Dr Maggie Ju Acupuncture London Chelsea, North Kensington, Notting Hill, and Richmond

Our face changes or ages when we grow older. This change starts as early as in 30’s year old. This change not only happens on the surface of the skin, but also underneath the skin surface such as muscles. The skin becomes dry, dull, wrinkles, loose and sagging; the muscles are shortened and straightened; face, corners of the eyes and mouth droop; various spots and pigmentation appear on the face. The most common places to get wrinkles on the face are the forehead, around the eyes and around the mouth. Environmental factors can speed up aging process: such as hormonal imbalance, sun exposure, smoking, stress, diet, diseases etc. can make people look older than their age. Facial acupuncture or cosmetic acupuncture is the acupuncture on the face for anti-aging purpose. Does it work? If you ask this question, you haven’t tried yet. Everyone who tried cosmetic acupuncture loved it. Recently, facial acupuncture has been introduced as an intervention for skin rejuvenation and becomes more ...

The medial line (midsagittal plane) is on the midline and the central axis of the body, dividing the body vertically into right and left haves. On the back side, the medial line starts from the sagittal suture, the midline of the head, follows the spine to the tail bone. On the front side of the body, the medial line travels down from the sagittal suture of the head, breastbone, navel, and pubic bone. The line continues between the legs down to the ground without anatomic structure. Movements within the sagittal plane are flexion and extension – forward and backward movements of the head, spine, and limbs. The sagittal suture is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint between the two parietal bones of the skull. Down to the back, the sagittal suture moves to the ligaments on the spine. The nuchal ligament extends from the external occipital protuberance on the skull and median nuchal line to the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra in the lower part of the neck. It is the...

After puberty, women usually have a regular menstrual cycle. Periods occur around the same time each month. These menstrual cycles last on average 28 days but can vary individually. However, there are many reasons why some women may experience irregular periods. Some women find that they have periods early or late in their menstrual cycle. Many medical conditions can affect women’s menstrual cycles. You need to see doctors to get it checked out if there is an underlying condition for the irregular periods. Hormonal changes can affect the periods: using hormonal contraception is a common cause. Unbalanced of the female sex hormones progesterone and oestrogen can also make your periods irregular. Stress and anxiety can also induce hormonal changes which can cause irregular periods. When the stress hormone cortisol is released by the body, it can have a direct effect on the levels of oestrogen and progesterone. Other factors cause irregular periods include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS...

Although the brain is only about 2% of the total body weight in humans, it receives 15-20% of the body's blood supply. Because brain cells will die if the supply of blood which carries oxygen is stopped, the brain has top priority for the blood. Even if other organs need blood, the body attempts to supply the brain with a constant flow of blood. The blood brings many materials including oxygen, carbohydrates, amino acids, fats, hormones and vitamins necessary for the brain to function properly. The blood also removes materials including carbone dioxide, ammonia, lactate and hormones from the brain. This function is performed by many blood vessels. The head’s blood supply comes mainly from the external and internal carotid arteries. The internal carotid artery travels up from the aortic arch just outside the heart. It travels into the brain to provide oxygenated blood to the eyes, the front of the brain, and portions of the scalp. The external carotid artery helps supply part of the...

Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction IVF and ICSI. In this process, the embryos are placed into women’s uterus for them to implant in the uterus. Embryo transfer can be done at day two, day three, or day five. Embryos are all delicate cells and they need to be in precise environment to survive. The most important environment is the uterus of course. The uterine lining (endometrium) needs to be perfect to accommodating the embryos. To assist embryo implantation, acupuncture was used around the time of embryo transfer. The most common protocol used is from a research in Germany known as German protocol. In this study, acupuncture was performed before and after embryo transfer. The acupuncture points are: Before embryo transfer, the following Acupoints were used: PC6 (Neiguan), SP8 (Diji), LR3 (Taichong), GV20 (Baihui), and ST29 (Guilai). After embryo transfer, the following Acupoints were used: ST36 (Zusanli), SP6 (Sanyinjiao), SP10 (Xuehai), and LI4 (...

Dark circles under the lower eyelids are very common. They really make you look much older than your age and make you look tired. The risk factors include Fatigue and lack of sleep: it can make the skin dull and pale showing dark blood vessels underneath and build up fluids under the lower eyelids causing shadows under the lower eyelids. Aging: aging is risk factor for those dark circles beneath the eyes. As one gets older, the skin becomes thinner and also loses the fat and collagen needed to maintain your skin’s elasticity. As this occurs, the dark blood vessels beneath your skin become more visible causing the area below your eyes to darken. Eye strain: Staring at your television or computer screen can cause significant strain one the eyes. This strain blocks the blood circulation around the eyes. As a result, the skin surrounding the eyes can darken. Dehydration: dehydration is another risk factor for dark eye circles. It makes the skin losing water and dark blood vessels would sho...

Melasma is a common skin condition of adults. It presents as brown or greyish patches of pigmentation, usually on the face. Most people get it on their cheeks, bridge of their nose, forehead, chin, and above their upper lip. It also can appear on other parts of the body that get lots of sun, such as the forearms and neck. It is more common in women, particularly during pregnancy (when up to 50% of women may be affected), so it is also called as pregnancy mask. Sometimes men may also be affected. The exact cause of melasma is unknown. For some reasons, the skin cells that produce melanin (which colours the skin) make more melanin that they should do, this causes pigmentation on the skin. Several factors can contribute to developing melasma: sun exposure, hormonal changes such as pregnancy, taking contraceptive pills, hormone replacement therapy etc. Skin affected by melasma darkens more than the surrounding skin when exposed to light. One of the most important things to prevent melasm...