Which services at For Health’s Sake in Toronto & Etobicoke can help:
- Naturopathic Medicine: helps treat skin conditions by addressing the root causes from the inside out. Naturopaths look at how things like gut health, hormones, nutrition, and inflammation may be contributing to skin concerns. By supporting the body’s natural healing processes and balancing internal systems, they help promote clearer, healthier skin from within.
- Acupuncturist/ Traditional Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture can support skin health both internally and externally by promoting balance throughout the body. Internally, acupuncture helps regulate hormones, improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and support digestive health — all of which can impact skin conditions like acne, eczema, and rosacea. Externally, acupuncture increases blood flow and stimulates collagen production, which can enhance skin tone, texture, and elasticity.
- Chiropractic Care: Our Chiropractor, Dr. Carmel, has a special focus on skin health and offers services like Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture, which helps stimulate collagen production, improve circulation, and support lymphatic drainage — all key to achieving a brighter, firmer complexion. She also integrates red light therapy into her treatments, which helps reduce inflammation, accelerate skin healing, and boost collagen for a healthy, radiant glow.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can support the health of your skin by identifying any signs of nutritional deficiencies and or imbalances contributing to impurities in your complexion.
Certain foods can act as triggers for skin conditions, and knowing what and how to manage this can be a big part of your treatment.
What are ways that our internal system may be affecting our skin?
- The liver and/or digestive tract is ineffective in clearing toxins and metabolic wastes from the body.
- Weakened immune function and inflammation.
- Inadequately managed stress.
- Circulation and lymphatic flow.
- Dietary habits are poor.
- Insufficient or over-the-top personal hygiene.
- Hormonal fluctuations.
- Nutritional deficiencies.
At For Health’s Sake we have Traditional Chinese Acupuncturists , Naturopathic Medicine and Chiropractors who can help with skin problems in Toronto & Etobicoke.
Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture/ Cosmetic Acupuncture
A holistic approach to facial rejuvenation that works to harmonize the internal systems that enhance your outward vibrance. Combining therapeutic acupuncture with a series of very fine needles in the face, aesthetic acupuncture can reduce signs of aging and stress in the face and leave you feeling renewed mind, body, and soul.
*for prime results, recommended 2x/week for 5 weeks.
Gua Sha Facial Treatment
Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese healing tool that enlivens the skin by increasing blood flow, relaxing the muscles and underlying fascia, leaving the face feeling rejuvenated, refreshed, and glowing.
Express Facial Acupuncture
In this visit, we address facial concerns using both acupuncture and LED therapy to do double duty on acne, fine lines, sagging skin, and more. Due to the short nature of this visit, we only treat the face so it is recommended to book as a tune-up between regular Facial Rejuvenation or TCM Acupuncture sessions.
LED Therapy for Facial Rejuvenation
LED (light emitting diode) therapy is becoming a popular facial modality as research shows it has anti-aging and acne-killing benefits. LEDs are a source of light that can penetrate the skin and affect cellular function. Each colour of light has a specific wavelength that penetrates the skin to a certain depth and affects cells at that level.
Blue light (465nm) treats more topically and is able to kill acne-causing bacteria which lives on your skin.
Red light (640nm) treats deeper and stimulates collagen and elastin production to give your skin better structural integrity.
Infrared light (880nm), which is invisible to the eye, treats the deepest of the three and can help reduce inflammation, relax muscles, and improve circulation.
Face Flow
This treatment combines muscle manipulation with EMS technology to optimize tissue function in the face and neck. The targeted relaxation and restoration methods help stimulate circulation and facilitate lymphatic drainage, while also improving muscle tone and dermal contraction.
- Muscle and tissue release (targeting areas of concern for TMJ dysfunction and hyperactive facial muscles related to headache symptoms)
- Stimulating muscle contraction to lift and tone (tone and contour)
- Reducing puffiness and inflammation (eliminating local excess fluid)
- Targeting scar tissue and adhesions (decreasing the appearance of fine lines)
Benefits:
- Improves muscle tone and dermal contraction of the head and neck
- Both toning and relaxing effect on the muscles
- Functional relaxation and restoration
- Increases the supply of blood and nutrition to the muscles and various tissues
- Can target TMJ muscle disfunction and muscle tension causing headaches
- Increases local circulation (improving lymph circulation)
- Reduces inflammation and puffiness (eliminates excess local fluid)
- Target scar tissue and fascial adhesions (decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles)
- Decreases tension in hyperactive “stressed” muscles
Dr. Carmel’s Combo
This treatment is Dr. Carmel’s preferred method for improving muscle tone and dermal contraction specific to the face and neck. Treatment combines the use of local facial acupuncture points, manual muscle manipulation and the Electro Muscular Stimulation modality (triple threat) for BONUS stimulation that optimizes function of local structures to help with:
- Functional relaxation and muscle release (targeting areas of concern for TMJ dysfunction and hyperactive facial muscles related to headache symptoms)
- Stimulating muscle contraction to lift and tone (tone and contour)
- Increase local circulation (improving lymph function)
- Reducing puffiness and inflammation (eliminating local excess fluid)
- targeting scar tissue and adhesions (decreasing the appearance of fine lines)
- stimulating the body’s natural ability to produce collagen to the face
How can acupuncture help the skin?
Our skin is our largest organ and reflects what is going on inside our bodies without us even realizing it. When skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, or general skin aging are treated with acupuncture, the acupuncturist is looking at your body as a whole in order to treat what is going on on the surface.
Acupuncture can help treat a wide variety of skincare issues including wrinkles, sagging, rosacea, acne (particularly adult acne), eczema, and psoriasis. It can also help with depuffing and brightening the skin. While estheticians and dermatologists generally concentrate on treating the outside of your skin, an acupuncturist is concerned about the underlying issues inside your body that lead to what you see on the outside with your skin. Once these issues (such as hormone imbalances) are addressed and you are able to bring balance to your body as a whole, then your skin starts to look better.
Another way acupuncture can help skin issues is by reducing stress. Regular acupuncture treatments can help you feel more relaxed and sleep better. Once your stress is reduced, your skin will look better since stress is at the root of many skin issues.
Common skin conditions:
The following skin conditions can be tackled both internally and externally in Downtown (Queen St West), Leslieville (Queen St East) and Kingsway (Etobicoke). So, as well as making changes to your diet and lifestyle with support from a nutrition professional, you could also benefit from consulting a dermatologist.
Acne
Acne is an extremely common skin condition, characterized by blackheads, whiteheads, and sore, red spots that appear on the skin. Acne occurs when the oil-producing glands in the skin become particularly sensitive to testosterone, and this sensitivity overworks the glands, producing excess oil which can become trapped, like bacteria, in pores.
Most often occurring during puberty, acne can also develop when a person reaches early adulthood and can leave the sufferer struggling with mental health concerns such as low self-esteem or depression.
While there isn’t a cure for acne, there are a number of treatments available, including:
- ointments or creams
- oral antibiotics
- contraceptive pills
There is little evidence that our diet can play a part in the original cause of acne, however, there is a common trend between harsh break-outs and poor diet. An excess of sugar triggers inflammation in the body, which creates breakouts as inflammation is an active component in the development of acne. Following a varied, balanced diet that maintains a balanced blood sugar level, will help to manage acne and the health of your skin in general.
Eczema
An inflammatory skin condition, eczema is used to describe the way the upper layer of skin changes; redness, blisters, crusting, and pigmentation are some of the symptoms. The condition can affect both sexes, usually developing in the early stages of life, and while most common in children and often clearing up before puberty, it can continue into adult life.
Eczema can be hereditary and the most common symptom is itchy skin. This itchiness can disrupt sleep and result in irritability and poor self-esteem. It’s often worse when in contact with dust or hot temperatures when suffering from an infection, dry skin, and sometimes stress.
The current treatments available include:
- steroid creams
- moisturisers
- antibiotics and antiseptics
Food allergies and intolerances have been found to aggravate eczema, particularly in children – if the allergy symptom includes itchiness or irritation, it can result in an eczema flare-up. If this is the case, your GP can arrange adequate testing to determine the trigger food.
Atopic eczema, the most common form of the condition (red, itchy skin) has been shown to react positively to nutritional therapy. Foods that soothe atopic eczema include fish, potatoes, berries, and apples.
Psoriasis
A common skin condition affecting about two percent of the population, psoriasis causes red, crusty patches of skin – commonly on elbows, knees, scalp, and lower back – that are covered in silvery scales.
Psoriasis occurs when skin cells are replaced at a faster rate than average: while the usual rate at which the skin develops and sheds is three to four weeks, in psoriasis, this is dramatically increased to a rate as little as three to four days. Sufferers of psoriasis often find the main problem to be its red, scaly appearance. The skin can harden, itch and split, becoming very painful.
Rosacea
Rosacea is believed to be linked to the tendency of ‘flushing’. The blood vessels in the skin dilate too easily, resulting in persistent redness on the face, followed by small red sores and spots. Symptoms of rosacea include skin sensitivity, a stinging or burning sensation, and flushing. The often permanent change in complexion can result in anxiety, embarrassment, or depression. Our trained physical therapists are dedicated to helping you achieve a pain-free life.