicine to improve and maintain their appearance.
For close to 25 years, a consistent part of my practice has been cosmetic acupuncture. The application of the same tiny needles that are used for other acupuncture treatments are applied to the face to stimulate collagen. I’ve been watching the technology around micro-needling with interest for a decade. The technology of the devices are now very sophisticated and offer noticeable and lasting results without very much downtime.
What is the Aculift Micro-pen
My system meets the standard for an FDA cleared medical device. It has the highest RPM’s available on the market and is made purely of stainless steel and titanium. Instead of the standard 12 needles per cartilage mine has 16. Using 16 needles at the proper depth is actually less painful than 12.
The truth is the micro-needling pen can offer many more needle insertions at a much faster rate than I can insert manually; this causes the treatment to be much more effective.
What is micro-needling?
There has been confusion because in the media the term “micro-needling” broadly as a catch-all term for various skin-needling treatments. While the term micro-needling properly denotes creating controlled micro-injuries with sterile needles to boost collagen, it is often confused with less effective at-home rollers, or different devices sold to the public with varying needle depths.
Effect of Micro-needling
The micro needling on the face will stimulate collagen, break up and help eliminate highly pigmented areas and dramatically brighten and smooth skin texture. Treatment of the brows may be added at this time for hair growth.
At home devices vs professional device
At home devices only deliver micro-needling below .5 mm. Whereas, the micro-needling device that I use offers anywhere from .5mm to 2mm. When a more shallow insertion is used inappropriately there is a very high risk of tissue damage. A well-trained provider using the proper depth is going to safely deliver the best and most effective results. These are: glowing skin without dry patches, lightening around dark spots, reduction in deep wrinkles and scars from acne or sun damage.
Unfortunately,“Micro-needling,” is not a term that denotes industry standards. Anything from a derm-roller that you can purchase for five dollars on Amazon from a medical treatment performed by a dermatologist is called “micro-needling.”
Who can provide micro-needling?
In Kansas, aestheticians are not allowed to do micro-needling at a therapeutic depth, unless they are being supervised by a dermatologist. Micro-needling falls within scope of Acupuncturists’ practice because of our expertise and license to use needles.
Treatment
Chinese medicine microneedling includes Chinese face reading and pulse diagnosis. Lidocaine application, followed by micro- needling and wellness acupuncture. Product application post treatment and take home aftercare kit.
Treatment Plan
Treatment plans look like this:micro-needling is done only once a month. Any more can impede good results. It is recommended for the best results that it is done 4 to 6 times.
Before treatment, stop retinoids at least three days before. Depending on skin condition and age, a maintenance schedule is recommended to maintain a positive outcome. The cost is 200 per treatment for the face. This includes three products as part of your aftercare kit.
Aftercare
After treatment you will need to be religious with sunscreen for at least a week. Avoid extended periods of time in the sun for two days. Apply the CALM spray containing arnica and aloe vera throughout the day, and the SUPERB serum contains Vit C, hyaluronic acid and peptides morning and night. At night also apply the AGELESS cream.
If you have questions about other body areas, reach out and we can come up with a plan. These may include neck, just brows, or scars located anywhere on the body. I’m excited to share more information for those that are interested. Please reach out with any additional questions.