Comments on: Can Cosmetic Acupuncture Reduce Wrinkles?

By: ykh

ykh — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:44:19 +0000

Maybe people are just confused because they think the placebo effect is bad and means people are delusional. It, er, doesn’t.

That said, using acupuncture for wrinkles sounds like US appropriation of practices from other cultures without understanding or respect, much like the way yoga is treated.

I honestly don’t think enough research has been done to show acupuncture is effective/non-effective as of right now, in terms of its intended usage (pain relief and relaxation). But cosmetic acupuncture doesn’t have any sort of basis – it doesn’t even make much sense why you’d use acupuncture for something like that (especially given the price!).

By: Holisticmoon

Holisticmoon — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:31:29 +0000

The biggest issue with proving the efficacy of acupuncture with a double blinded placebo controlled clinical trial is that the research design does not support or fit the paradigm that acupuncture is practiced under, majority of current research designs are ‘attempting’ to prove acupuncture works but not providing treatments as the would be administered in a clinical practice.
Double blinded procedures are almost impossible to implement during acupuncture clinical trials, more often than not research designs use qualified acupuncturists to provide active and sham treatments. A qualified Acupuncturist is going to know the indications and actions of points that they are needling and whether or not they are providing an active or a sham treatment, thus using an acupuncturist as a practitioner they cannot be blinded. Sometimes nurses are trained to insert the needles at sham and active acupuncture sites, this raises issues in point location accuracy and the obtaining of ‘De Qi’ (meaning the point has been appropriately stimulated, De Qi sensation is vital for effective treatment). Acupuncturists in Australia spend four years in clinic studying and learning to locate points accurately yet nurses will be trained up in a matter of weeks. Thus non qualified administers of acupuncture may be considered as blinded however they may or may not be administering acupuncture effectively.
The next big issue is ‘controlled’ research. Chinese medicine diagnosis each individual as a unique pattern of disharmony which pertains individually to that person, thus in western medicine someone will be diagnosed with acne, in TCM theory the “acne” can be diagnosed as “lung Qi deficiency” “damp heat” “stomach fire” “kidney and liver yin Xu” or any other number of patterns all depending on the other accompanying signs and symptoms thus each person will be treated completely differently to the next. Most clinical trial designs use a selection of 1 to 8 acupuncture points which are used on the participants. There are over 300 acupuncture points which can be used in clinical practice and yet ‘controlled’ trials can only use 1 to 8. Sometimes the design allows for individual treatment plans but it is usually still only using a select amount of points for all patients in the trial. Thus in clinical practice no ONE treatment will suit EVERY individual.
Placebo effect from ‘Sham’ acupuncture tends to be so high in acupuncture research because often the researchers will use ‘unrelated real/ active acupuncture points’ as a ‘Sham’ point, this active point is going to have an energetic effect on the system. In other designs non acupuncture sites are used as Sham points, however this doesn’t rule out that the site being stimulated is not an Ah Shi site (isn’t an acupuncture point but a tender site used to promote Qi).
The word Placebo is an umbrella word like phenomenon which purely means ‘it works but we can’t YET explain how it works SCIENTIFICALLY’. So yeah, acupuncture may scientifically be a placebo effect but any practicing Acupuncturist, patient of Acupuncture or adept skeptic can understand the complete system of traditional Chinese medicine philosophy, theory and wisdom and totally understand the system of how and why it is effective.
Most research is proven insignificant due to a lack of research designs which effectively test acupuncture in it’s actual methodology and beautiful art form which is proficiently applied in a qualified acupuncturists clinical practice.
Finally as for ‘cosmetic acupuncture’ the true essence behind traditional Chinese medicine is rebalancing the Yin and Yang of the body, mind and spirit which includes unblocking stagnation, releasing old negative thought patterns and behaviors and bringing in nourishment from food, air, self love and life experiences so that there is a holistic equilibrium which empowers each unique individual to follow their heart and live the life that they dream of, acupuncture is about encouraging individuals to be in touch with who they are on the inside and accepting and loving themselves just because they exist, irregardless of superficial insecurities. Acupuncture helps people fall in love with themselves and life which radiates through their spirit and is perceived within themselves as light and love but from others as pure enlightened beauty! Theres nothing more “beautiful” than a free spirit!! In the words of Lonnie Jarrett, acupuncture can “nourish your destiny”. =)

By: Left Brain

Left Brain — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:38:04 +0000

@Carol – The fact that something has been around for a long time is no indication about whether it is true or not. For thousands of years people believed the Sun traveled around the Earth. Then when telescopes were invented, it was obvious that that 1000+ year old practice was wrong.

Similarly, people believed in blood letting as a way to get rid of disease and they believed it for a long time. No one believes it now because it was never proven to be valuable.

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:35:58 +0000

I read this article and was rather disappointed by the choice of words used to disregard something that has been practiced for thousands of years. I think you could have been more diplomatic in sharing your views. Anywho, I have not experienced acupuncture myself, but I can’t help but feel if it’s something fake, why has it been around for so long and why are there reviews on here that are positive. I conclude by saying, like western medicine, a certain drug or course of treatment may be ideal for one person but have adverse effects on another. Everyone is different. Also, all practitioners are different, even those practicing western medicine may be a bit negligent…so for the lady whose daughter got an infection from the needles, I wonder if she just went to the first acupuncturist she heard of, or is she took her time to research and ask questions during her initial consultation. Before I delve into the unkown, I take advantage of the vast info available on the interenet (from reliable sources of course), and act totally oblivious when questioning anyone who is supposed to be knowledgeable in the field, just to kind of gauge their know how.

By: LittleBird

LittleBird — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:10:09 +0000

The 6th claim interests me.
Is it possible that acupuncture could promote collagen production similar to the way microdermabrasion does? I’m just going out on a limb here, though. I know there’s no data to suggest this, but is it theoretically possible?

I don’t plan on getting cosmetic acupuncture any time soon. Just curious.