The Chinese were going under the needle as long as eight centuries ago to keep their youthful beauty, but only recently has acupuncture become an option for one”™s cosmetic face-lift in Westchester County.
At Enhance Face and Body Spa in Hartsdale, sisters and co-owners Sherrie Eskow and Bonnie Hagen have added the services of a licensed acupuncturist for clients seeking an alternative to more costly and more physically invasive cosmetic surgery. Applying the small, thin needles of traditional Chinese medicine with which she was trained, Carol Hanson Tyson specializes in facial rejuvenation ”“ also known as cosmetic acupuncture or acupuncture face-lift.
While popular among the wealthy in China before the Communist takeover and said to be part of a resurgence in beauty treatment in China”™s market-oriented society today, acupuncture facial treatment still is relatively rare in the U.S. since its debut here about 20 years ago. Spa owners such as Hagen think the multiple treatments, which also reportedly boost overall health and energy, could soon cut into consumer demand for cosmetic plastic surgery in the U.S., an $11.5 billion industry in 2006, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The 11 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. last year, from eyelid surgery and nose reshaping to minimally invasive treatments such as Botox injections and microdermabrasion, represented a 7 percent increase from 2004 and a 48 percent jump since 2000.
In the same six-year period, fewer beauty consumers chose to expose their faces to a plastic surgeon”™s scalpel, as the number of face-lifts dropped 22 percent to 104,055. At the same time, minimally invasive procedures increased by 66 percent. Botox was by far the most popular injected wrinkle remover, with 4.1 million treatments last year, up 420 percent from 2000, according to the plastic surgeons”™ group.
With the acupuncture treatment, “We”™re pioneers,” said Hagen, who with her sister has operated the spa at 100 North Central Park Ave. for about four years. “If it follows what happened two years ago” ”“ when the spa introduced a therapeutic program for cancer patients and their caregivers that includes the services of a staff psychologist ”“ “we”™re going to be models for the industry.”
“First of all, it”™s a unique competitive edge,” said Hagen, whose spa has about 15 largely part-time employees. “We don”™t have anyone else in this kind of space offering acupuncture. It”™s also an added benefit to our clients. They can come to one place and get all their needs met.”
The Hartsdale spa also offers Botox injections by a medical aesthetic specialist. That treatment costs $600 to $650, Hagen said.
“A lot of people come in, ask for Botox. But I find a lot more people being conservative. Those are the type of people who see Carol” for an acupuncture face-lift. “You”™re not going to get the Joan Rivers look from this,” Hagen said, alluding to the oft-worked-on comedienne.
“People will say, ”˜Oh, you look rested and fresh. You look like you have energy,”™” said the spa”™s acupuncturist, Tyson. “They don”™t say, ”˜Who did your face?”™”Â
Tyson said the beauty procedure has many practitioners in New York City. “They usually go to the doctor”™s office. They don”™t go into spas for it.”
“Wherever there”™s acupuncture, there”™s this aspect being done,” said Tyson, trained in a technique designed to treat both the local and underlying causes of an individual”™s facial aging signs. “I think it”™s probably growing greatly here in the Northeast right now.
Energy alert
“People are interested in doing things other than surgery, trying to be noninvasive,” she said. “Needles are invasive to some extent. They”™re very tiny. They”™re about as painless as needles as can be.”
Tyson has performed the acupuncture as follow-up treatment for a spa client who wanted to maintain her wrinkle-free look from a Botox injection. She usually will not work on someone who has had surgical cosmetic work.
“Acupuncture moves the energy in your face,” she said. “You want the lines of energy to be open.” With surgery, “You”™ve moved the energy. You don”™t know quite what”™s going to happen. It”™s less predictable.” ?
“In Chinese medical terms, it”™s bringing energy to that point” where a needle is inserted, Tyson said. The process, according to the spa owners, increases the flow of blood and lymph to the face, stimulates the production of collagen for more elastic, moist and smoother skin, eliminates puffiness by improving metabolism, relaxes stress lines and leaves one”™s face looking younger and calmer.
“I”™ve had people who have done it, who had digestive problems and that cleared up,” Tyson said. The treatment also has relieved sciatica, she said.
A cosmetic acupuncture session is about 1.5 to 2 hours and costs $150. The initial session includes a health history consultation. Ten to 12 treatments are needed “to get it deeper in, to make more of a long-lasting change in your face and body,” Tyson said.
While the acupuncture beauty business here is still at an early stage, “Every week it”™s building,” Hagen said. “I think we”™re at that point where it”™s ready to explode.”
The acupuncturist still is awaiting the arrival of one category of client.
“I haven”™t done facial rejuvenations on men yet,” she said.
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