Wrinkles, laughter lines and Me

About four years ago there was loads in the press about the latest techniques in facial rejuvenation acupuncture… me being a woman of a certain age thought ‘yay’ this is interesting as my laughter lines were definitely beginning to show, and I am certainly not adverse to a little self help acupuncture. So I decided to learn more and signed up for a short course…. what did I learn? Well not a whole lot more than I already knew…. but the guy selling the course is a fantastic salesman!!
In reality it was at this time that Acu-Nova was reborn and I started to add facial acupuncture to my list of treatments, to be honest very few people seemed interested (defiantly should have taken more notice of the ‘sales’ part of the course) but you see sales just isn’t who I am. Who I am is a health care provider who loves to take care of people´s health preferably preventively but certainly when people are struggling with whatever ails them. So it became a project that sat on the back burner.
Two weeks ago I was at the lovely LACE lunch with a wonderful bunch of ladies, and gave a 5 minute presentation on acupuncture without needles! At the end of the lunch I had a little line of ladies with questions…. and the burning question was do I do cosmetic acupuncture?
So the resounding answer is yes I do, and yes it does work, and here is why…
Cosmetic acupuncture is not really any different to any other sort of acupuncture, If you come to see me I will spend the first half hour asking you weird and wonderful questions about your lifestyle, diet, sleeping habits, emotions, illnesses even your bowel habits and waterworks!! What I need to know is how your body is working and if there is any detectable unbalance. I will take a look at your tongue and take your pulse…. and finally will have a look at the wonderful map of life you have that is your face!
Acupuncture works by creating balance in the energy system of the body. If there is in-balance the body gets sick! A great example of this is depression… when the neurotransmitters in the brain are out of whack we become clinically depressed and cannot see the good things in life… acupuncture helps redress this balance and works very efficiently too. When our body is sick it shows in our face, if we are not sleeping well, we look tired.  If our digestive system is not working well, we feel bloated.  The trouble is lack of sleep and bloating very often become the ‘normal’ in our lives and we don’t even realise there is something wrong.
So the first thing people often notice with cosmetic acupuncture is that they actually feel better, and the facial results are often recognised by those around us… people will say ‘wow’ you look great what have you been doing! Your skin begins to take on a healthier look which of course boosts your self esteem and generally makes you feel happier.
Now apart from doing general feel good re-balancing acupuncture I would actually address any lines and wrinkles you have that you are not happy with and we would use tiny needles in and around the area. When an acupuncture needle is inserted, the body reacts by sending red blood cells and critical nutrients to the area, essentially stimulating a local immune response. Once the needle is removed, the body quickly realizes that it’s not actually under attack and calls off the immune response. In the meantime, those areas on the face where needles were placed have been flooded with a new supply of blood and nutrients. This stimulates the production of collagen, the protein responsible for tightness and vibrancy in the skin.
After a few weeks you will notice the lines becoming thinner and shallower, your face looks brighter, bloating is gone and people will be asking you what you have done that is making you look so great.
If you would like to go it a try I have a special spring offer of 8 sessions for only 250€,  Give me a call 676333065.

Why your sun never seems to shine

We all have days when everything seems like far to much trouble or when nothing seems to go our way, Days when we feel that getting out of bed was just a bad idea. We have times when we are not sure about ourselves and just nothing is going right.... This is Normal stuff, this is day to day normality and we do manage to get out of bed, and we do manage to take a shower, pick ourselves up, shake ourselves down and get on with life.

Now imagine you cannot....getting out of bed is virtually impossible, and you can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. You hate yourself and everything about yourself. Work is impossible as you cannot concentrate. You have no energy for your family. You seem to cry constantly and when you are not crying you are angry. The overwhelming sense of sadness is unbearable, nothing gives you pleasure in the way it used to, you have no desire for sex and you are either eating and eating and eating, or have no appetite. You feel like you are in a very deep black hole with no way to get out.
The worst thing is when we are going through this we often don't see it.  It is visible to your friends; visible to your family, and visible to your colleagues.... but you cannot even see the forest for the trees.
This is a picture of Clinical depression. People suffering with clinical depression need to seek help, and I will try to explain why:
The brain is a little like Palma de Mallorca airport, … it is a central hub for information with messages coming in and going out thousands of times a minute . In fact it controls all the basic functions of the body; it controls movement, emotions, thoughts and actions, and these are controlled by a rather complex mix of chemical and electrical processes.
The most researched area of the brain when it comes to depression is called the Limbic system.  This is the part the brain that actually regulates activities such as emotions, physical and sexual drives, and the stress response.  So another analogy....This Limbic  system is a little like the air traffic control centre at the airport... it includes lots of very important parts of the brain.  These parts work both independently and dependently of each other.  Another important part of this story is the hypothalamus (the hypothalamus resides within the limbic system, so i guess this is the chief air traffic controller ), The hypothalamus does things like control heart beat, breathing, body temperature, sleep, appetite, sexual drive and stress reaction. It also controls the function of the pituitary gland and this regulates hormones!!
In fact the activities of the Limbic system are so important and so very complicated, that if there is any disturbances, it affects how the hormones and 'neurotransmitters' function; and if they are not working in complete balance we have a situation that affects our mood and behaviour.
Neurotransmitters are really, really important.   Neurotransmitters are the chemicals through which information is sent from one nerve to another.   These neurotransmitters (serotonin, nor-epinephrine, and dopamine) like order and they leap around from neuron to neuron (nerves) in a very orderly manner.  Hormones that come from the pituitary like to keep this order, but sadly they often fail (especially in women pre-menstrually, post pregnancy and during menopause, which is why depression can be so pronounced in women during these times) But it is not all about women, men also can experience fluctuations in Hormone levels.
The glands that secrete hormones actually have a sophisticated ability to release and stop releasing hormones.  These glands function a little bit like the thermostat on your central heating... If the thermostat gets broken either you have too many circulating hormones or not enough! This can cause depression!
Now there is just one more ingredient to add to this list: It goes by the name of cortisol. This hormone is secreted by the adrenal glands that sit on top of each kidney. The adrenal's are controlled by the pituitary (one of the air traffic controllers at Mallorca central air traffic control ) and cortisol is the hormone that controls our stress response; i.e. fight or flight.   If the levels of cortisol are not kept in check then we become depressed.
Enough of the Science.  The reason for explaining all of this goes back to the beginning of the article when I said that depressed people can sometimes not see the forest for the trees. There is still an awful lot of shame attached to depression and people still think they should 'pull themselves together' or 'get a grip.'    Hopefully I have explained it in a way that its possible to see that sometimes it is impossible to do that...clinical depression is ALL about imbalance in the brain and nothing to do with weakness at all.  Counselling and psychotherapy go a long way to helping people work out their thought processes but if there hormones and out of whack its impossible to think straight.
In part two I will explain how we can get help either for us or for a friend or relative. So watch this space.

10 key benefits of Acupuncture

As an Acupuncturist, I’m often asked “What are the benefits of acupuncture?” This is a tough question because there are so many benefits! I have tried to limit the answer to ten key benefits, and hope this inspires you to consider acupuncture for yourself.
Ten key benefits of acupuncture include:

1. Improved Health and Quality of Life

This is achieved because acupuncture balances the body’s energy systems. Our life styles, thought patterns and diets create imbalance in the body. Acupuncture helps to balance these energy systems through acupuncture points. These points are gateways to the body’s energy flow. They help to take the “load” off of excess and redirect that Qi (loosely translated as energy) to the areas in your body that are deficient.

 2. Stress Reduction

This is also accomplished by balancing your body’s energy. A little stress is actually good for you, but most people today experience far too much of it. Experience these high stress levels day after day makes it very difficult for your body to relax and balance; regular acupuncture treatments are a powerful way to enable this relaxation and balance.

 3. Pain Reduction

Helping with chronic and acute pain is one of the most common applications of acupuncture. Arthritis, neck pain, back pain, menstrual pain, carpal tunnel, plantar fasciitis, joint sprains & strains, digestive pain etc. are very commonly helped by acupuncture. If you experience migraine, cluster and other headaches you can often find relief right there on the table. The results can be amazing.

 4. Improved and Faster Recovery from Injury, Illness and Surgery

This can be accomplished using acupuncture to increase circulation, reduce inflammation and reduce scaring. “Weekend warrior” types of injuries are known to heal much faster with acupuncture. Many professional sports teams have staff acupuncturists.

 5. Emotional Balance

Achieving emotional balance can be both the primary focus of acupuncture treatment and is also a positive “side effect” when you use acupuncture for other reasons. Depression, anxiety, frustration, and worry are a few emotional imbalances treated. Acupuncture points have a physical and emotional aspect to their function and most times both of those aspects are accessed during the acupuncture treatment.

 6. Respiratory Health

This can be very effectively achieved with acupuncture! Allergies, asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis are conditions that are positively impacted with acupuncture everyday. Being aware of indoor pollutants – cleaning chemicals, out gassing of plastics & fabrics, molds etc. and taking steps to reduce them can also reduce respiratory imbalances. Nasal irrigation is also very helpful.

 7. Insomnia Relief

Insomnia and other sleep issues are also very commonly addressed by acupuncture. Since insomnia and sleep disturbances can be caused from stress, injury, pain and emotional imbalance, good sleep can also be a positive “side effect” when acupuncture is used for other primary reasons. An acupuncture treatment can easily be focused on insomnia and sleep disturbances.

 8. Strengthening Your Immune System

This can be accomplished through balancing your body’s energy systems with acupuncture. Stress, illness, environmental toxins, and allergies, are just a few of the causes of a weakened immune system.

 9. Premenstrual (PMS) and Menopausal Symptom Relief

I would venture to say that every experienced acupuncturist has helped with PMS and relieving menopausal symptoms. These conditions are very common, of course, and acupuncture is very effective in treating the symptoms associated with them. Headaches, cramping, sleep disturbances, mood swings, night sweats, cycle length and duration, and pimples are just a few of the common symptoms.

10. Reduction of Side Effects of Chemo and Radiation Therapies

This can also be a very powerful benefit of acupuncture. The side effects acupuncture can help include (but are not limited to) coughing, fever, anxiousness, nausea, depression, night sweats, dry mouth, pain, diarrhea, and constipation. Improved quality of life is, without a doubt, experienced by every cancer patient I have treated.

If you know of anyone who may also wonder what some key benefits of acupuncture are and who may be helped by it, please do pass this on to them! or contact me for more information 676333065