26 Healthcare Innovations Specialist clinics Marmapuncture


This innovative facial treatment is more than skin deep. We find out how it’s used in ayurvedic medicine and put it to the test. Words: Mattie Lacey-Davidson


A


cupuncture has been around for centuries and remains popular today. Available on the NHS for


pain relief, it’s commonly sought out in private clinics for both body benefits and facial contouring. Often associated with traditional


Chinese medicine, acupuncture also has roots in ayurveda, an ancient holistic health system from the Indian subcontinent, in which the treatment is called marmapuncture. I met with Dr Nitasha Buldeo, who


practices ayurvedic medicine and marmapuncture, to find out how it’s used today for the face and body.


Body benefits Even when going for a facial treatment, the practitioner should always treat the entire body to allow for energy flow — known as prana in ayurvedic medicine — to be corrected throughout. In ayurvedic medicine, there


are three dosha (body types) that govern not only your health but your characteristics: vata (air), pitta (fire), and kalpha (water and earth). Nitasha assessed me as having


two dosha, vata and pitta, and then reeled off a list of characteristics that summed me up exactly. But with two jarring dosha, I was very much in need of some balance, so she set


Often associated with traditional Chinese medicine,


acupuncture also has roots in ayurveda


Facial acupuncture PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY


brachytherapy, image-guided intensi- ty-modulated radiotherapy (IGRT) or a combination of both, together with an innovative protective SpaceOAR Vue implant. Dr Albert Edwards graduated from


Brachytherapy for prostate cancer C


What are the alternatives to surgery for localised prostate cancer?


onsultant clinical oncologist, Dr Albert Edwards, treats pros- tate cancer with prostate seed


Guildford, one of the busiest prostate brachytherapy centres in the UK. Prostate LDR (low dose rate)


brachytherapy involves permanently implanting tiny


sealed radioactive


University College London Medical School in 1999 and completed specialist clinical oncology training in London and Essex. He undertook a Radiation Oncology Fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and later, a Fellowship in Prostate Brachytherapy at the Royal Surrey County Hospital,


seeds into the prostate, where they emit short-range radiation to treat prostate cancer while sparing nearby normal tissue. Prostate brachytherapy offers patients excellent cure rates and low risk of erectile dysfunction or urinary and bowel side-effects. SpaceOAR is a biodegrad-


able hydrogel that’s injected into the narrow space between the rectum and the prostate gland. Te SpaceOAR displaces the rectal wall away from the prostate gland, where


The white SpaceOAR Vue (centre) is between


the rectum (to its left) and the prostate gland, which contains a temporary catheter


the high radiation dose is delivered by brachytherapy or radiotherapy, reducing the radiation dose to the rectum and the chances of developing late rectal side effects. Tree months after the implant, the SpaceOAR dissipates. SpaceOAR Vue is the new product that’s visible on the CT scans used for image-guidance with daily radiotherapy. Dr Edwards has extensive expe-


rience of performing prostate brachytherapy implants, inserting SpaceOARs,


and planning image-


guided radiotherapy. As a member of the prostate brachytherapy team at Maidstone Hospital


Edwards has mentored the prostate brachytherapy teams at


in Kent, Dr the Royal


The white SpaceOAR Vue (centre) separates the prostate (containing brachytherapy seeds and a central catheter) from the rectum


Marsden Hospital, Mount Vernon Hospital and Southend Hospital. He’s an associate editor for the Clinical Medicine journal of the Royal College of Physicians and is a member of the British Uro-oncology Group. He is on an Advisory Board for SpaceOAR.


Promotional Content • Saturday 3 July 2021


about placing needles in my body — by the time she got to my face, a sense of calm had washed over me. “Te metaphysical feeling of elation


that can follow acupuncture is simply the result of the stimulation of nerves and nerve impulses,” she explains, which is what relives pain. “In truth, there’s nothing spiritual about acupuncture, though some confuse the rush of endorphins associated with it as a spiritual experience.”


Skincare benefits “Te insertion of needles has multiple benefits for skin and muscles,” Nitasha explains. “Because it stimulates circulation and lymph drainage, correctly placed needles can immediately improve complexion and skin appearance.” Tis happens as a result of the needle breaking the skin, as the body triggers a repair reaction sending more blood — and sometimes producing more collagen and elastin — to heal the broken skin. Needles can also penetrate facial


muscles to relax and tighten them. During my treatment, for example, Nitasha sought to relax my forehead muscles — where a frown line is forming — but tighten the muscles around my cheeks. Tis benefit led to facial


acupuncture being dubbed ‘natural Botox’. But having now had a treatment myself, I’m not convinced the two are comparable. You’re certainly not going to see wrinkles stopped in their tracks after just one treatment; it’ll take a few to notice a change. In 2013, a study measured the effect of facial acupuncture after five treatments and reported ‘promising results as a therapy for facial elasticity’ with evidence of skin tightening across the face.


T: 01227 764499 doverstreetdoctors.org.uk/dr-albert-edwards Maidstone — GenesisCare. Canterbury — BMI Chaucer.


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