Cosmetic Acupuncture for Acne
Ciara’s Story (in her own words)
Acne journey
As someone who has suffered from acne for four long years I was sick of it. Sick of having tried all potions and lotions. Sick of trying to find something that would make it go away, but nothing seemed to work.
My acne started to flair up in my late teens, I was in college, and I remember to this day, the day I woke up with my first cyst on my face, it was the second week of February 2014. I hoped it wasn’t anything serious but then another one came and another and many more after that. After a few weeks hoping it would calm down, I had no such luck. I tried a gluten free diet. That didn’t work. I tried a meat free diet. That didn’t work either. In the end I went to the doctor who prescribed me with antibiotics and topical gel, that worked momentarily, but it spiraled back to what it was, within weeks.
I returned to the doctor and was referred to the dermatologist after a year and a half of comings and goings in and out of appointments constantly dosing my system with antibiotics. Guess what? That didn’t work either. But all I would hear was “there is no quick fix”.
The next step I was told would be a drug called ‘Roaccutane’. But I’d rather live with it than pump my body with more drugs that weren’t fixing the problem, although this particular treatment has had many success stories, the possible side effects such as depression, didn’t appeal to me.
As the cystic side of my acne began to subside after over 3 years, although I still had my daily outbreak of ‘normal spots’ I began to live with acne and had learned to deal with it. This of course consisted of never leaving the house without makeup, ever. Maybe twice in the past 4 years I recall leaving the house without my face being covered in makeup. For fear someone might see what my skin really looked like. As if it had made the cystic acne look any better, it didn’t. But it made me feel comfortable going out in public. In more recent times it has acted in covering the deep scaring on my face from previous breakouts.
A more recent breakout led me back to the doctor again looking for answers to the cause of the acne, this brings us to august of 2016. I knew there had to be something that caused me to have acne. I wanted to get to the root of the problem. Instead I was prescribed with antibiotics and gel, again. Which I didn’t bother taking as I knew it wouldn’t fix the problem. I was also re-referred to the dermatologist, which I knew meant one thing, roaccutane, which I didn’t want to take either. I asked to be referred to an endocrinologist, which I was, and in turn found out I have a condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS for short.
This diagnosis was made on February 7th 2017, exactly 4 years to the day I got my first cyst. A condition which doesn’t affect me in any other way, except my acne, which is caused the imbalance of the Luteinizing hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) in my blood. And there we had it, an answer finally for the reason I had suffered so badly with acne. But this hadn’t made my acne clear up or reduce the scars on my face that I had to cover up daily. But at least I had an answer to my question and figured out what my body was telling me.
And that is when my journey with cosmetic acupuncture comes in . Before this I didn’t have much information on needling or indeed the benefits of such a simple concept but since i have started it, my god has it changed my life, within weeks, literally three sessions of needling, my skin has turned itself inside out, from redness, to breakouts, to texture, to scaring. It has improved immensely. So much so, that I can go out in public again makeup free. Not that anything was stopping me from doing so before but I have the confidence to do so. So for anybody out there suffering with acne, that it has come to the point that it affects your daily life, seriously consider cosmetic acupuncture!
Therapist’s notes from Elaine
Ciara has been my first Acne client to take through a full course of sessions. It’s been an amazing journey for both of us. I knew that cosmetic acupuncture could help active acne but the dramatic results in such a short time frame took me aback. Most notably during and after session one, was the reduction of size in a predominant cyst, literally shrinking before my eyes during the treatment. Another dramatic result after the first session happened within a couple of hours: the massive reduction in inflammation in the skin. Of course, spots and cysts remained but they had shrunk and the angry redness in the skin had calmed.
Ciara’s biggest concern when first coming to me was her scarring, and having completed 6 weeks, her skin has significantly reduced scarring. It’s something that still needs some work but it really is amazing how much smoother her skin is and how healthy the texture and tone of the skin is also.
Ciara was already adopting a healthy diet and exercise regime when she started her cosmetic acupuncture. This is an aspect that I can’t recommend highly enough that should be adopted while undergoing cosmetic acupuncture and as a method to assist active acne. You’ll notice in week 5 & 6, her skin has some more breakouts (smaller breakouts but still breakouts) During these two weeks Ciara had let her exercise and diet slip slightly so even though there is still impressive results from the cosmetic accupuncture it also hi-lights the importance of adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I can recommend Nutritionists to you locally where needed.
I use only 100% truly natural products within my treatments. On week two Ciara started using some of these products at home to complement the treatment. She really liked the products and felt they complimented the Cosmetic Acupuncture perfectly and loved the consistency. These products were the acne line from Nia, an Irish company that hand makes it’s products in Co. Clare, Ireland. They produce high-end, luxury products made of pure and natural ingredients. Your skin is your largest organ, and absorbs into the body much of what it comes in contact with. For more information on Nia click here https://www.nia.ie/