On Pins ‘n’ Needles to Look Younger
Forty tiny needles stick out from Gayla Gabriel’s shiny face, each one probing for imbalances and blocked energy, all strategically placed exactly where she needs them. These busy little needles, she believes, help turn back the clock by helping to fill in her laugh lines, adding luster to her complexion; and, so far, successfully stopping the advancing enemy--crow’s feet.
The Palos Verdes resident became friendly with these acupuncture needles 11 years ago, when she turned to the ancient Chinese treatment to heal damaged foot nerves that prevented her from running. On the brink of her 40th birthday, and fearing that years as a sun worshiper were about to catch up with her, the teacher and private counselor followed up on a friend’s suggestion for another prickly treatment--acupuncture face lift and skin care.
Gabriel lay down in a serene room at Tao of Wellness in Santa Monica while Maoshing Ni, a medical doctor trained in China, inserted slender half-inch needles shallowly into her face. Then, as she drifted asleep under a heat lamp and classical music played in the background, she felt the muscles in her face relax and an increasing energy flow to it during the 30-minute session.
“The needles are like 1,000 little massages,” says Gabriel, now 51. “I feel such a connectedness to my face after a treatment. It’s not so much a matter of changing my face, but of maintaining vitality in my face. When I leave, I feel like my face is alive and breathing.”
From California to New York, baby boomers like Gabriel are experimenting with acupuncture for facial toning and beautifying instead of relying on a scalpel to remove signs of aging, according to acupuncturists and doctors who practice alternative medicine. No one knows precisely how many are resorting to the needles but it is certain that this aging generation, and even those younger, are not shy about seeking ways to reverse the ravages of time. Americans spent $548 million on over-the-counter and anti-aging products in 1998, according to the Freedonia Group, a Cleveland market research firm.
Acupuncture’s popularity as an alternative facial treatment is evident, from the San Gabriel Valley to Little Tokyo to Beverly Hills. Movie stars, models, socialites, chief executives and housewives eagerly undergo the therapy, which was very popular among the wealthy in China before the Communists took over 50 years ago. Ni’s needles even go on location in Hollywood when a television or movie star’s vanity is in crisis before a taping.
“It’s fascinating to see how the facials work. You can make a great living from that these days, but it’s not what I want to do with my practice,” says Ilan Migdali, a licensed acupuncturist who felt more like a cosmetologist when his office was in Beverly Hills. He is more satisfied treating injuries and illnesses now in Hollywood and Simi Valley.
Acupuncture is based on the Taoist belief that two life forces--known as yin and yang--combine to produce a vital energy called ch’i, which flows through the body along 14 pathways known as meridians. When these life forces are out of balance, a person becomes ill. Needles inserted at pressure points along these invisible pathways stimulate neurological, immunological and endocrine responses and promote the release of endorphins and other healing chemicals in the body, pushing the unbalanced forces into equilibrium. In this way, the needles repair injuries, treat some physical and mental illnesses and can also renew the body, according to Chinese medicine.
“Our focus is on total body rejuvenation,” says Ni, who operates Tao of Wellness with his older brother Daoshing Ni, also a medical doctor trained in China. “The face records a lot of life’s history, your health and condition. Quite often, if the skin is not healthy, it’s because of what’s going on inside, so we have to address that as well,” says Maoshing Ni. “Our therapy includes acupuncture, herbal medicine, changes in diet and lifestyle, stress management and even spiritual guidance.”
The needles are painless, though some patients experience a slight stinging in sensitive points. The complete facial therapy includes herbal drinks, topical creams and massages, and can cost anywhere from $60 to $115 for treatments that last an average of an hour.
Results from acupuncture facial treatments are never as dramatic as those achieved with traditional plastic surgery, acupuncturists and patients agree. The face does not acquire a tight, pulled-back look; and the needles cannot remedy heavy jowls or a double chin.
“I don’t think there’s any physical way that working with a nerve can result in something comparable to a surgical face lift,” says Dr. Brian Branter, a Ventura County plastic surgeon and UCLA assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery. “Even when you have a patient who says they’re better after the treatment, it’s unscientific. You have to be circumspect.”
Although some Western-trained physicians remain skeptical about acupuncture, the U.S. government has said the ancient technique appears to be effective. In 1997, a National Institutes of Health panel concluded that acupuncture successfully treats muscular and skeletal disorders, helps with drug addiction and weight loss and cures illnesses, such as asthma, migraines and Bell’s palsy. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration began regulating the needles like hypodermic syringes, eliminating them as experimental medical devices.
Santa Monica plastic surgeon Dr. Steve Teitelbaum sometimes refers patients who have post-surgical problems--such as numbness in the cheeks--to acupuncturists. The treatment, he says, helps damaged nerves regenerate faster.
“I am a big believer in acupuncture, but if you have deeply ingrained wrinkles on the surface of the skin, I don’t think a responsible acupuncturist will tell you that it’s going to go away,” he says. “But it can elevate sagging and can help with fine lines. I think of it as a skin treatment. I believe it can make the skin a lot healthier.”
After eight to 10 treatments, acupuncturists and their patients say, fine lines are erased, deeper wrinkles are less noticeable and the face glows youthfully. The needle therapy can also help to lighten or erase freckles and age spots, and be used to treat acne, says Edmund Chow, a Chinese-trained doctor who practices at California Acupuncture and Herbal Medical Center in Little Tokyo.
“After a treatment, you improve,” Chow says. “But you’re always aging. You’re not permanently looking younger. But you grow older slowly and, with maintenance, the effect lasts.”
Too many hours in the Fresno sun left Mayumi Nakamura with dark spots on her pale face. After one year of treatments with Chow, the spots are smaller, lighter and her overall skin is smoother, she says.
“It’s been very gradual, but there’s a big difference,” says Nakamura, 40. “I had tried Neutrogena products and nothing was working. I didn’t think there was anything that could erase these freckles. But they’re pale now, and my friends say my skin is shiny. I don’t need makeup anymore. If I keep doing it, I know they will disappear altogether.”
When Margie Hoffman of West Los Angeles used to look in the mirror, her face reflected the toll of past illnesses and 14 surgeries to her body. The watercolor artist considered plastic surgery, but dropped the idea when her girlfriends’ operations went awry. An unruly nerve left one girlfriend with permanent bumps on her face; another was left with permanent twitches at her mouth and eyes.
So, Hoffman, 70, turned to Maoshing Ni. The woman in the mirror now, she says, looks better than ever. “A scalpel? Who needs that?,” says Hoffman. “People think I look like I’m in my late 50s or early 60s, and it’s because everything is up instead of down. . . . My face feels like it’s getting the same exercise I get when I walk every day. Plastic surgery is frightening--I mean, you can only do so much cutting to the face. I’d rather spend my money on a big trip. I’ve only got one life.”
