Today’s talk focuses on facial motor points. Last time, if you missed part one, I talked about using facial motor points for cosmetic applications. And today we are gonna be talking about so cosmetic applications like, Crow’s feet or frown lines.
Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors.Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hi, my name is Michelle Gellis and I am an acupuncture physician who teaches facial acupuncture classes internationally. Today, I will be presenting part. Two of a lecture on using facial motor points for facial concerns, and if you would please go to the first slide.
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This is a list of the different classes that I teach. They are all recorded and on my website, and today we will be going over some of the. Topics that I cover in treating neuromuscular facial conditions and some of the advanced techniques from my facial acupuncture class.
Today’s talk focuses on facial motor points. Last time, if you missed part one, I talked about using facial motor points for cosmetic applications. And today we are gonna be talking about so cosmetic applications like, Crow’s feet or frown lines. But today I am going to be talking about using facial motor points for a couple of different types of neuromuscular facial conditions, and the two that I’m going to discuss today are Bell’s Palsy and Ptosis.
But first I wanna review quickly. What is a motor point? If a muscle. Is not functioning properly. Using an acupuncture needle and putting it into the motor point of the muscle is like a reset switch and it will bring the muscle back into normal functioning. Because on our face, the skin is attached to the muscle.
Using the motor points on the face can help the face to not only look, differently getting rid of tension and wrinkles and lines and folds, but it can also help the face to function properly so that if someone has some sort of a neuromuscular facial condition, using the motor point can help to resolve that.
A motor point is different than a trigger point. A trigger point is like a knot in a muscle, whereas a motor point is, so if this is your peripheral nerve, you have your sensory nerve, and then you have your motor nerve, and the motor point is where the motor. Attaches into the muscle. It is the most electrically excitable part of the muscle where the motor nerve is attached.
The face has two nerve branches that are in charge of the functioning and the sensory of the face. So we have the trigeminal nerve, which is. The fifth facial nerve CN five, and that takes care of sensation. And also mastication, it connects to your massacre, the facial nerve which is CN seven, cranial nerve seven.
Helps the functioning of the face, so your facial expressions and also taste. So you can see the two different nerves. We have the facial nerve and the trigeminal nerve. And the trigeminal nerve has the ophthalmic branch, the maxillary branch, and the mandibular branch, and the facial nerve has five.
Branches, the temporal zygomatic, bcal, the mandibular branch, and then the cervical branches which go down to the platysma.
The first neuromuscular condition we’re going to talk about is Bell’s Palsy and. Be’s palsy is the most common cause of facial paralysis that you will find in your treatment room, that you’ll see in your treatment room typically, and it’s a disruption of the facial nerves, and it can result in facial paralysis, weakness, drooping, inability to keep the eyelid open or closed.
You can patients can get unusual taste sensations, hearing loss, ear pain and normally the symptoms get at their peak within 48 hours and can last for several weeks up through a lifetime.
Palsy is typically in Western medicine. It’s typically thought of as a result of a virus and, mostly it is seen in individuals between the ages of 15 and 60, although I have seen patients as young as two in my treatment room with Bell’s Palsy, and it usually follows some sort of a viral infection.
It is seen. In a very large number of pregnant women and Western medicine treats it with drugs such as Acyclovir. And also usually so the acyclovir is an antiviral, and then frequently they will give some sort of a steroid to help with any inflammation. So the first thing you would do is an exam protocol, and in order to ascertain which of the muscles is not.
Functioning properly. So you would look at, for example, the frontals. The way you would determine if that is working properly is you’d have your patient raise their eyebrows, close their eyes, and you’re going to be looking for any disparity between the two eyes. Have them smile, and this is going to let you know how the zygomaticus major and minor.
Functioning the orbicularis, orus, the lator muscles, and ZOS. Et cetera, et cetera. So you’re gonna go through the exam of the different facial muscles and you’re going to look for any disparity, and then you will know which muscles to treat, and then within that muscle group. Where the different motor points are, and fortunately for us, the motor points on the face, most of them are either on an acupuncture point or they’re right between a couple of acupuncture points.
So it makes it easier for us to find them because the muscle, the face does have a lot of muscles.
So the first motor point that we would use if someone could not pull their eyebrows together and frown would be the motor point for the corrugator muscle, which is just lateral to bladder two.
The next, as I mentioned the frontals that raises the eyebrows and the motor point for that is gallbladder 14. So you would treat the affected side for the orbicularis oculi. This can help with. Closing the eyelids, and that can sometimes be a problem. People with Bell’s Palsy, they have to take their eyelids shut and the motor points.
There’s two for each eye, and one is between Sania 23 and gallbladder one, and then the other is the extra point Q Hoag, which is right on the orbital Ri. It’s between stomach two and gallbladder one. The next is the motor point for the Zygomaticus major, and that is SI 18, and you’re going to needle into the muscle, but not through the muscle.
The Zygomaticus minor helps to elevate the lip and the motor point for that is between stomach two and stomach three. For the levator Labii Superioris, the motor point is between LI 20 and stomach two, and the levator labii Superioris helps to elevate the lip individually as if snarling the Tallis, is on either side of Ren 24 and it is a half soon lateral to Ren 24, and this helps to elevate and protrude the lower lip.
So in addition to ascertaining which muscles you’re going to treat. If you were treating a condition such as Bell’s Palsy, you also would want to do a full body treatment. And so you would do your TCM diagnosis and look for the pattern and treat the underlying pattern. In the case of Bell’s Palsy, it is either blood stagnation, a lung wind invasion, or a spleen chi deficiency.
And then you would do local points and motor points on the face where the person has the deficiency. In addition to any body points, posis is another neuromuscular facial condition that. You will see commonly in your treatment room, and it can affect one eye or both eyes. It’s when the eye lids are not opening fully.
Everyone has a little bit of ptosis, but it can happen as we age. Some people are born that way and for others it can happen after some sort of an injury or even an illness. And this these are different levels of ptosis. This is slight ptosis, very slight ptosis. And this is due to aging. And then this is more severe ptosis.
I already went through all of this. There are many different causes of ptosis again people, sometimes people get ptosis when they have cluster headaches and, some sort of brain injury as I mentioned injury. A brain injury, spinal cord injury can cause ptosis as well. The motor points that you would use ver posis are the orbicularis oi, and also the frontalis can help the major muscle that’s involved.
Is the levator muscle, but there is no motor point for that. There is a way to treat it with cosmetic threading techniques, but I cover that in my cosmetic classes. When you’re looking at posis of the upper eyelid, it’s either a deficiency of spleen. And kidney or and or spleen deficiency with wind phlegm or oh, I’m sorry.
Let me back up a step. The slide is confusing. The it’s either a spleen deficiency with wind phlegm. Or a deficiency of spleen and kidney. And so the, you would do your differential diagnosis based on what the symptoms are, and then you would treat the underlying symptoms accordingly, as well as using the motor points.
This is information on how to find me if you are interested in. More information. You can follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook group, facial Acupuncture and my website for all of my recorded and live classes I do teach internationally is facial acupuncture classes.com.
I wanted to say thank you for today for coming, and thank you to the American Acupuncture Council for giving me this opportunity to spend some time teaching you.
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Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors.Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hi, my name’s Michelle Gellis. I’m an acupuncture physician specializing in facial and cosmetic acupuncture classes. And today I am going to speak to you, I’m doing part one of a lecture on facial motor points. Can you go to the first slide please?
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So the title of this talk is Facial Motor Point, use for Cosmetic Applications, and in part two I’m going to talk about a little bit about facial motor points for neuromuscular facial conditions. Here is some of my publications from the Journal of Chinese Medicine. And I’ll put links up at the end to my social where you can actually view some of these publications.
And these are all the classes I teach today. The Motorpoint lecture will focus on treating neuromuscular facial conditions and some of my advanced techniques. Motor points have been used for a very long time, not just by acupuncturists. They’ve also been used by medical doctors and they. Date way back to the late 18 hundreds.
And more recently some acupuncturists and other physicians have been using facial motor points for neuromuscular facial concerns. So what is a motor point? When a muscle is either in spasm or in a flacid state. It is not firing properly, and if you take an acupuncture needle and insert it properly into the muscle’s motor point, it will cause the muscle to jump and reset it into normal function.
So this is what motor nerve looks like here. So this would be a sensory nerve going out to the skin and here’s a motor nerve going to the muscle, but in. With our face, the muscle is actually connected to the skin, so when you reset the muscle, it can help to enhance the appearance of the skin.
Now, motor points are not trigger points, mo trigger points or sore spots and muscles, but. Fortunately for us, many motor points are acupuncture points on the face. So it makes it easy for us to find them. So here’s a, just a picture of bone and muscle. And on the face, the muscle is connected directly to our skin, which is why we can move the scan.
On our face. So again, if the muscle is pulled tight, then the skin will wrinkle. So when we’re thinking of neuromuscular facial conditions, when we’re looking at the motor points, the face is innervated by two nerves, CN seven, and. Also the trigeminal nerve. So when you’re using facial motor points, they are wonderful for any conditions involving paralysis.
And what you do is you needle into the muscle, but not through the muscle. So on most of the face, you’re going to go on an oblique angle about a quarter to a half an inch into the muscle. And facial motor points will treat the muscle and the fascia, and this can help to enhance the appearance of the skin unless it’s some sort of a skin disease discoloration or a scoring.
So when might you use motor points if you’re doing cosmetic acupuncture? As someone who practices cosmetic acupuncture extensively, I always start with basic cosmetic acupuncture treatments and if they, my patient has a difficult to treat. Concern then I will use these motor points to help to enhance the effectiveness of my facial acupuncture treatment.
So here is what a face looks like as it’s aging. We have nasal labial folds, chin wrinkles. You can get loss of volume in the temples, we get lines between our eyebrows. The face can hollow, the jaw contours change. And we can get wrinkles in our chin and neck and also sagging underneath the neck.
So here would be an example of someone who’s not showing many signs of aging and then coming into their fifties, some signs of aging, and then more advanced signs of aging. So let’s talk about some specific types of wrinkles that you might see in your treatment room and when using cosmetic acupuncture motor points might be beneficial.
So one of those. Would be forehead wrinkles. And frequently an individual will have forehead wrinkles because their frontalis muscle has become very tight. And even when they feel like they’re relaxing their forehead and they’re not making an expression, the muscle itself is very tight. And the. Folds in the skin remain there.
So by relaxing the frontalis muscle, the entire forehead will relax and it will smooth out the wrinkles. Also treating the frontals can help to lift the lid, the eyebrows and also the eye lid at the same time. This was a patient of mine who came to me and she was noticing her brows were starting to descend as she was getting older, and so I treated just the left her left.
Eyebrow and I used the frontals muscle, and you can see after one treatment, when the muscle relaxed, the skin laid flat and it pulled the skin up into a more normal functioning for her.
So here we have the frontals muscle and the motor point for the frontals is fortunately for us, easy to find gallbladder 14. So if you wanted to work with the frontals muscle and the, again, the frontalis muscle wrinkles the forehead, it raises the eyebrows up and. What you would do is you would put the the needle straight in on a very slight oblique angle.
And you’re going to go into the muscle, but not through the muscle. Depending on how thick their forehead skin is, would determine how deep you have to go before you hit the muscle. So here’s a quick video. I had a patient who had Bell’s Palsy and they could not raise their eyebrows and they could not fully open their eye because of the Bell’s Palsy.
So I had put this needle in and stimulated it. And you can see the needle started moving immediately after the needle went in. And I put the needle right in the motor point. Is another example of when you might use a facial motor point would be if someone had very stubborn lines between their eyebrows, either the two or the one we call them frown lines, and we would needle the corrugator.
Muscle and the motor point for that is just lateral to bladder two. And it’s right in the corrugator muscle. The corrugator muscle pulls along with the procerus, pulls the eyebrows together very strongly,
and you would also, whoops. I have a little delay here. You would also needle the motor point for the processis, which is yin tongue, and when you’re using it as a motor point, you’re going to needle it slightly towards the nose.
Another area that. Motor points are very beneficial for is treating wrinkles in the chin. And as we age, these chin wrinkles or chin dimples can be more noticeable because the mentalis muscle and the depressor ang oris muscle, they can become. They don’t function as well. And so by doing the Le Depressor, Labi, inferior Aus and or the Mentalis and or the Depressor, angular Aus, all of these muscles are going to work together to cause that issue.
But. I’m showing you the de depressor, Labi inferiors and the motor point for that is the extra point. One soon lateral to this extra point here. And the way you. Oh. I’ll show you that in a second. And then medial to that is the mentalis and the motor point for that is a half a soon lateral to Ren 24.
So here is a video. And this was a patient, another patient who had Bell’s Palsy. And I had put the needle in the mentalis. And as you can see, when I stimulated the needle, the muscle jumped and my patient reported back to me that. The issue that she had been having with drooling when she was like brushing her teeth, she couldn’t spit she couldn’t drink through a straw and she had Bell’s palsy many years prior.
But still in this one side, she had issues.
Lip wrinkles can be treated very effectively with facial motor points. We would needle the motor points around the orbicularis orus, and there’s two of them on each side of the mouth. One is LI 19, and then the other one is between stomach four and Ren 24. So it’s like right here. Some other uses for facial motor points would be points on some of the muscles pertaining to the levator muscles and the oculis oculi.
So the lator muscles in the face, on the cheeks. Will if they’re not functioning properly, along with some of the tendons and other things, but can contribute to the nasal labial folds, the motor point for the rezos. If you treat that, it can help. With the little marionette lines, there are motor points for the neck that can help with the necklace lines and the neck bands.
And then there are motor points around the eyes, which I go over all of the motor points on the face in my classes. But there’s motor points around the orbicularis oculi that can help with crow’s feet. In part two of this lecture, I will go over facial motor point usage to treat neuromuscular facial conditions like Bell’s Palsy, Ramsey Hunt Syndrome, TMJ Hemi Facial Spasm, and others.
If you’re interested in checking out my classes, you can go to facial acupuncture classes.com and my social is for Instagram, it’s Michelle Gillis and Facebook. You can look up my Facebook group, which is facial acupuncture. Thank you so much.
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So the topics we are going to cover today are facial motor points. Facial cupping and Gua Sha and derma rolling and protocols for treating specific conditions.
Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors.Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hi, my name’s Michelle Gellis. I am an acupuncture physician practicing in sunny Florida, and today I am going to do a presentation. This is part two of a two part. Presentation on an overview of treating neuromuscular facial conditions. I teach a two-day class on this subject, and I am going to be presenting some of the highlights for you today.
So if we can go to the first slide.
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So the topics we are going to cover today are facial motor points. Facial cupping and Gua Sha and derma rolling and protocols for treating specific conditions. In part one, I went through, Scalp, acupuncture and submuscular needling as some techniques that can be used to help with neuromuscular facial conditions such as Bell’s palsy, trigeminal neuralgia, TMJ, stroke, Ms.
Myasthenia Gravis, ptosis, and others. And today I’m going to touch on a couple of other techniques plus, um, some protocol specific conditions. So the first is facial motor points. And facial motor points. I’m sorry, motor points are, places in a muscle where if you needle them, it acts like a reset switch for the muscle.
So if the muscle is in spasm and it’s lost its ability to function properly, or if the muscle is overly tense or overly relaxed, if you needle into the motor point. It acts like a reset switch and it will bring the muscle back into normal functioning. And motor points are not trigger points or source spots.
And Chinese medicine, we call them Ashi points, but motor point is where the nerve bundle actually enters. Muscle. And fortunately for us, many motor points on the face are actually acupuncture points. So an example of a facial motor point are the. Facial motor points for the mentalis and the mentalis muscles are on either side of, uh, Ren 24.
And what they do are they help to elevate and protrude the up the lower lip like this, and they can also wrinkle the skin of the chin. Like that, and they are a half a soon lateral to Ren 24. And here in the picture you can see I put little diamonds to delineate where they are and where the muscle is.
And you would needle through the skin into the muscle, but not through the muscle itself.
Here is a very short video. I was teaching a cosmetic acupuncture class and in my cosmetic acupuncture class I was doing a demonstration and of cosmetic acupuncture, and my student mentioned that she had Bell’s Palsy many years previously. And as a result, she had lost some of the inability on one side of her face to purse her lips.
And if she, uh, she couldn’t whistle, if she brushed her teeth, uh, she would have trouble spitting ’cause she could only . Do this on one side, drinking through a straw was difficult, and so in addition to doing some of the cosmetic points I put in the motor point for the mentalis and this is what happened.
So you can see as soon as I put the needle in her chin started to twitch, and then once I stimulated it, the muscle really started to fire, which was very interesting. And she reported back to me that after that treatment, some of the issues that she had been having had resolved themselves. So motor points can be very beneficial when in with conditions wherein your patient, it has lost motor function of one of the muscles on the face.
And this is really apparent with the face because. On our face, the skin is directly connected to the muscles, which is why we can move the skin on our face without having to actually move a muscle. I’m sorry. We can move the skin on our face without having to move a joint or a ligament or tendon.
All we have to do is move the muscle and the skin moves.
aNother technique that can be used to help with neuromuscular facial conditions is utilizing facial cupping and guha. Now, facial cupping and guha has many similarities to the cupping and sha that you would use on the body, but you would use specialized tools that are designed for the face.
And you don’t wanna leave any marks on the face or neck when you are practicing. The facial cupping in Gua will bring blood and cheese circulation to the muscles, which will help with muscle movement. Brings qi and blood to the skin, which helps with . Cosmetic conditions and can also help if the fascia is very tight.
If there are fascial adhesions, it can help with that and . Any nerves that have become entrapped in facial tissue or within the fascia, it can help to release them. Facial cupping helps to move out stagnant lymph fluids, toxins. And if your patient has rosacea or any discoloration of the skin, facial cupping can be very beneficial for that.
And lastly, it helps to strengthen the vascular integrity of the face, increasing the blood flow, and helping with both neurological and muscular conditions of the face. So this is what fascia looks like and. Nerves will run through the fascia and they can become entrapped. Within the fascia. So using tiny facial cups and, uh, special oil that’s designed for cupping for the face, you can stimulate
The cup, the facial acupuncture points. You can glide the cups. You can stimulate the points again, and then you can use these xs symbolize a suctioning and releasing down the SCM under the clavicle into the lymphatic system. And this can really help, as I mentioned, with all of these different skin conditions.
And with facial guha, you’re actually taking specialized tools. These are jade, guha stones that are used to break up fas adhesions, stimulate acupuncture points and increase blood flow in the face. So here is a demo. This is a very abbreviated, demo a little facial cupping in Guha. I am a licensed board certified acupuncturist, and today I’m going to be demonstrating how to do facial cupping and guha.
The first step is to do a lymphatic drainage. Just ask your patient to turn the head to the side. And you’re going to start behind the ear and you’re going to work your way down and across underneath the clavicle times. I start right around Triple Energizer 17. Work my way down. right down the SCM. Now, it’s important when you’re doing this to not drag the cup down the neck or up the neck.
You’re gonna be using a suctioning and releasing until you get to the clavicle, and then you go right underneath the clavicle lung. Two area three movements that we’ll do. One is . A kind of a, like a dragging of the cup. So you would suction the cup and then move it and release it. Another one is a suction and release and just on a point.
And the other is would be like here where you’re dragging the cup. So sometimes you drag, sometimes you suction. And drag, and sometimes you just suction depending on where you’re working, like five and six, seven, and get right on up to stomach eight, just like this and up like that. guHa tools that I like to use are
Shaped like thickly, do both sides of the face at once. Whereas with the cupping, I just do the one side and then the other side, I just showed you the one side. With the gua, I do both sides of the face simultaneously, it feels better for the patient sides of the tool, and you’re really gonna sculpt the jawline, massaging acupuncture points along the way.
So stomach four. Stomach five and then coming along just like that. It’s a great way to help with the saggy gels. You can end with a little massage on small intestine 19 and work on the cheeks, and you can sculpt up this way and this way, and then get right into large intestine 20. And into stomach three, out to small intestine right here.
And bring the tools out, do gallbladder too. So essentially everything you’ve done with the cups, you are reinforcing with the guha tools and it can look like this and like this, and it feels really great. . foR your patients, it helps to break up any fa fascia that might be tense and really just those gels that might be sagging.
All the fat that falls down here, you can really move it back up.
I am. So again, this was just a little I am brief overview. I. I teach individual classes on cupping and guha, cosmetic, acupuncture, neuromuscular and all of these are brought together to help, to nourish the skin, the muscles, the nerves on the face. This is these are the tools that . I was using in my demo.
It’s a cupping and guha kit. It comes with glass cups and these jade guha tools. And there’s instructions, um, on the box and under the box. And there are also video instructions that come with it. And, you can learn about all of this@facialacupunctureclasses.com. Derma Rolling is another really wonderful tool.
So the nice thing about the cupping sets is these can be sold to your patients and you can teach your patients how to do self-care at home. In between. Treatments. So if they come to see you, if they can only come in to see you once a week, this is self-care for your patients. And some of my students have even put together little classes for their patients and their patients come and they learn how to use the tools in a group environment, which is fun for them.
But moving on to derma. Rolling. Derma rolling Is . A very effective tool for reeducating the connection between the skin and the muscles and the nervous system. If people have had long-term neuropathy, any sort of nerve damage. Sometimes you can, do some scalp acupuncture or work with the motor points, but this is another level of stimulating both the channels on the face so you can work right along the stomach channel, small intestine gallbladder, large intestine, any of the.
thE zong has meridians on the face. You can roll the roller to wake, not just the points up, but the entire channel. Plus, you’re stimulating the skin, which works in conjunction with the way the brain works. And these aren’t that much different than those . Barrel channel rollers that we might use on the body, but these have tiny needles and they are medical grade, so
These come in 0.5 millimeter or 1.0 millimeter in length, and they’re, you just roll them very gently on the skin. And I sell these to my patients so that they can self-treat at home once I teach them how to use it. And they all come with directions and video demos also. Okay, so Bell’s Palsy is a.
Probably the most common cause of facial paralysis that you will see in your treatment room. And it is typically a temporary condition and it is a result of a disruption of the function of the facial nerve, which is CN seven. And this prevents the messages from the brain. To the muscle, which causes muscle weakness and paralysis, and there can be a multitude of symptoms, uh, pain, neuropathy, muscle weakness.
Hearing loss taste sensations changing, um, changes in smell, vision, eyelids drooping, um, discomfort or pain in the jaw. And, uh, lots and lots of issues. And, but very much on a cosmetic level and typically. People will get this between age 15 and 60, but certainly I’ve seen patients as young as two and as old as 70, um, in my treatment space and the Western medical treatment is acyclovir.
Or an antiviral drug and then a steroid. And it is believed in western medicine that it is from a virus. And in Chinese medicine, we believe usually it is from a wind condition, wind, heat, usually, which affects the face. . the protocol for the exam is you would ask your patient to raise their eyebrows, close their eyes, tightly smile, puff out their cheeks.
If the orbicularis Aus has been affected, or the rosaro, if they try to puff out their cheeks when they close their lips, only one side will puff out and the other side arrow will come out. And smiling frowning. Show your lower teeth. Show your upper teeth. These are going to help you to isolate which muscles have been affected and then you would treat accordingly.
As I had mentioned wind, a wind condition, also blood stagnation or spleen sheet con deficiency. These are, uh, three different . Conditions from a TCM perspective that can, um, cause Bell’s Palsy. And for body treatments on everyone, I’m going to do LI four and stomach 36, and then I will treat the underlying.
dEficiency or stagnation or excess, whatever’s going on. And then I would do local. Points on the face, depending on what has been affected. aS I talked about last time, you can use scalp, acupuncture, ear chen, men, and point for the face. You can do motor points based on which muscles have been affected.
Facial cupping and Gu Shaw definitely to help bring energy into the muscles. Derma rolling . and you want to see the patient. I tell my students at least twice a week three times as ideal, but the more the better when you’re talking about treating a Bell’s Palsy patient. So this was a patient of mine and she had come in right after she was afflicted with Bell’s Palsy and I did an exam on her.
Closed her eyes. Okay. And as you can see, she could not close her right eye at all, and there is no movement in the right side of her face. And I actually misspoke. She had Bell’s Palsy for a while. She was past the point where the doctor said she would get any better and and so I treated her close for about six weeks and we were just starting to get some movement going.
Dry brow, close, dry. So you can see now she’s able to close her eye. nOt a lot of movement on the right side of her face yet the lower part, but she was able to close her lips a little bit. . It really requires patience and and time, but. iT’s just some information about my classes that I teach.
I do have an advanced certificate course, which is comprehensive. All of my classes carry CEUs. They’re all self-paced, recorded. And then you would, um, or can come for a two-day hands-on class. It’s included, but it is not required. And I do monthly live mentor sessions. That is the end of my presentation.
Here’s information about my social media. You wanna follow me on social, and I would like to say thank you to the American Acupuncture Council for this opportunity to present today. I. .
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Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors. Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hello everyone, my name is Dr. Shellie Goldstein. I’m here in Florida. Today’s lecture is called Fascia. So thank you so much to the American Acupuncture Council for allowing me to be here today and presenting this topic to you. So let’s go to the slides.
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One of the things that has become very obvious to me these days is the synergy of Eastern and western medicine. And I do firmly believe that integrating eastern and western medicine in today’s healthcare system is both multifaceted effort. It’s on both of our parts, Eastern and western practitioners.
It requires collaboration, education, research, and certainly cultural sensitivity. And when we are able to perform these responsibilities the potential is enormous for both patients, but also . For us as well for the patients. It provides a broader range of treatment options and more personalized care.
And then when we as eastern medicine practitioners begin to understand Western medical concepts we find that not only do the patients benefit, but we do as well because recognizing and understanding these parallels of each of those systems can . Absolutely lead to an enhanced professional collaboration and improved patient care, which is so important today because as Eastern medicine practitioners, this is our time.
This is our time to join Western medical practitioners in an integrative care modality to Bri be to improve the quality of healthcare and to bring forward. A much broader range of treatment options for both the patients and the practitioners as well. That is what brings me to this topic of fascia.
I am obsessed with fascia these days. Fascia is the glue that’s holding us all together. It’s the, from a modern anatomical and physiological. peRspective we see it both as fascia from a Western medical perspective, and in our world as Eastern medicine practitioners, we see it as the concept of Jji or the Sinu channels.
And when we talk about Jji, what we’re talking about is the network of pathways related to both . Muscles, tendons, and all of the other connective tissue that keeps us connected in the body. One is fascia. From a Western medical perspective, it’s a form of connective tissue. It contains collagen fibers, Alaskan fibers, and what we call ground substance.
And so ground substance is what keeps it all together, keeps it nice and moist. So you think about . Fascia is this tactile network of tissue that both surrounds every muscle organ, vessel bone and nerve fiber. But it also connects the horizontal planes from bone to the surface of the skin. So it surrounds and protects, but it also connects and it’s three dimensional.
As you can see of this image, it moves back and forth. It provides the structural integrity, the stability, and the flexibility of our body to move and be fluid in its movement. And it also allows us to move in a multi-directional and multi-dimensional plane so that we, our fluids are, our movements are nice and fluid.
One muscle doesn’t move and then mu another independently find the movement of another muscle so that there’s this schism of muscle contraction. But it’s that fluid movement that allows us to move through the different multi-dimensional planes upward, downward, inside outward, and then running through these planes.
Of fascia are nerves, and in that sense, not only do we have movement, but we have sensation. There are so many nerve endings or nerves that run through the fascial planes that it is almost as sensitive as touch on the surface of our skin. That’s how sensitive and acute our fascial system is. It is both affected by internal muscle activity and external, say, gravity and movement.
And so as these systems come into play, both our muscle contractions and the weight of external bearing systems, uh, it allows that transmission and that dispersion. Of that through the neck fascial network and then also through its visel properties. It helps to move us in one direction or another. So for example, if someone holds onto your arm and pulls, it’s not just your arm muscle that’s gonna pull, but your whole body is going move along with that.
With that pull or with that movement to compensate both movement in one direction and stabilize that movement in ano in another direction. And when we have our body moving in ni in a nice fluid system such as the fascial system, it actually helps to minimize the amount of energy that’s utilized throughout each singular or connected movement.
Fascia protects the integrity of the body and helps prevent or minimize local stress within a specific muscle joint or a bone. For example, if you have tightness in say, one area, it the ability for the fascial network to move and to break through that tightness allows the body to minimize that local stress.
Also to absorb that localized stress and move it through the body to release that, that tension or that stress. Think of it as the Terminator, right? Think of the Terminator Revisited. I. Think of what if the Terminator was just an individual subset of parts and there was this gap filler, this structure that was stayed in, in, in the, in those empty spaces and it just
Filled the space. That’s not what fascia is. Fascia is actually what we’ve been talking about. That ability for this entire elastic contractual signaling, whole body signaling network to move the body in a very fluid dynamic and structure so we can run faster, jump higher, and be more efficient in our movements.
There are multiple types of fascia. There’s superficial fascia. That’s what’s on the surface of our body, and it’s a very loose layer. It’s very wet, and it is made up of fat. Adipose tissue collagen and elastin fibers, and that ground substance or hyaluronic acid keeps that superficial fascia nice and loose and sticky so that its job is to actually attach the superficial and horizontal planes so that you get this smooth.
Flow between the different horizontal layers so that there’s no friction or tension. Its job is more to stabilize and connect these structures, whereas deeper fascia, I. Has much more fibrous and its job is to cover the different structures, bones, muscles, nerves, and vessels, and protect ’em. So it’s job is to actually absorb contraction.
There. If the body, say for example, if you start to fall, the fascia that surrounds the different muscles and tissues will contract right before you, you fall. In order to support the muscles and contain those muscles. So the difference being that the deeper fascia is protective, it’s contracting and it holds everything together, whereas the superficial is more of a connection, so it connects the different layers together.
aLso deep fascia has receptors that signal the sensation of pain, right? You land hard when you fall, and the body absorbs that shock. Feels that sensation sends it to the brain to signal the brain that something is occurring in that particular area, and then the brain can respond accordingly. And then deep deep into the pockets or the cavities of our body.
We have the visceral and the parietal fascia, and again, these are more loose, connective air, irregular tissue. That’s sub, that has that fat and that liquid hyaluronic acid in it and its job is to surround and protect the internal organs. The visceral fascia surrounds the organs and the AAL cavity, the lungs and the heart, whereas the parietal fascia lines the wall area of the pelvis.
Now what’s interesting and what’s most relevant for the conversation that we’re having today is the relationship between what we’re calling myofascial slings. So the myofascial slings are different planes that work together to create mobility and stability. So they are dense bands, as you can see, the superficial front sling, the superficial back sling, the lateral swing, the.
Spiral and the deep front swing. They’re bands that run from the back to the front of the body, shoulder to the contralateral hip, and their job is to play an int integral role in coordinating con control, coordination and control movement sequencing, and the integration or the kinetic movement that involves the transfer of force.
From the upper to the lower aspects of the body and extremities. So think of them as the slings that support and allow movement of the body. What’s interesting for us is these slings are ve are directly related to what we call our gene gen or sinu channels. These are not the Jing low. These are the sinu or muscle channels that are described separately from the jingo.
So the Jing gin channels incorporate the Sinu channels, the channel sinus, the muscle meridians, and the muscle conduits, or tender muscular meridians. They’re found in Theen. In Theen Chapter 43. It says that whey or defensive chi is formed from food or drink. It cannot travel within the vessels, but flows between the skin and the muscles.
It circulates through the chest and remains outside of the channels and vessels. Now Ma, Chicha then takes this information and combines it with the information that’s found in chapter 13 of the Ling Shoe. He says that the connective tissue of the limbs is either muscle or sinew in Chinese medicine.
Fascia in limbs, sinus, or muscles are both called gin. Therefore, muscle gin is the muscle channels inclusive of fascia, cartilage, tendon, and ligaments. And then he says that they’re discussed in chapter 13 of the Ling Shoe called Jin Gin Channel like muscles or muscles of the channels. And then in the link shoe in chapter 13.
The reference that he’s referring to is the statement that the pathology of sinus cause pain, tightness, and fla, acidity, and even impairs movement. So again, there’s this correlation of this band that we call Jji that is specific to movement and the coordination of muscle and tendon movement within the body.
And also founded by the research of Helen l Langevin at the University of Vermont. She suggests an overlap between fascia and the traditional Chinese medicine concept of channels or collaterals. Now she combines Jing Jin and Jing Lo. But ’cause what she’s saying is that she and her colleagues notice that the insertion and the attachments of the muscles and fascia create cleavages or lines that pull like the grain of in wood.
And then she says that the, there are many acupuncture points that lie directly over that area in these fascial cleavages, where the sheets of fascia diverge to separate, surround and support the muscle bundle, similar to the deeper fascia that we’ve been referring to. And then according to Langerman, the yang chi is said to flow in those spaces between the organs, the bones, and the flesh.
Now what’s fascinating is we, as our, and when we think of our Jji channels, we have CH 12 channels, six paired channels, the Ang Sinu, the Young M Sinu, the Young Chao tie in Cha Andan Sin Channels. If you look at the trajectory of those channels, they’re very similar to the fascial slings. So you can see them in, in this image is the similarities be between them.
But then if you look at this image, you can actually see the direct correlation between the specifics of the slings and the superficial lines of the sinu channels. So you see the superficial back and the urinary bladder channels are very similar. The frontline and the stomach channel are, have overlapping similarities.
And then the deep back arm line, the small is correlates with the small intestines in new channel and the hearts in new channel. The superficial back arm line corresponds with the. Triple burner sinu and the large intestine senu channel. And then if you look in the similarities between the lateral line and the gallbladder senu channel, they’re almost identical.
And then again, through the deep front line. We see overlapping correspondences between the liver sinu channel, the kidney sinu channel, the spleen sinu, and the spleen sinu channel. And then again, lastly, the deep front arm line corresponds to the lung sinu channel and the heart sinu channel. And the superficial front arm line is very similar to the pericardium Sinu channels.
So you can see that the planes of these channels very much o overlap with one another. So when we compare the similarities between Jing, Jin, and Fascia, we see that from a conceptual and anatomical and functional perspective, there are certain parallels between the Jji and Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
And that the myofascial system can be observed in their roles as connective tissue networks that support connect and influence body movement. And even though they’re described differently in our medical frameworks, they both recognize the importance of these pathways in maintaining health, um, both in terms of structural support.
In Chinese medicine, we see them in terms of our . Our support, movement and stability of the skeletal system we see in Chinese medicine, the concept of pain and dysfunction are attributed to our blockages or imbalances in the flow of Q and blood. And we know that from our Jing Jinen meridians, they’re thought to be responsible for the smooth circulation of vital energies.
And when there’s an obstruction in the sinew channels, it can lead to musculoskeletal problems, pain, and a decreased s ability to provide support to the body. And then we see the very similarities in Western medicine and western an anatomy. Same recognition of connective tissue that envelops impacts the muscles, the organs, the blood vessels, the nerves and other structures, and that same three dimensional network or support system throughout the body.
And similarly, I. When there are obstructions or disturbances in the myofascial slings in the fascial system, it leads to musculoskeletal problems, pain, and a decreased ability to provide structural support. We also see that similarity in the ability of the Jing gin and fass that. To movement and mechanical transmission.
So the gene gin acts as a conduit for smooth flow of chi and blood throughout the body and supporting that movement. Where is in western medicine, it’s the fascia that facilitates that smooth mood and colliding action. Between the adjacent structures we see there’s this interconnection. So we see in Chinese medicine, we understand that connection between everything, that continuous flow of chi and blood through the meridians and the vessels that are believed to nourish and support the organs and the tissues.
And we also understand that blockages or imbalances in this flow lead to health problems. And then we also correlate that interconnection integration by understanding the com, the emotional component of both pain, but also trauma into those jji affecting the specific organ system separately. Although the JJI does not necessarily refer to the organ systems, we know.
That there is an interconnection and integration in all the body parts with the deeper senses of emotion in our being. And then in Western medicine they think of this interconnection and integration more in terms of movement. But again, we all recognize the emotional component of it. . And then there’s the understanding of the parallel between gin and fascia in terms of pain and the perception of pain.
So we know from our functional MRI studies in that acupuncture’s ability to influence the brain’s activity in regions associated with pain perception, motor control and mood regulation. And we know . That acupuncture has been shown to activate the release of pain relieving endorphins. By modulating these pain perceptions we can, with acupuncture, we can reduce pain, improve mobility, and ease emotional related discomfort.
The same with in Western medicine, they may not use acupuncture, but there is that innate understanding that fascia contains sensory receptors, propria receptors, and neuro. No e receptors at which contribute to the somatic sensation appropriate adoption. In our Chinese medicine, we see pain in terms of B syndrome and we, and from our understanding of the gene gym, they’re not, although they’re not related to individual organs we do know that they.
Pain itself is what flows through the concept of pain or what we call B or painful obstruction syndrome. Pain, soreness, numbness of the muscles and tend tendons and joints. Rose runs through our Jing gym and we know that acupuncture improves and accelerates that flow of QE and blood within the Jing Gen to alleviate B syndrome, ands, restore proper function.
Now, although the a Jing Jin does not have acupuncture points, those acupuncture points lie along the Jing low. But we know that the Jing Jin and the Jing Low run in parallel. So we use the Jing low points. In order to affect the Jing, Jin Meridians and classical treatment strategies will include primarily we think of the Jing well points.
We also know that there are those four meeting points that are organized, the channels, and regardless of there being an arm, a leg or re or upper or lower uh, we know that CV three. Is for the three Li in channels small intestine. 18 for the three young channels. . Stomach eight or GB 13, depending upon the source for the three young channels of the arm and gallbladder 22 for the three yin channels of the arm.
And we also have realized that those anatomical locations of these specific points are similar to the histological nodes and convergent points of different myofascial planes. So there’s a another correlation there. In terms of treatment, we generally use the ASHI points, or those are the points when you palpate someone and they go, ah, , those are our Ashi points.
trIgger points. Those are those discreet local, hyper irritable spots along a band. So although the pain may be felt in a different area, it’s the, that one trigger point is the referral pain that accompanies this musculoskeletal discomfort. Or we use motor points. And motor points are the site where the motor nerve first pierces the muscle belly.
It’s also known as the MEP of the motor nerve point. And so those are those are the points that are very, a little bit larger in diameter. They carry a greater quantity of motor and sensory sensations and so those are great points for treatment as well. Other forms of treatment include cupping, are guhan.
So let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. Here’s a case study, and this is a hypothetical case study of a 47-year-old male patient presenting with a three-year history of plantar fascitis. He complains of excruciating sharp burning pain on the soles of his feet that would come and go.
The right foot was worse than the left and the right hamstringing. Lower back sous and medial head of the gastric Venus were very tight, and then that pain and upon palpation extended to the medial head of the area of the kidney. Now the patient said that he was not aware of any other physical or digestive disturbances, but upon palpation what we find is that, or are looking at his tongue and pulse, that his pulse was wiring and deep in the both proximal positions and tongue pale with red tips.
So what does that tell us? It tells us that although we are treating. The pain it through the jji. And in our situation, given this case study, this is the T Young Sinu channel or what we call the superficial backline from a Western medical perspective. But we also can tell that from his tongue and from his pulse that he has a little bit of underlying kidney deficiency.
So we’re gonna treat the stagnation in the bladder meridian of the TA Yang Sinu channel. That’s our primary treatment. We may support the kidney treat deficiency because as Chinese medicine practitioners, we’re always looking for that under root cause, but the primary treatment. Is the stagnation and the taang sinu channel.
The treatment is to resolve that stagnation in the bladder meridian of the taang channel and then all, and then to the secondarily, we’re gonna nourish kidney chii and chi and blood of the kidneys. So these are points that we might use that would support both the Tay Young Sinu channel treatment and then supporting the underlying kidney deficiency.
And from a Western perspective, what they were gonna do is a very similar thing. So Mo you see a lot of these points. Bladder 40, 60, 56, 57. 67, 37 all are along the bladder meridian, and then we are supporting . The underlying systems with kidney six, liver three, and spleen six. But as a western medical practitioner treating the back line, what I would do is use trigger points or different types of treatments to pressure with pressure to release the that medial gastric muscle so the patient gets treated, he comes back.
A week later are reporting that a significant reduction and there’s a significant reduction in his pain along the under sole area. But he still has some tight calves and a little bit of tightness in the right hip, which would make sense by looking at both the back sling and the CNU channel. So the next two treatments.
We’re going to incorporate the following points, gallbladder 29 34, and these are designed to release the tights around the hips. Again, we’re treating that sling or that’s sin new channel. And then after three treatments, his musculoskeletal problems significantly improved and he was able to mean. Remain pain-free by regular home care treatment.
And then if he were to go for physical therapy or western treatment, they would do a similar thing. They would treat, continue to treat that medial gastric ne emus area with including the antola lateral zone of the leg and the pelvis. So you see the similarity there. With us treating the channels and then in western medical treatments, the slings.
So there’s a lot of overlap here. And again, going back to the similarities of who we are, both from Eastern West and the importance of understanding. Both the Eastern and Western I do believe that we’re in the right time right now to be able to bring the eastern western medicine together and to make a huge difference and improve the health of our patients by offering a lot more opportunity and options.
So thank you so much for today’s presentation. Thank you to the American Acupuncture Council for allowing me to be here. It’s always a pleasure. And have a wonderful day and take care of those slings. All righty, take care. Bye. .
of Eastern and western medicine. And I do firmly believe that integrating eastern and western medicine in today’s healthcare system is both multifaceted effort. It’s on both of our parts, Eastern and western practitioners.
It requires collaboration, education, research, and certainly cultural sensitivity. And when we are able to perform these responsibilities the potential is enormous for both patients, but also . For us as well for the patients. It provides a broader range of treatment options and more personalized care.
And then when we as eastern medicine practitioners begin to understand Western medical concepts we find that not only do the patients benefit, but we do as well because recognizing and understanding these parallels of each of those systems can . Absolutely lead to an enhanced professional collaboration and improved patient care, which is so important today because as Eastern medicine practitioners, this is our time.
This is our time to join Western medical practitioners in an integrative care modality to Bri be to improve the quality of healthcare and to bring forward. A much broader range of treatment options for both the patients and the practitioners as well. That is what brings me to this topic of fascia.
I am obsessed with fascia these days. Fascia is the glue that’s holding us all together. It’s the, from a modern anatomical and physiological. peRspective we see it both as fascia from a Western medical perspective, and in our world as Eastern medicine practitioners, we see it as the concept of Jji or the Sinu channels.
And when we talk about Jji, what we’re talking about is the network of pathways related to both . Muscles, tendons, and all of the other connective tissue that keeps us connected in the body. One is fascia. From a Western medical perspective, it’s a form of connective tissue. It contains collagen fibers, Alaskan fibers, and what we call ground substance.
And so ground substance is what keeps it all together, keeps it nice and moist. So you think about . Fascia is this tactile network of tissue that both surrounds every muscle organ, vessel bone and nerve fiber. But it also connects the horizontal planes from bone to the surface of the skin. So it surrounds and protects, but it also connects and it’s three dimensional.
As you can see of this image, it moves back and forth. It provides the structural integrity, the stability, and the flexibility of our body to move and be fluid in its movement. And it also allows us to move in a multi-directional and multi-dimensional plane so that we, our fluids are, our movements are nice and fluid.
One muscle doesn’t move and then mu another independently find the movement of another muscle so that there’s this schism of muscle contraction. But it’s that fluid movement that allows us to move through the different multi-dimensional planes upward, downward, inside outward, and then running through these planes.
Of fascia are nerves, and in that sense, not only do we have movement, but we have sensation. There are so many nerve endings or nerves that run through the fascial planes that it is almost as sensitive as touch on the surface of our skin. That’s how sensitive and acute our fascial system is. It is both affected by internal muscle activity and external, say, gravity and movement.
And so as these systems come into play, both our muscle contractions and the weight of external bearing systems, uh, it allows that transmission and that dispersion. Of that through the neck fascial network and then also through its visel properties. It helps to move us in one direction or another. So for example, if someone holds onto your arm and pulls, it’s not just your arm muscle that’s gonna pull, but your whole body is going move along with that.
With that pull or with that movement to compensate both movement in one direction and stabilize that movement in ano in another direction. And when we have our body moving in ni in a nice fluid system such as the fascial system, it actually helps to minimize the amount of energy that’s utilized throughout each singular or connected movement.
Fascia protects the integrity of the body and helps prevent or minimize local stress within a specific muscle joint or a bone. For example, if you have tightness in say, one area, it the ability for the fascial network to move and to break through that tightness allows the body to minimize that local stress.
Also to absorb that localized stress and move it through the body to release that, that tension or that stress. Think of it as the Terminator, right? Think of the Terminator Revisited. I. Think of what if the Terminator was just an individual subset of parts and there was this gap filler, this structure that was stayed in, in, in the, in those empty spaces and it just
Filled the space. That’s not what fascia is. Fascia is actually what we’ve been talking about. That ability for this entire elastic contractual signaling, whole body signaling network to move the body in a very fluid dynamic and structure so we can run faster, jump higher, and be more efficient in our movements.
There are multiple types of fascia. There’s superficial fascia. That’s what’s on the surface of our body, and it’s a very loose layer. It’s very wet, and it is made up of fat. Adipose tissue collagen and elastin fibers, and that ground substance or hyaluronic acid keeps that superficial fascia nice and loose and sticky so that its job is to actually attach the superficial and horizontal planes so that you get this smooth.
Flow between the different horizontal layers so that there’s no friction or tension. Its job is more to stabilize and connect these structures, whereas deeper fascia, I. Has much more fibrous and its job is to cover the different structures, bones, muscles, nerves, and vessels, and protect ’em. So it’s job is to actually absorb contraction.
There. If the body, say for example, if you start to fall, the fascia that surrounds the different muscles and tissues will contract right before you, you fall. In order to support the muscles and contain those muscles. So the difference being that the deeper fascia is protective, it’s contracting and it holds everything together, whereas the superficial is more of a connection, so it connects the different layers together.
aLso deep fascia has receptors that signal the sensation of pain, right? You land hard when you fall, and the body absorbs that shock. Feels that sensation sends it to the brain to signal the brain that something is occurring in that particular area, and then the brain can respond accordingly. And then deep deep into the pockets or the cavities of our body.
We have the visceral and the parietal fascia, and again, these are more loose, connective air, irregular tissue. That’s sub, that has that fat and that liquid hyaluronic acid in it and its job is to surround and protect the internal organs. The visceral fascia surrounds the organs and the AAL cavity, the lungs and the heart, whereas the parietal fascia lines the wall area of the pelvis.
Now what’s interesting and what’s most relevant for the conversation that we’re having today is the relationship between what we’re calling myofascial slings. So the myofascial slings are different planes that work together to create mobility and stability. So they are dense bands, as you can see, the superficial front sling, the superficial back sling, the lateral swing, the.
Spiral and the deep front swing. They’re bands that run from the back to the front of the body, shoulder to the contralateral hip, and their job is to play an int integral role in coordinating con control, coordination and control movement sequencing, and the integration or the kinetic movement that involves the transfer of force.
From the upper to the lower aspects of the body and extremities. So think of them as the slings that support and allow movement of the body. What’s interesting for us is these slings are ve are directly related to what we call our gene gen or sinu channels. These are not the Jing low. These are the sinu or muscle channels that are described separately from the jingo.
So the Jing gin channels incorporate the Sinu channels, the channel sinus, the muscle meridians, and the muscle conduits, or tender muscular meridians. They’re found in Theen. In Theen Chapter 43. It says that whey or defensive chi is formed from food or drink. It cannot travel within the vessels, but flows between the skin and the muscles.
It circulates through the chest and remains outside of the channels and vessels. Now Ma, Chicha then takes this information and combines it with the information that’s found in chapter 13 of the Ling Shoe. He says that the connective tissue of the limbs is either muscle or sinew in Chinese medicine.
Fascia in limbs, sinus, or muscles are both called gin. Therefore, muscle gin is the muscle channels inclusive of fascia, cartilage, tendon, and ligaments. And then he says that they’re discussed in chapter 13 of the Ling Shoe called Jin Gin Channel like muscles or muscles of the channels. And then in the link shoe in chapter 13.
The reference that he’s referring to is the statement that the pathology of sinus cause pain, tightness, and fla, acidity, and even impairs movement. So again, there’s this correlation of this band that we call Jji that is specific to movement and the coordination of muscle and tendon movement within the body.
And also founded by the research of Helen l Langevin at the University of Vermont. She suggests an overlap between fascia and the traditional Chinese medicine concept of channels or collaterals. Now she combines Jing Jin and Jing Lo. But ’cause what she’s saying is that she and her colleagues notice that the insertion and the attachments of the muscles and fascia create cleavages or lines that pull like the grain of in wood.
And then she says that the, there are many acupuncture points that lie directly over that area in these fascial cleavages, where the sheets of fascia diverge to separate, surround and support the muscle bundle, similar to the deeper fascia that we’ve been referring to. And then according to Langerman, the yang chi is said to flow in those spaces between the organs, the bones, and the flesh.
Now what’s fascinating is we, as our, and when we think of our Jji channels, we have CH 12 channels, six paired channels, the Ang Sinu, the Young M Sinu, the Young Chao tie in Cha Andan Sin Channels. If you look at the trajectory of those channels, they’re very similar to the fascial slings. So you can see them in, in this image is the similarities be between them.
But then if you look at this image, you can actually see the direct correlation between the specifics of the slings and the superficial lines of the sinu channels. So you see the superficial back and the urinary bladder channels are very similar. The frontline and the stomach channel are, have overlapping similarities.
And then the deep back arm line, the small is correlates with the small intestines in new channel and the hearts in new channel. The superficial back arm line corresponds with the. Triple burner sinu and the large intestine senu channel. And then if you look in the similarities between the lateral line and the gallbladder senu channel, they’re almost identical.
And then again, through the deep front line. We see overlapping correspondences between the liver sinu channel, the kidney sinu channel, the spleen sinu, and the spleen sinu channel. And then again, lastly, the deep front arm line corresponds to the lung sinu channel and the heart sinu channel. And the superficial front arm line is very similar to the pericardium Sinu channels.
So you can see that the planes of these channels very much o overlap with one another. So when we compare the similarities between Jing, Jin, and Fascia, we see that from a conceptual and anatomical and functional perspective, there are certain parallels between the Jji and Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
And that the myofascial system can be observed in their roles as connective tissue networks that support connect and influence body movement. And even though they’re described differently in our medical frameworks, they both recognize the importance of these pathways in maintaining health, um, both in terms of structural support.
In Chinese medicine, we see them in terms of our . Our support, movement and stability of the skeletal system we see in Chinese medicine, the concept of pain and dysfunction are attributed to our blockages or imbalances in the flow of Q and blood. And we know that from our Jing Jinen meridians, they’re thought to be responsible for the smooth circulation of vital energies.
And when there’s an obstruction in the sinew channels, it can lead to musculoskeletal problems, pain, and a decreased s ability to provide support to the body. And then we see the very similarities in Western medicine and western an anatomy. Same recognition of connective tissue that envelops impacts the muscles, the organs, the blood vessels, the nerves and other structures, and that same three dimensional network or support system throughout the body.
And similarly, I. When there are obstructions or disturbances in the myofascial slings in the fascial system, it leads to musculoskeletal problems, pain, and a decreased ability to provide structural support. We also see that similarity in the ability of the Jing gin and fass that. To movement and mechanical transmission.
So the gene gin acts as a conduit for smooth flow of chi and blood throughout the body and supporting that movement. Where is in western medicine, it’s the fascia that facilitates that smooth mood and colliding action. Between the adjacent structures we see there’s this interconnection. So we see in Chinese medicine, we understand that connection between everything, that continuous flow of chi and blood through the meridians and the vessels that are believed to nourish and support the organs and the tissues.
And we also understand that blockages or imbalances in this flow lead to health problems. And then we also correlate that interconnection integration by understanding the com, the emotional component of both pain, but also trauma into those jji affecting the specific organ system separately. Although the JJI does not necessarily refer to the organ systems, we know.
That there is an interconnection and integration in all the body parts with the deeper senses of emotion in our being. And then in Western medicine they think of this interconnection and integration more in terms of movement. But again, we all recognize the emotional component of it. . And then there’s the understanding of the parallel between gin and fascia in terms of pain and the perception of pain.
So we know from our functional MRI studies in that acupuncture’s ability to influence the brain’s activity in regions associated with pain perception, motor control and mood regulation. And we know . That acupuncture has been shown to activate the release of pain relieving endorphins. By modulating these pain perceptions we can, with acupuncture, we can reduce pain, improve mobility, and ease emotional related discomfort.
The same with in Western medicine, they may not use acupuncture, but there is that innate understanding that fascia contains sensory receptors, propria receptors, and neuro. No e receptors at which contribute to the somatic sensation appropriate adoption. In our Chinese medicine, we see pain in terms of B syndrome and we, and from our understanding of the gene gym, they’re not, although they’re not related to individual organs we do know that they.
Pain itself is what flows through the concept of pain or what we call B or painful obstruction syndrome. Pain, soreness, numbness of the muscles and tend tendons and joints. Rose runs through our Jing gym and we know that acupuncture improves and accelerates that flow of QE and blood within the Jing Gen to alleviate B syndrome, ands, restore proper function.
Now, although the a Jing Jin does not have acupuncture points, those acupuncture points lie along the Jing low. But we know that the Jing Jin and the Jing Low run in parallel. So we use the Jing low points. In order to affect the Jing, Jin Meridians and classical treatment strategies will include primarily we think of the Jing well points.
We also know that there are those four meeting points that are organized, the channels, and regardless of there being an arm, a leg or re or upper or lower uh, we know that CV three. Is for the three Li in channels small intestine. 18 for the three young channels. . Stomach eight or GB 13, depending upon the source for the three young channels of the arm and gallbladder 22 for the three yin channels of the arm.
And we also have realized that those anatomical locations of these specific points are similar to the histological nodes and convergent points of different myofascial planes. So there’s a another correlation there. In terms of treatment, we generally use the ASHI points, or those are the points when you palpate someone and they go, ah, , those are our Ashi points.
trIgger points. Those are those discreet local, hyper irritable spots along a band. So although the pain may be felt in a different area, it’s the, that one trigger point is the referral pain that accompanies this musculoskeletal discomfort. Or we use motor points. And motor points are the site where the motor nerve first pierces the muscle belly.
It’s also known as the MEP of the motor nerve point. And so those are those are the points that are very, a little bit larger in diameter. They carry a greater quantity of motor and sensory sensations and so those are great points for treatment as well. Other forms of treatment include cupping, are guhan.
So let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. Here’s a case study, and this is a hypothetical case study of a 47-year-old male patient presenting with a three-year history of plantar fascitis. He complains of excruciating sharp burning pain on the soles of his feet that would come and go.
The right foot was worse than the left and the right hamstringing. Lower back sous and medial head of the gastric Venus were very tight, and then that pain and upon palpation extended to the medial head of the area of the kidney. Now the patient said that he was not aware of any other physical or digestive disturbances, but upon palpation what we find is that, or are looking at his tongue and pulse, that his pulse was wiring and deep in the both proximal positions and tongue pale with red tips.
So what does that tell us? It tells us that although we are treating. The pain it through the jji. And in our situation, given this case study, this is the T Young Sinu channel or what we call the superficial backline from a Western medical perspective. But we also can tell that from his tongue and from his pulse that he has a little bit of underlying kidney deficiency.
So we’re gonna treat the stagnation in the bladder meridian of the TA Yang Sinu channel. That’s our primary treatment. We may support the kidney treat deficiency because as Chinese medicine practitioners, we’re always looking for that under root cause, but the primary treatment. Is the stagnation and the taang sinu channel.
The treatment is to resolve that stagnation in the bladder meridian of the taang channel and then all, and then to the secondarily, we’re gonna nourish kidney chii and chi and blood of the kidneys. So these are points that we might use that would support both the Tay Young Sinu channel treatment and then supporting the underlying kidney deficiency.
And from a Western perspective, what they were gonna do is a very similar thing. So Mo you see a lot of these points. Bladder 40, 60, 56, 57. 67, 37 all are along the bladder meridian, and then we are supporting . The underlying systems with kidney six, liver three, and spleen six. But as a western medical practitioner treating the back line, what I would do is use trigger points or different types of treatments to pressure with pressure to release the that medial gastric muscle so the patient gets treated, he comes back.
A week later are reporting that a significant reduction and there’s a significant reduction in his pain along the under sole area. But he still has some tight calves and a little bit of tightness in the right hip, which would make sense by looking at both the back sling and the CNU channel. So the next two treatments.
We’re going to incorporate the following points, gallbladder 29 34, and these are designed to release the tights around the hips. Again, we’re treating that sling or that’s sin new channel. And then after three treatments, his musculoskeletal problems significantly improved and he was able to mean. Remain pain-free by regular home care treatment.
And then if he were to go for physical therapy or western treatment, they would do a similar thing. They would treat, continue to treat that medial gastric ne emus area with including the antola lateral zone of the leg and the pelvis. So you see the similarity there. With us treating the channels and then in western medical treatments, the slings.
So there’s a lot of overlap here. And again, going back to the similarities of who we are, both from Eastern West and the importance of understanding. Both the Eastern and Western I do believe that we’re in the right time right now to be able to bring the eastern western medicine together and to make a huge difference and improve the health of our patients by offering a lot more opportunity and options.
So thank you so much for today’s presentation. Thank you to the American Acupuncture Council for allowing me to be here. It’s always a pleasure. And have a wonderful day and take care of those slings. All righty, take care. Bye. .
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So today’s lecture topics are I’m going to define a neuromuscular facial condition. I’m going to talk a little bit about the theory behind a multifaceted approach, and then I will talk about submuscular needling and scalp acupuncture.
Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors.Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hi, my name’s Michelle Gillis. I am an acupuncture physician practicing in Florida, and today I am going to be speaking to you about treating neuromuscular facial conditions. This is part one of a part two presentation. First slide, please.
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So this is just a little bit about me. I am a former faculty member of the Maryland University of Integrative Health, and I am currently on the doctoral faculty at Yo Sound University, and I. I have been teaching facial acupuncture classes internationally since 2005. Here are some publications that I have completed in the Journal of Chinese Medicine.
So today’s lecture topics are I’m going to define a neuromuscular facial condition. I’m going to talk a little bit about the theory behind a multifaceted approach, and then I will talk about submuscular needling and scalp acupuncture.
So a neuromuscular facial condition is any group of disorders which can cause weakness or pain on one or both sides of your face, you might lose the ability to make facial expressions have . Pain, difficulty eating, drinking, speaking clearly. You can have ear pain, you can lose your sense of taste, smell, it can affect your eyes, your vision.
And you can also have the inability to sense heat or cold or be very sensitive to the heat or cold. What I have discovered over many years in practice is that using a multifaceted approach to treating these conditions, because some of them can be very difficult to treat, and using a multifaceted approach, can yield a more effective treatment than just using one of these modalities or the other.
Some examples of neuromuscular facial conditions is are Bell’s palsy, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, posis of the eyelids, and this can be one eyelid or both eyelids, synkinesis, which is when you’re trying to move one. Part of your face, but another part moves involuntarily. The side effects of a stroke TMJ Trigeminal Neuralgia multiple sclerosis, and there are many others I.
Part one and two of this presentation represents about an hour of what is usually a two-day class that I teach on treating neuromuscular facial conditions.
So the interesting thing about our face is that our face is the only part of our body where the skin is connected directly to the muscles, which is what gives the. Our ability to move the skin on our face without having to move any bones or ligaments or tendons. So here we have an example. We have skin, and then we have muscle.
And as you can see it, the skin is connected directly to the muscle and then down to the bone.
For example, here is a cross section of a part of the cheek, and you can see the skin and then the fat, and then the fascia and invested inside of this fascial layer is the muscle, and then there is deeper fascia and there is the facial nerve.
When treating the face, there are several things that’s, that are important and you wanna make sure you are increasing the blood flow to the area. I. Increasing the qi to the area and also if there’s any fossil adhesions that exist, that you can break these up because all of this can affect how the face moves and the sensations that we feel.
By using a technique called submuscular needling. In some instances it’s intramuscular needling, but submuscular needling can increase the flow of blood and QI to the area can help to break up any fascial adhesions. And if you are thinking in terms of . Cosmetic benefits. It can also stimulate collagen production to the area.
There are several muscles on the face, head and neck that are really conducive to this submuscular needling approach. And they are the auricular muscles, the temporalis muscle, the platysma, the masseter, the anterior digastric. The frontal, the proces, the corrugator, and the levator muscle. We are only gonna speak about a couple of those today.
And the using submuscular needling is part of this. Multifaceted approach. So in addition to Submuscular needling, we’re also going to talk today about scalp acupuncture, and then next time facial motor points, facial cupping and guha and derma rolling.
So here is another cross section of the face. And as you can see, the facial nerve is invested in this it’s called the SMA layer. It is the superficial muscular AERA system, and the nerve can become entrapped. And when that happens the signal that gets to the muscle, which in turn goes out to the skin, which moves the skin on our face, moves, the muscles in our face can become compromised.
So the first muscle I wanna talk about for Submuscular needling is the frontals and. The frontals muscle goes on either side of the eyebrows. There’s one head on one side of the eyebrow and one on the other. And what you would do is you would take, typically I do half inch needles and I would needle underneath the muscle.
And this is what it looks like here.
So when needling the frontals muscle, the way that you isolate the muscle is you ask your patient to raise their eyebrows. Go ahead and raise your eyebrows, okay? And then relax and you can find the border of the frontals muscle and the way that you needle. Is you’re going to go from the origin to the insertion.
So the origin is up here and the insertion is here.
And typically what I do is I will put in. Usually three needles
on the lateral edge, and I will put in two needles. On the medial side, and when you’re needling, what’s important is that the angle of the tube is the angle that the needle’s gonna go in. So if you go like this, it’s going to go too deep. If you go this is going to be too shallow, I use. My thumb or a finger to help to guide the needle.
So you wanna keep your fingers out of the way when you’re actually inserting. That way you can get to the correct depth right underneath the muscle. That’s the lateral side. Then you’re going to do the medial side, and usually two needles. Will suffice and I do the one side and then I do the other side and I’m using half inch needles.
You can use one inch needles depending on how big your patience forehead is.
The next muscle group. That I’m going to demonstrate for submuscular needling is the temporalis. So the frontalis is used to raise the eyebrows, and it’s also indirectly involved in raising the eyelids, the temporalis muscle, which is a large. Very thin, fan shaped muscle that’s on either side of the skull and it also goes in front of the ear.
It helps us with our chewing and it helps to, so it helps to elevate the jaw and it can be involved with conditions like TMJ. It can also cause head. Pain. If it is too tight, it can be involved in trigeminal neuralgia because nerves can become entrapped underneath the temporalis. I. And this is what this looks like.
So here’s the temporalis muscle, and what you would do is take needles and put them all around the outside of the temporalis. And I have a video for that as well.
So for the temporalis muscle. The idea is to find the outline of the muscle and it tends to be a very large muscle. It runs all the way from the back of the skull all the way around the front of the face. And you’re literally going to take the needles and you are just gonna work your way around.
The entire line of the muscle, and depending on how tolerant your patient is you can use, you can really thread like 20 of these into this area. I’m just doing a little demonstration here I want you guys to get an idea of what this looks like. And it doesn’t really matter which direction you’re going in.
What matters is that you’re getting, again, underneath the muscle and that you’re working your way all around the perimeter of the muscle in order to relax it. And they should have a nice little circle around. A muscle when you’re done, and this will really help to relax the temporalis muscle if they have TMJ.
Pretty much anything that affects the face. The temporalis muscle helps to pull the face up. I use this technique sometimes and facial rejuvenation when I teach my facial rejuvenation classes because the temporalis muscle can really lift up the face. I’m just gonna do one more again. I’m using serum one inch.
Needles. So that’s what that looks like.
So for the temper, the next. Technique that I use when I’m treating neuromuscular facial conditions is scalp acupuncture. Now, scalp acupuncture can be used and it is used traditionally to treat a multitude of. Conditions, everything from phantom pain to speech issues, to inability to move a body part.
But when I use and teach scalp acupuncture, it involves issues concerning the face. So when we when we would incorporate scalp acupuncture. We could use this in conjunction with submuscular needling or as a standalone technique, so any conditions that involve the face scalp, acupuncture can be very effective.
I. Especially when you’re dealing with a condition like trigeminal neuralgia where it’s very painful to needle directly onto someone’s face, you can use scalp acupuncture and this will treat the face without having to directly put needles in the person’s face. So here we have a cross section of the scalp.
We have the skin, we have the close connective tissue, and this is very heavily vascularized with lots of nerves. Then we have the aosis. Right below that is the loose connective tissue, and this is where you would want to insert the needle. Right below that is the perran and that is the skull. The good news is that when you’re trying to find the right depth to needle, if you just go down as deep as you can along the bone.
Then ’cause it, you, it is impossible to put an acupuncture needle through someone’s skull bone. You can needle right along the bone and if you get into the loose connective tissue, it will not be painful. If you go into the close connective tissue, you’re going through vessels and nerves, and it can be very painful.
So the thing that can be the most important thing to learn when you’re learning scalp acupuncture is how to measure. So the, you’re basically going to, these are not acupuncture points. These are areas of the. Scalp that affect different areas of the brain. And the way you measure is you’re going to get your horizontal and vertical planes, and then you will find the area of treatment based on that.
So the first landmark is from the glabella to the occipital protuberance, and the glabella is at the midpoint. Of you’re gonna get to the glabella is between the eyebrows and you’re gonna measure back to the occipital perturbance. And this will give you your line this way. And then you are going to find the midpoint, and that is the midpoint of the midline.
And if you go a half a centimeter. Behind the midpoint, that is where you’re going to be drawing a line. Right here. So you’re going to find the midpoint of the eyebrow and also go back to the occipital protuberance. And when you go back 0.5 centimeters, you’re gonna draw a line that intersects just like this, and you’re gonna break this up into three sections.
So the lower two fifths. Is this is where you would needle for concerns of the face? The upper extremities is the . Middle two fifths and then the upper one. Fifth is the lower extremities. So the lower extremities are the legs, the spine, the trunk, and the neck. And the upper extremities is just the arms and the hands.
And this bottom two fifths is the face. So this is the area that we would want to needle.
The technique for needling looks like this.
When you’re needling the scalp, it’s important to angle the needle properly so that it goes into the loose connective tissue. I like using a tube. You can freehand if you’d like, but I find that the tube helps me to guide the needle to the correct depth. I tap the needle in, remove the tube, and then I use my free hand to guide the needle
if the needle is improperly. Your patient should not feel any pain. So you’ll know that you’re into the loose connective tissue. If your patient doesn’t have any pain, when you needle, once the needle is in, you stimulate it gently for 30 seconds just like this. Or you can use electricity.
So that concludes our lecture today. So we covered Submuscular needling and we covered scalp acupuncture. Next time we are going to talk about facial motor points, facial cupping, GU Shaw, and derma rolling, and then some protocols for specific conditions. And I look forward to seeing you next time.
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Acupuncture Malpractice Insurance – Hyaluronic Acid: The Key to Hydrated Youthful Skin
Hyaluronic acid is a natural. Substance found in the body. It’s present in large concentrations in the skin where it helps keep complexion hydrated. And plumped, we hear about hyaluronic acid a lot in our social media and regular world today.
Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors. Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.
Hi, my name is Dr. Shellie Goldstein. I am here today from Florida. We are going to talk about hyaluronic acid and I wanna thank the American Acupuncture Council for allowing me to give this very exciting presentation today. So let’s go to the slides. Hyaluronic acid, the KE to hydrated youthful skin.
And for those of us in Florida, this is very important, but it’s also important for everybody as you’re about to see, what is hyaluronic acid? Hyaluronic acid is a natural. Substance found in the body. It’s present in large concentrations in the skin where it helps keep complexion hydrated. And plumped, we hear about hyaluronic acid a lot in our social media and regular world today.
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What you may or may not know about hyaluronic acid is it’s a humectant. And what is a humectant hum? A humectant is a protein or a substance that actually draws moisture from the environment, whether it’s from the air or from the water or wherever you are. So it takes it in from the environment and through the skin into the deeper layers of the tissue, what we call the dermal layer and below.
And a , like I said, is a substance that has the ability to attract and retain moisture. Similar to a sponge. Just you put a sponge in water, it just soaks it up and it holds onto it, and that’s what hyaluronic acid does. As we age our body, like other substances in our body, we begin to produce less and less of it.
So what happens? We start to dry out. Our skin looks dry, our tissues get dry. We get fine lines and we can get skin wrinkles. When we think of the body, let’s start with the anatomy of the face. You have the bone, which is your solid core structure of your face, layered and horizontally. On top of that is our layer of muscles.
Then we have fat and we have skin, and what keeps everything together, it both separates, but it also joins all of the horizontal tissues of the face and the rest of the body is connective tissue or fascia. It’s like a web, as you can see in, in the image. It’s just this woven web that holds everything together in place, but it also holds the individual tissues in place as well.
The primary components of fascia are collagen. So collagen is the integrity and the support system of this tissue. It’s like the mattress. It’s gives you the support, gives you the volume of that you need and see in your skin tissue. Whereas the next in protein is elastin. Elastin isn’t so much volume, but.
It allows that snapback. So if you take your skin and you lift it, and you drop it, elastin is what you need in order like that rubber to snap back into place once you lift and let it go. And then there are fibroblast cells, or small protein. That when stimulated is what produces collagen or what stimulates the production of collagen in the fascia.
It also affects many immune and inflammatory responses, and it’s very important for wound healing as we’re gonna learn in a few minutes. And then there’s hyaluronic acid. It’s the moisture this . Substance that bathes all of the other proteins, the collagen, the elastin, the fibroblasts, and other cells that are in this area, what we call the extracellular matrix.
Hyaluronic acid is in the image, is this a little red line and it has a surrounding it, what we call protio glycans and protio gly cancer. What attracted those water molecules to the hyaluronic acid? It is so effective that hyaluronic acid molecule can hold up to 10 a thousand times of its molecular weight and water, which makes it responsible for th up to 30% of the skin’s national natural moisture retaining ability it has.
So here’s . Hyaluronic acid strand and then attached to what are bound to the hyaluronic acid are protio, glycans, and protio. Glycans are what the water molecules attach to, and you can see it in this area. In the lower image, you can see the hyaluronic acid and green, the protio glycans are those little
Feathers that stick out from the hyaluronic acid. In red, elastin and collagen that woven matrix of different colors of blue. So all of these are in fascia and in the what we call the extra cellular. Matrix in the face, hyaluronic acid is primarily located in the dermal layer of the skin, which is the second layer of the skin.
And we’ll look at this for a minute, and it’s found throughout. This matrix is found throughout loose connective tissue of the superficial layer of the skin. Below the deep layer of fascia, and it’s generally found in places aside from the skin, in places that are moist, like the oral cavity, the cartilage of the nasal structure and blood vessels, and in the mucosa membranes of the face here, although the structure of fascia layers varies across different areas of the phase.
Here we see it where the stars are. So the very top layer of skin is the epidermis. It’s what we see when we look at someone else, when we look in the mirror. And then just below the epidermis is the derma layer, and this is the true health of the skin. So the surface is the surface layer, the epidermis, and just below it is what we call the dermis.
And this is where we see most of the hyaluronic acid, the extracellular matrix, and all of the nutrients and proteins that keep cells nice and healthy. And then underneath that we have the superficial Retin Macular Cuts fibrous. And those are not horizontal. They’re vertical structures like ligaments that hold those horizontal structures in place.
I. Below that, we have a fat layer, which gives our skin plumpness. And then below that we have the superficial fascial membrane. And this membrane actually attaches the above layers to the below layers, another layer of ligaments. And then we have another layer of fascial membranes, which don’t have as much hyaluronic acid, but because of that, underneath it as an entire layer of hyaluronic acid or extracellular matrix.
And then we have the lining of the muscles epimysium and then the muscles themselves. So this is lining, you can see multiple layers of hyaluronic acid, which keeps this entire tissue layering nice and hydrated, nice and wet, so that things slip around and slide more effectively. So in acids, the benefits of hyaluronic acid are that keeps skin nice and plump.
When skin is nice and plump and hydrated, it minimizes wrinkles and fine lines. There are many different types of wrinkles. I’m talking about wrinkles at this. Moment that are related to skin dehydration, it increases skin elasticity and slide remembering that the elasticity is the elastin or the snap back in our skin tissue, and that all of those, that proteins need to stay wet.
In order to work effectively. And then also remembering that wetness allows those horizontal planes to slide back and forth. When we don’t have enough hyaluronic acid in our skin, we get dry. It gets irritated and then you start to see facial redness, irritation, even to the point where you have skin breakouts and dryness.
Like eczema and psoriasis. And then also remembering that we have fibroblasts in that extracellular matrix. And so without that wetness or moisture we have difficulty having our wounds heal. So hyaluronic acid and providing that moist environment helps the fibroblasts development and assisting assist in wound healing.
And here’s an example of this. So in terms of the integrity of hyaluronic acid, you see the image on top. You have tissues that need hyaluronic acid to lubricate and enhance the movement of those adjacent cells. That slide that we were talking about and then without. Hyaluronic acids are changes in that production from either age or other trauma, that type of thing.
We start to lose the production of hyaluronic acid, which leads to skin dehydration, loss of firmness and elasticity, wrinkling, and then again those horizontal planes. What happens if . You don’t have moisture. They get sticky and tight and so things, the lows, layers just can’t move independently of one another.
And that’s when you start to get fascial binding. And there are many ways to improve hyaluronic acid. One is acupuncture. When we are needling to improve the skin layer, so it’s very superficial layers of the tissue we’re not gonna place the needle perpendicular. Why? Because then you go towards the bone area.
We need to go into that superficial tissue. So we’re gonna angle the needles at a 15 to 20 degrees. Relative to the surface of the skin. So for us as facial acupuncturists, we tend to use intramurals more because you can slide them at an angle as opposed to going deeper in, into the tissue and missing it heading into the muscle layers.
So we will use very superficial needling to stimulate the skin to produce more collagen, in which case the, and the hyaluronic acid elastin all of the proteins that are found in that extracellular matrix in order to improve skin elasticity, plumpness, and texture. And then also we use needling.
Anytime you roll or create a, an, and a little channel by puncturing the skin. It allows product or whatever it is on top of the skin to move into those deeper layers of the skin. So we use it. Same microneedling is a very popular treatment that we use. And facial acupuncture. So it’s a number, like a plum blossom, a lot of superficial needles in one small area, and then you rub product into the surface of the skin.
So by superficial needling, we’re creating tiny little channels in the skin that make it easier for topical products, including hyaluronic acid, serums, or creams. To penetrate into the deeper layers through the epidermis, into the germal layer and below, and this will enhance the absorption and the effectiveness of whatever product we’re using.
And then that combination of superficial needling and hyaluronic acid, whether it’s in the form of a serum or a cream, can enhance the skin, make nice and plumb, make it smoother, more even toned with reduced fine lines, wrinkles, and even scarring it at ate layers. When we think about hyaluronic acid and topical products we think of it either as a serum or a cream or a mask. Another conversation, at another time, which I promise I will deliver here. And so we’ll use these products that contain dosages of hyaluronic acid and they go into the surface of the skin and directly moisturize the, those deeper layers and superficial layers.
Their job is to retain water. So again, the protio glycans on the hyaluronic acid proteins bring water into the tissue or wherever the hyaluronic acid sits to improve the skin plumpness and reduce the appearance of fine line and wrinkles. So it’s immediate hydration. You put the product on the moisture, it attracts the moisture and plumps the surface of the skin.
Depending upon the product and depending upon the depth of penetration, if it’s sitting on the surface of the skin, this product, then it’s gonna bring moisture to the surface of the skin, and if you can press it through the deeper layers. Say with the addition of superficial needling, then it actually goes into the tissue below the germal layer, and then it has longer lasting results.
Hyaluronic acid, because it’s naturally produced in the body, in its pure form, it’s very safe to use. Sometimes people will get a reaction to a product and any product which could result in irritation or redness or itching. In most cases, it’s not the hyaluronic acid that’s actually causing the irritation.
I. But it’s other ingredients in the product. Products are made of multiple ingredients. Sometimes an ingredient doesn’t agree with your skin, particularly if you have very sensitive or sensitized skin, and so you may develop some redness. It’s usually not the hyaluronic acid, although if you discontinue it and try a different product with a different formation, it may or not.
When we think of derivatives of hyaluronic acid, we think of them in terms of molecular weight. So all proteins, all ingredients, particularly in the skincare world, are have a certain weight and that’s measured in dass. So a compound. So in its raw form, say hyaluronic acid in its raw form, because it’s raw, it has a very high molecular weight.
Which means that it has difficulty pressing into the surface of the skin. So it remains on the surface to pre and remembering that the hyaluronic acid is, and the proteoglycans are actually gonna pull the water to the place of the hyaluronic acid. So if it’s a high molecular weight, it’s just gonna sit on top of the skin.
It can’t get through the skin, so it’s gonna remain on the surface. And where does the water go on the surface? So it’s going to create a protective film that prevents water from actually evaporating. So it’s gonna keep the moisture that’s in the skin in, and it’s going to put water on the top. So it’s actually going to give you a tightening effect because it’s a locking moisture in.
So it’s gonna look plump, but it’s gonna feel a little tight. For deeper penetration, particularly in skincare world, we look at different forms, say the hydrolyzed, which actually breaks it down a little bit and allows the hyaluronic acid to split into smaller fragments, and that’s usually less than a thousand to 1800.
Das. And so this allows that product to penetrate a little bit deeper into the surface of the skin. So again, drawing that water a little deeper through those tissues. There’s another form, sodium hyaluronic, and this is the salt of the hyaluronic acid that’s used and it’s good for stability when you think of cells.
And molecules that penetrate through the cell wall. Salt is one that actually go, is small enough to go back and forth and back and forth through the cell walls, which is where you want the moisture. And so another form the form of the alkaline foreign sodium hyaluronate is oftentimes used in cosmetic formulas, allowing it to penetrate a little bit deeper into and through the epidermis into this.
Skin area, the deeper layers. And this is actually a, gives you a visible effect of plumpness from underneath the skin surface as opposed to on top of the surface. There are two new forms of hyaluronic acid that are being used right now, sodium hyaluronic cross polymer, and this is even a lower molecular weight than the salt version, and it’s crosslinked to form.
A molecule that is a little bit higher molecular weight, but passes through that barrier quickly. And it’s it’s very interesting because it’s gives you the stability of a hyaluronic salt acid but also the humectant properties of a more superficial, so it’s covering both the surface and a little bit deeper and then to go most deeply or the deepest into the skin.
Is the the new sodium ated Hyaluronate and acetyl hyaluronate is it’s new. And what’s fascinating about this form is that this ingredient or this formulation of hyaluronic acid actually can penetrate into the skin three times. Much deeper, which allows for three times more water and absorption than ordinary hyaluronic acid.
And it keeps it in, it locks it in so that it stays longer. So it’s great for aging skin, dehydrated skin, or people say who live in the desert or in dry climates or even in the winter when you tend to lose a lot of moisture on the surface over your skin from cold. It also inhibits the release of MMP one, which is a degradation of collagen, immature skin.
Skin and it’s also used to help protect the skin from the UV rays and environmental pollution. So it’s lookout for that one. It’s new. It’s coming up and I think it’s gonna. Be really popular. It’s used to reduce crows free and the nasal labial fold of the skin, the wrinkles that run from the corner of the nose to the corner of the mouth.
And keep an eye out. I think it’s gonna be very popular in upcoming formulations of skincare. What’s interesting is this research study, it’s a randomized control trial of the efficacy of cream-based hyaluronic acid at different molecular weights. And this. They’re using water bound hyaluronic acid at a weight, a molecular weight.
So three different weights, 51, 3300, 802,000. That’s more than three, isn’t it? It’s five. And so they applied it around the eyes. 76 female patients between the ages of 30 and 60 years for 60 days. So they measured at 30 and 60 days. And what they, so one eye, they used this cream and then the other at different molecular weights.
And they used placebo on the other side. And then they were taking objective measurements. So they used a semi-automatic morph photometry meter in order to demonstrate the changes, the objective changes. What they did is the measurements were wrinkled depth. They, and then they also compared the size or the amount of change that occurred at 360 days.
And the 60 day measurement, what they concluded was the application of a 0.1% hyaluronic formulation was made significant changes in both skin hydration and elasticity, but they also found that the lower the molecular weight. The more effective it was. So again, going back to those cross pollinations or breakdowns of combined hyaluronic acid products that are coming up, they’re designed to both break down the acid, the hyaluronic acid, into very small, low molecular weights in order for it to penetrate through the skin more effect effectively and efficiently.
The other, another very important way to get hyaluronic acid into your skin is through your diet. So a diet rich in nutrients that support hyaluronic acid production can help improve the health and appearance of your skin. Key factors related to improving hyaluronic acid or getting hyaluronic acid through your food and diet.
A water. Drink as much water as you can. And that will help keep hyaluronic acid functioning properly. And then nutrients to consume are foods high in vitamin c, e, and magnesium to help produce and support the synthesis of hyaluronic acid. So these vitamins help synthesize it, water helps to keep it functioning.
And then antioxidants, such as fruits and vegetables. They actually protect that hyaluronic acid from breaking down. And then collagen rich foods and supplements can support hyaluronic acid by promoting skin elasticity and hydration. So you will need to have nutrients like vitamins C and magnesium to build or synthesize it.
You need antioxidants to help it from breaking down. And then drink plenty of water in order to support or maintain the functioning properties of hyaluronic acid. And then you want to promote, help, promote and support that hyaluronic acid by promoting skin elasticity and hydration by taking collagen rich foods or supplements.
And then here’s a research study. This is a 12 week double blinded placebo study, and 12 weeks is about right because when we talked about the epidermis and the dermis, skin cells start at the base of the dermis and make their way up to the epidermis so that you, what you visibly see. It takes about 30 days to, to migrate up from the cells, from the base of the dermis all the way up to the surface.
So 12 weeks is three rounds of improved production of hyaluronic acid in that germal layer in order to visibly see a difference in the epidermis. After 12. So in this study, this double-blind placebo controlled study, they were using daily hyaluronic acid, 120 milligrams, and it was from High Best.
It’s a company in Tokyo. Taken daily for 12 weeks in 40 healthy Asian men and women ranging in the age of 35 to 64, and they evaluated objective measurements of wrinkles and the stratum cornea water content. That’s the surface of the skin. The amount of transepidermal water loss, that’s through the tissues.
Elasticity and they looked at imaging analysis so that they were objective measurements rather than just asking the people. How do you feel? So this was actually a measurable controlled study. I. After 12 weeks, they noted that skin condition was significantly improved in terms of wrinkle assessment, stratum, cornium, water contact, transepidermal, water loss, and elasticity.
So they concluded that. It makes a difference. What’s very interesting is remembering that when you were applying hyaluronic acid to the surface of the skin, you wanted a low molecular weight. In this one, what’s interesting is another 12 week period they were looking at the benefits of hyaluronic acid.
Applied orally. They did a similar study, 60 Japanese male and females aging, 22 to 59 years old, presenting with crows free and wrinkles. And then they were assigned hyaluronic acid at a me molecular weight of two 300 and 300. Again, 120 milligrams of hyaluronic acid. Now what was so interesting about this.
Is again measuring the skin wrinkling by imaging analysis and skin condition, and that was from a questionnaire survey. Here’s what they found is during that study period, what they found is that the higher molecular weight at 300 K group showed significant, a higher significant. Change in terms of diminishing wrinkles and compared with the placebo group.
So both worked at two and at 300, but the conclusion is that the 300, the higher molecular weight. Worked better. Why? Now? This is a good question. So think about this. If you are applying it to your skin, then those molecular, then the hyaluronic acid molecules have to get through the skin. However, if you’re eating them or ingesting them orally, it has to get through the digestive tract and get absorbed in the digestive.
To track. So when you break them down, a higher molecular weight has more of it. So you actually get a higher delivery of the product as opposed to topically when you can’t a higher molecular weight, it’s not gonna get through. So it’s just gonna sit on the top. So situation, you want a lower one. So I hyaluronic acid is great and.
It just depends how you do it. Whether you stimulate it with acupuncture, you ingest it, or you apply it topically. And so the benefits are really not just the hyaluronic acid but the delivery system. Low molecular weight for application on the surface of the skin topical application, and a higher molecular weight.
When you ingest it, so read your ingredients, read the package you want around a 300 molecular weight of 300 k if you’re gonna consume it, and you’re gonna want a smaller, safe five to 50 if you are going to apply it topically. So if you want more information about hyaluronic acid, I actually will be giving a presentation about tissue and DA fascia at the upcoming Pacific Symposium.
Here’s more information about it, and that’s it. So thank you very much. I appreciate your time here, and I hope you enjoyed this and learned a lot. Again. Thank you American Acupuncture Council for allowing me to present today. .
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