healingways Anti-Aging
Skincare Turn Back the Clock with New Treatments and Breakthroughs
by Linda Sechrist
With aging still a largely mysteri- ous process, current seekers of perpetual youth and beauty are urging scientists to find ways to slow or even reverse it. New tools to fight lines, wrinkles and sagging skin excite the imagination.
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oday’s anti-aging toolbox is filled with promise. Tools range from at-home strengthening and refining creams to commercial treatment technologies such as cold laser, intense pulsed light (IPL), light-emitting diode (LED), microdermabrasion, photofacials, and skin tightening and rejuvenating ultrasound. Acupuncture facelifts make use of ancient Chinese techniques. Then there are the more invasive injectables, fillers and chemical peels. How do we know what is best for us?
Whatever one’s chosen tools, Hema Sundaram, author
of Face Value: The Truth about Beauty—and a Guilt-Free Guide to Finding It, believes that women at any age have every right to pursue the outward expression of their inner beauty. The Washington, D.C.-based medical doctor and board-certified dermatologist, who specializes in cosmetic surgery, supports a woman’s freedom to choose, without embarrassment or criticism. She emphasizes the positive ef- fects of cosmetic procedures performed for the right reasons and notes, “Restoring the balance between a woman’s inner and outer selves can transform her life.”
An at-home anti-aging regimen aimed at retarding time’s telltales and enhancing beauty lays the foundation for an effective partnership with an esthetician or dermatologist. Performed consistently, do-it-yourself treatments can help to maintain cosmetic work performed by skincare professionals. Popular, non-invasive techniques are explained here. Many take it a step further with a meditation practice designed to develop and project inner, spiritual beauty. Gua Sha. This Chinese technique (pronounced GWA SHA) uses a small medicinal board to gently massage, manipulate and stimulate energy points along the face. The objective is to promote a normal flow of energy, or qi (pro- nounced KEE), and blood circulation and to remove toxins. It also supports, lymph drainage.
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Microcurrent Facial Sculpting is a non- invasive, painless toning and lifting
procedure that strengthens skin elasticity and increases oxygen to tissues.
~Jessica Harbaugh, Owner, Face Forward, Carlisle, PA.
Gua sha activates inner vitality by stimulating both the superficial and deep muscles that control facial expression. Beauty benefits include a brighter complexion and a reduc- tion in the appearance of wrinkles, dark under-eye circles and puffy eyes. It also lifts sagging at the neck and jaw. Hypnox. This 25-minute guided hypnotherapeutic audio recording is touted as a natural alternative to the neu- rotoxin Botox. Instead of paralyzing targeted facial muscles, which inhibits natural facial expression, Hypnox targets and retrains the same muscles to stop habitual frowning, lip puckering and squinting. The process is said to promote overall relaxation, allowing wrinkles to fade away. Facercize. Muscle resistance training helps tone and enliven the 30 muscles of the face to render more youthful- looking features. Muscle fibers literally smooth out, shorten and lift the attached skin on the face and neck. Enzyme Mask. A weekly exfoliating fruit enzyme mask gently dissolves dead surface cells and embedded impurities, while restoring hydration. Adding an organic, fruit-based peel of alpha- and beta-hydroxy acids supplies an ideal boost that can result in an even brighter complexion and firmer looking skin. Retinols. These naturally occurring forms of vitamin A are a gentler, over-the-counter version of retinoids. They like- wise promote healthy cell renewal and collagen production.
Facial Contouring Primer by Linda Sechrist
F
acial rejuvenation consists of using fine disposable needles along wrinkle lines and in specific acupoints. “Results can usually be noticed after 2 to 3 treatments. Generally, 12 treatments are recommended,” advises Jill Levine, owner of Acupuncture Wellness Center, in Her- shey, Pennsylvania. Levine advises that the result is a face that looks refreshed and skin that feels tighter. She says, “The treatment induces the body to produce new collagen which helps the skin to look younger.”
“Cold lasers, IPL and LED use gentle energy from light waves to act on cells deep in the skin, helping them to grow back stronger,” says cosmetic chemist and esthetician Elina Fedotova, of Elina Organics, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. Of the three, she considers IPL the most dramatic.
Offered by many estheticians, ultrasound wands emit ra- dio frequencies to stimulate skin cells through vibration. Used to diminish wrinkles and lessen the appearance of scars, it also facilitates migration of serum and mask ingredients to sink into deeper layers of skin. Note that because ultrasound penetrates to the blood level, any products used during the treatment should be only the purest and most natural.
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