Since ancient times, acupuncture has been used to treat ailments. Now, there is beauty acupuncture.

Acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practice, is well known for treating illnesses by the insertion of needles at specified sites of the body. Many people here go for such treatment for ailments such as arthritis and back pain.

Now, people are also turning to the acupuncturist for aesthetic matters such as skin problems, weight management and hair loss.

Ms Qiau Tien Ru, a senior acupuncturist at the National University Hospital's acupuncture clinic, said that in TCM, obesity problems result from an imbalance within the body caused by the malfunctioning of the 'spleen and liver systems'.

In this respect, she said, TCM's understanding of these organs differs from the concept of the liver and spleen in Western medicine. So are the prescribed treatments.

For weight loss, Ms Wang Xiao Lan, a TCM consultant physician at Raffles Chinese Medicine, said that acupuncture stimulates the meridians or invisible energy pathways to unblock the passage of blood so as to enhance digestion and increase one's metabolism.

She said such treatment can be used to suppress appetite but stressed that it does not cause diarrhoea or involve any starvation diets.

Ms Qiau said beauty acupuncture is becoming more popular. Here, acupuncture is used to help improve the skin condition by promoting blood circulation, stimulating the formation of more collagen and rebalancing the whole body.

When Ms Cheryl Siew, 32, returned to Singapore from a two-week holiday in the United States earlier this year, she began to suffer from a bad case of acne. Her face became red and blotchy and there were a lot of acne and blackheads around her chin area.

WHAT IT CAN FIX

Obesity: This results from an imbalance in the body caused by the malfunctioning of the spleen and liver systems. Acupuncture stimulates meridians to unblock the passage of blood to enhance digestion and metabolism. Acne: Often due to the accumulation of 'damp heat'. Acupuncture targets causes of the heat accumulation. Patients should also avoid 'heaty' food like spicy and fried ones. Hair loss: May be caused by spleen-stomach deficiency, kidney and liver deficiency or heat accumulation. Acupuncture targets these problems and is used with herbal medicine.

A friend recommended that she consult Dr Koh Chin Aik at Specialist Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre.

Ms Siew, a business development manager in the training industry, said that she believed in traditional Chinese medicine and was happy to see the TCM practitioner.

At each visit, Dr Koh, who holds a doctoral degree in acupuncture from Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, performed acupuncture on her upper back. He also prescribed herbal remedies for her to drink.

At the end of five sessions, MsSiew's skin had cleared considerably.

Explained in TCM terms, the causes of acne appear to be not just skin deep. Both Dr Koh and Ms Qiau said that acne is often due to the accumulation of 'damp heat' which rises from the organs and causes blockage and subsequent eruptions of acne.

They said acupuncture can be used to target the causes of the heat accumulation, resulting in the acne condition clearing up.

Acne patients are also advised to avoid 'heaty' food. Ms Qiau said that fried, spicy and fatty foods are regarded in TCM as 'heaty' foods that can trigger pimples.

Ms Tang Yue, a TCM physician at Eu Yan Sang Specialist TCM Centre, said people with acne problems tend to have 'heaty' body constitutions and these foods therefore exacerbate the condition.

She added that on hot days, one should drink cooling Chinese herbal beverages such as chrysanthemum tea or dandelion tisane.

Dr Chee Yew Wen, the medical director of Wen and Weng Medical Group, said he does not dispense advice on 'heaty' or 'cooling' foods to patients with skin problems because these concepts do not exist in Western medicine.

He has had patients who consult him after the alternative medicine treatments they tried for conditions such as acne and hair loss proved ineffective. Generally, however, he does not discourage patients from following Eastern medicine practices as long as there is no harm.

Dr Chee said: 'Eastern medicine has a long history and many people are deeply rooted in their cultures.

'I prefer proven results from scientific trials but I respect other people's beliefs and decisions with regards to alternative medicine.'

With regard to one's hair, Ms Tang said that in TCM, the condition of the hair is viewed as a direct reflection of the condition of the blood, liver and kidney. Thus, hair thinning or hair loss may be caused by problems such as spleen-stomach deficiency, kidney and liver deficiency, as well as heat and dampness accumulation in the body.

Serene, a 43-year-old housewife, saw Dr Koh for a bald patch at the back of her head. About the size of a 10 cent coin, it had been a recurrent problem since her late 30s.

Dr Koh performed acupuncture on her bald patch as well as on her neck and prescribed herbal medicine. Serene's hair grew back.

But when asked if she would recommend acupuncture for people suffering from hair loss, she laughed and said that she would only recommend it to people with a high threshold for pain like herself.

'The pain from the needles was not unbearable but it's certainly not for the faint-hearted,' she said.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times on Oct 23, 2008.