Sacred Journey

A Prada hippie's travels, obsessions and boundless search for MORE JOY!

Helping Grace

There was the fall of the Roman Empire, the fall of the Berlin Wall and then. . . there was the fall of my face! The two former historical events were much more noteworthy—many of you may think that the latter does not warrant any mention in the annals of significant historical events, but the gravitational plummet of my forehead, eyelids, and jaw line was fairly momentous to me and will always be a crucial historical turning point in my life.

I never saw it coming—it seems as if gravity won its battle with my face overnight. Sitting down one evening to apply my Bobby Brown eye shadow, I realized to my dismay that the once taut, smooth contour of my eyes were no where to be found. . .  in its place were small piles of saggy deflated skin. Amazing how one day you can apply multiple layers of eye shadow, creating a work of art on your eyelids, with defined contours, shadows, and highlights, and the next day it is as if you are trying to paint sand! Flipping my mirror to its magnified side for closer inspection, I discovered several lines on my forehead and around my eyes as well as smile lines that repeated themselves like tree rings—I counted and according to the number of rings, I was twelve in tree years.

I want to age gracefully, but I am definitely going to give grace a hand with as much assistance as I can seek out (and afford).  In my desperate search for the fountain of youth, or a magical potion to restore my once youthful tight, upright face, I have, in the last years, done several laser and resurfacing facial procedures.  I am sure I could have acquired a small island or at least a tiny mansion with the investments I made toward restoring my face. The Fraxel, Thermage, AFT, Microdermabrasion, Hydrafacials, Chemical Peels and IPL treatments did not fully restore the elasticity in my face, but they did help to slow down my battle with All Mighty Gravity.

It has been a couple of years since the initial decline of my face and I still have not managed to decently apply my eye shadow.  In my constant pursuit to help “grace,” I read about eyelid surgery called Blepharoplasty while researching on the Internet. I called a plastic surgeon in town and went for a consultation. I was told if my eyelids got droopy enough so that my vision was impaired, insurance would cover the procedure and it would become a non-cosmetic procedure. My droop was not notable enough and I was quoted a price of $3000 for the procedure. I was just about to book an appointment when the doctor informed me that I could not practice yoga for at least 4-5 weeks. That stopped me dead in my tracks. No way could I go that long without doing a single downward dog. I was resigned to the fact that I would wait until I could not see anymore, get the procedure done for free and by then I would probably be 100 years old and my asana might be less vigorous and more restorative by then. It wasn’t the most ideal plan for me but would have to do.

A couple of months ago, my good friend received Botox shots in her forehead to erase her forehead lines as well as attempt to lift her forehead so her eyes would not be as droopy. She looked great and did not look like a new edition of Barbie or have that “surprised” Botox look. I had mixed feelings about Botox, but decided to give it a try.The doctor shot me in the exact same places as my friend but my experience was a total disaster! The next day my eyes felt very heavy and over my eyes there were prominent lumps that looked like speed bumps to blockade any sweat heading toward my pupils. In panic I called the doctor and she nonchalantly said “Oh that—don’t worry it is simply muscle recruitment. Your normal forehead muscles are frozen, so you are building up new areas to help you move your forehead.” She informed me that “eventually” the muscles would relax and be “normal” again. Of course she could not determine when “eventually” was so for the next couple of weeks, I felt like the elephant man and when I tried to lift my eyes to look upward, it felt as if I had weights pressing down on my eyebrows. Bench-pressing them was required to see anything.

Botox was not the magic potion for me. Undeterred and still hoping to ferret out that magical fountain of youth, (heck at that point I would have been ecstatic over a little puddle) I came across a procedure that held great promise: facial acupuncture. I am already a big fan of acupuncture and all of its curative and restorative measures and facial acupuncture makes such logical sense because it is noninvasive, natural and provides tremendous results. I discovered Dr. Arnaldo Oliveira who specializes in this and who recommends a series of 10 sessions—two every week for five weeks. Dr. Oliveira’s treatments offer excellent results leaving his clients very pleased.

To view a brief demonstration of facial acupuncture with Dr. Oliveira and my friend, Rupali, click on the link below.

To learn more about Dr. Oliveira and his practice download our interview: Download Dr. Oliveira interview

SPECIAL OFFER

Dr. Oliveira is offering Sacred Journey readers a fabulous discount of 25% for an acupuncture facial series of ten sessions.  His regular rate is $1600 and now with the discount it is $1200.

Please call Dr. Oliveira for a free consultation at 808-375-2837. Or you can reach him at Dr. Lam’s Clinic at: 808-566-6333. You can follow Dr. Oliveira on Twitter: arnaldoliveira and on Facebook: cosmetic acupuncture Hawaii.

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About Dr. Oliveira

Dr. Oliveira earned a Master of Science in Oriental Medicine from the Institute of Clinical Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Honolulu, Hawaii and is a Licensed Acupuncturist in Hawaii . He has been studying and working with Dr. Fred Lam, MD for the last 9 years and specializing in the use of Electro-Acupuncture according to Voll (EAV) and Medicine Testing.  Dr. Oliveira is the managing director of Lam Clinic, Inc. (www.ibemedicine.com/lamclinicinc.html). He is also the program director of the Voll-Lam School of Energy Medicine (www.eavschool.org) and co Editor in Chief of the Pacific Journal of Energy Medicine (www.pacjmedicine.org). Arnaldo Oliveira, Ph.D. L.Ac. practices Auricular Therapy, Cosmetic Acupuncture (Mei Zen), and Electro-acupuncture according to Voll. For more information on cosmetic acupuncture, please check www.naturalfacelifthawaii.com. Dr. Oliveira is board certified in integrative medicine (American Association of Integrative Medicine), member of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, member of the Hawaii Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Association, member of the American Association of Acupuncture and Bio-Energetic Medicine.