What Are the Drawbacks of Beauty Acupuncture? Expected Benefits and Our Treatment

Beauty acupuncture is a treatment that applies acupuncture from Eastern medicine, passed down since ancient times, for beauty purposes, and it’s drawn attention in recent years. By placing thin needles in the face, effects like lifting, improved sagging, and better skin quality can be expected, but you may also have concerns like “doesn’t it hurt?”, “does it really work?”, and “isn’t there a risk?”
This article details the downsides of beauty acupuncture, expected benefits, and our salon’s recommended treatments.

What Is Beauty Acupuncture?

Beauty acupuncture is a treatment aimed at regulating skin and bodily condition by stimulating facial acupoints and muscles with thin needles. It’s expected to draw out the skin’s original regenerative power by promoting blood and lymph circulation and loosening tension in the expression muscles.
This technique was born from Eastern medicine wisdom with thousands of years of history. Recently, global interest in health and beauty has grown, and it’s also drawing attention in America and Europe.
Unlike ordinary acupuncture, beauty acupuncture’s major characteristic is specializing mainly in facial treatment. The needles used are also made shorter than those used on the body, and many people feel “it didn’t hurt as much as I expected.”

Are There Downsides to Beauty Acupuncture?

As with any beauty treatment, beauty acupuncture also has some downsides and precautions worth knowing. If you understand them properly beforehand, you should be able to receive treatment without feeling anxious. Here we introduce representative downsides worth knowing before receiving beauty acupuncture. If you’re considering treatment, please use this as a reference.

Bruising Can Occur

The most well-known risk when receiving beauty acupuncture is bruising. Blood vessels of various thicknesses, from large vessels to capillaries, run throughout the human body. In particular, many blood vessels run beneath the facial skin, and their position and course vary from person to person.
When placing a needle, if it happens to touch a capillary, minor bruising can occur. This is a phenomenon that’s difficult to avoid completely, no matter how carefully the practitioner performs treatment. Even if bruising occurs, it usually disappears naturally within a few days to a week, but we recommend adjusting the timing of treatment before important plans.

Depending on Needle Thickness and Number, You May Feel Pain

How pain feels varies greatly from person to person, and also changes depending on the type and number of needles used. The needles used in beauty acupuncture are much thinner than hospital injection needles, with a diameter of about 0.12 to 0.18mm.
For many people, it’s said to be rare to feel unbearable pain — usually just a “light prick.” However, depending on the practitioner’s experience and technique, discomfort can occur if a needle goes in deeper than planned, or if many needles are placed at the same spot.
How it feels also changes depending on your physical condition that day. During periods of continued sleep deprivation, accumulated stress, or before menstruation, skin becomes more sensitive, and you may feel pain more strongly than usual.

Not All Symptoms Can Be Completely Improved

No treatment can perfectly resolve every concern. Beauty acupuncture also has areas it’s good at and areas it isn’t.
Setting realistic goals leads to a more satisfying result.
A healing response can occur
Among those receiving beauty acupuncture for the first time, some feel symptoms like “somehow sluggish,” “unbearably sleepy,” or “my head feels heavy” after treatment.
This is a phenomenon called a “healing response” in Eastern medicine, considered proof that the body’s natural healing power is becoming active. As waste within the body is expelled and blood flow improves, you may temporarily feel discomfort during this process.
Post-treatment fatigue, drowsiness, mild headache, and muscular stiffness usually ease naturally within 1 to 3 days in most cases, so there’s no need to worry excessively. However, those who normally have accumulated fatigue or reduced stamina may experience a stronger response. Especially after your first treatment or when receiving it after a long gap, it’s important to spend time relaxed without overexertion.

What Benefits Can You Expect from Beauty Acupuncture?

Many of you are probably curious, “what effects does beauty acupuncture actually have?” Beauty acupuncture is a treatment that can be expected to deliver various beauty benefits by placing thin needles in the face. One of its appeals is being able to address a wide range of concerns, from lifting to improved skin quality. However, how effects are felt and how they appear vary from person to person. Here we introduce, specifically, the representative benefits many people feel.

Lifting

A representative effect of beauty acupuncture is facial lifting. With age, cheeks and the facial line gradually droop from the influence of gravity and weakened expression muscles.
Beauty acupuncture directly approaches and stimulates muscles deep within the face, promoting muscular contraction and aiming for a natural lifting effect. In particular, placing needles at acupoints around the cheekbones, temples, and jaw works to lift the whole face.
Many people feel changes like “my face feels lighter” or “my contour has become cleaner” right after treatment. Receiving continued treatment is said to let you expect an even more stable lifting effect.

Resolving Sagging

Facial sagging is mainly caused by reduced skin firmness and elasticity from aging, and decreased collagen. Beauty acupuncture is a treatment where effects are also expected for improving this kind of sagging.
Needle stimulation is thought to reach the dermis layer deep within the skin, having a function to promote collagen and elastin production. Also, giving appropriate stimulation to the facial fascia and muscles eases muscular tension and supports restoring natural firmness.
Beauty acupuncture’s appeal is also that the needle placement position can be adjusted matched to concerning areas, like under-eye sagging, cheek sagging, and looseness around the mouth. Some feel immediate results, while others gradually feel change over several treatments.

Resolving a Double Chin

A double chin is a phenomenon occurring from a combination of factors — weakened jaw muscles, fat accumulation, and poor posture. Beauty acupuncture aims to improve this troubling double chin by placing needles at acupoints under the chin and around the facial line.
Needle stimulation improves circulation around the jaw and also promotes lymph flow. This can be expected to resolve puffiness and achieve a cleaner facial line. Also, as the jaw muscles tighten appropriately, an effect where a double chin naturally becomes less noticeable is also expected.
Many people feel “my jawline has become clearer” right after treatment, and continuing is said to be expected to bring more lasting improvement. It’s especially recommended for those who spend long periods looking down, such as from excessive smartphone use.

Skin Improvement from Better Circulation

A fundamental effect of beauty acupuncture is improved skin quality through better circulation. Placing needles in the face widens the surrounding capillaries, activating blood flow.
As circulation improves, necessary oxygen and nutrients reach skin cells thoroughly, and waste expulsion also becomes smoother. As a result, skin turnover normalizes, and effects like clearing dullness for a brighter skin tone, and regulated skin texture, can be expected.
Also, as improved blood flow activates skin metabolism, improvement of fine lines and increased skin firmness and elasticity are also expected. It’s also a characteristic of beauty acupuncture that improvement matched to each skin type can be expected — increased moisture for dry skin, or regulated sebum balance for oily skin.

For Beauty Acupuncture, KADOMORI’s “Hedgehog Beauty Acupuncture” Is Recommended!

Our salon also performs a beauty acupuncture treatment called “Hedgehog Beauty Acupuncture.” Its characteristic is treatment performed matched to each individual’s expression muscle flow, making effects easier to feel. Since a lifting effect and improved sagging can be expected, if you’re curious, please feel free to contact us.

Curious About Beauty Acupuncture? Consult KADOMORI!

This article has detailed the downsides of beauty acupuncture, expected benefits, and our salon’s recommended treatments.
Beauty acupuncture’s major appeal is that a wide range of beauty effects can be expected — lifting, improved sagging, resolving a double chin, and improved skin quality through better circulation.
On the other hand, it’s important to understand there are also downsides, like bruising, pain, and healing responses.
If you’re currently curious about beauty acupuncture, please consult KADOMORI. Let’s improve your concerning points around your face together.