The team at North Royalton’s Living Tree Center for Healing is helping patients maximize their quality of life to help you look and feel younger
By Mimi Vanderhaven
As we progress into middle age and beyond, our skin begins to show the effects of an extended life on earth—the forces hard at work to undermine our youthful beauty. Among them are gravity, sun exposure, and chemical additives in our food supply. Time robs our skin of collagen, the underlying structure that gives skin that soft, plump, youthful look, causing wrinkles and sagging.
But one local wellness center is using an innovative approach to revitalize collagen naturally by harnessing the body’s own regenerative power. It’s North Royalton’s Living Tree Center for Healing featuring Nigel Brayer, DC, PHc, FIAMA, author of The Stress Affect: How to Rescue Your Life and Master the Art of Living, along with Harish Rai, DC, PHc, FIAMA, and their staff.
“By the time most patients come to us, they have tried the unnatural approach, including Botox, fillers and surgery,” Dr. Nigel says, “But these are drugs; they wear off. And often our bodies don’t know how to process them, so they build up, creating a cottage cheese effect under our skin or nerve damage. It’s far better to let the body do what it does best—repair.”
The staff at Living Tree employs a two-pronged approach to help patients achieve firmer, younger-looking skin: facial acupuncture and photobiomodulation.
How It Works
“Acupuncture works in the same way strength training does,” explains Dr. Nigel. “When we lift weights or do resistance exercises, we injure our muscles slightly, then the body repairs those muscles, making them bigger and stronger. When we perform acupuncture on targeted wrinkles—such as crow’s feet or smile lines—we injure the skin slightly using needles about the width of a human hair. The body responds to the damage by increasing collagen production underlying the area. This reduces wrinkles and firms the skin.”
The second prong in Living Tree’s all-natural, age-defying protocol is photobiomodulation. It’s a big word that simply refers to using wavelengths of light to modify biology.
“The process is similar to acupuncture in that it stimulates collagen production,” Dr Nigel says. “But there is a tremendous side benefit that supercharges the results. Photobiomodulation also increases mitochondrial production. These are the energy centers of each cell. Increasing mitochondrial energy means our cells regenerate faster. The result is younger-looking skin in weeks instead of months.”
The treatment also reduces pore sizes and smooths acne scarring.
While these procedures can be effective for almost anyone, Dr. Nigel says most of his center’s patients are women aged 40 to 80.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone wants to look and feel younger,” he says. “When we help a 75-year-old pass for age 62, we’re improving her entire life by boosting her confidence, energy and vitality. When we look better, we feel better. And when we feel better, we are motivated to reconnect with the world and enjoy a more active lifestyle.”
And this notion brings us to another crucial concept in improving our health and beauty—stress reduction.
Reducing Stress and Anxiety
In his book The Stress Affect, Dr. Nigel discusses the link between stress and disease. He and his partner Dr. Harish Rai are so passionate about helping people reduce stress that Living Tree Center for Healing has developed a protocol called “Anxiety-free in 30 days.” That may sound like just a catchy slogan, but it’s way more than that.
“When the body experiences long-term stress, it starts to break down,” Dr. Nigel explains. “This breakdown of tissue is happening throughout the entire body but it’s most visible on the skin. That’s why reducing stressors can also help you look and feel younger. But beneath the skin, stress can lead to a host of conditions, including weight gain, sleeplessness, headaches, anxiety attacks, chronic pain, loss of energy, and GI issues like irritable bowel syndrome.”
According to Dr. Nigel, our “fight or flight” mode is nature’s ancient way of protecting us when we are in danger. But now that we no longer have daily encounters with saber-toothed tigers, we need to turn off the “fight or flight” switch.
“Our bodies respond to dangers whether they are real or not,” Dr. Nigel says. “And we use up huge amounts of energy when we are in a constant state of duress that in time causes disease. How much or little one shows it is individually based, however, over time it affects everyone’s body and system.”
The team at Living Tree employs acupuncture, at-home biofeedback, and mindfulness training to help patients turn off the “fight or flight’” switch and stop what Dr. Nigel calls “the hamster effect in the head.”
“Constant worry, projecting the future, controlling the present, all use a lot of energy,” he says. “Being safe is important, yes, but trying to prevent all risks is also deadly. It’s about balance. We help you take the runaway mind and make it present, and help you retrain your mind to properly react to life. The good news is you don’t have to be perfect to be healthy, and as long as you are alive you can get either better or worse. Which direction is your choice. It’s never too late.”
Living Tree Center for Healing is located at 11443 State Road in North Royalton. Call 440-877-9440 or visit LivingTreeCenterforHealing.com for more information.