Dr John Tsagaris joins Health Med.’s industry-leading eLearning faculty

Industry expert Dr. John Tsagaris has joined Health Med.’s industry-leading faculty to create eLearning facial acupuncture courses

We are delighted to announce that Dr. John Tsagaris has joined Health Med.’s industry-leading faculty. You may already recognise John’s name as he is an established cosmetic enhancement acupuncturist who has worked with an enviable list of A-list celebrities over the course of his career.

In this article, Dr. John talks us through his extensive career and what he has learned along the way. Dr. John is now using his first-hand experience and knowledge to craft some of our Health Med. eLearning courses to create the next generation of world-leading acupuncturists.

University years – sceptic and investigative

Having completed my education in oriental studies at the European Shiatsu School and energy healing work and other complementary therapeutic methods at the College of Psychic Studies, I decided that I wanted to enrich my knowledge further.

I started my five-year university degree in traditional Chinese medicine with human bioscience at Middlesex University in London. This seemed a natural next step as I was familiar with the Chinese medicine principles from my previous studies.

Combining Chinese and western medicine was challenging for me.

I was thinking that ancient theories and modern medicine do not mix and I was struggling to understand how the two different disciplines could integrate into my Chinese medicine practice and I wanted to know more about.

All my views changed when I was sent to Beijing for my clinical internship and further specialisation.

Beijing – the clinical placement era

After my fifth university year, I flew to Beijing, where myself and my colleagues would graduate, completing a clinical internship in two hospitals, Xi Yuan and Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University which was in partnership with the Beijing university of Chinese medicine.

Going to China was a breakthrough point for me because it gave me the opportunity to see Chinese medicine being practiced in a real-life hospital clinical practice environment. This experience completely changed my views and my perception of medicine.

In the hospitals, the doctors were treating patients with conventional medicines, antibiotics, performing surgeries and to my surprise, were administering acupuncture and Chinese herbs at the same time, daily.

But how was that possible?

They were treating serious conditions including cancer and strokes, paralysis and conditions that I would not have felt confident (at that time) to treat with acupuncture and herbs.

Why were they mixing both traditions?

Why were they treating patients with herbs and westerns medication at the same time?

After months of constant work in the hospitals and seeing the way they practiced and the level of practice, I came to realise that what I was seeking was the integration of the two schools of thought.

It was not specifically about Chinese or western medicine. What I found intriguing was a patient could be treated effectively by doctors who were employing all aspects of their comprehensive knowledge and experience to help.

It was not that Chinese medicine was lacking scientific integrity nor that the western practice was plain, unsophisticated and brutal, but it was medicine itself evolving and expanding and it was the level of the practitioners’ understanding – to be able to implement this knowledge as a holistic and effective practice.

At the time and while my understanding was evolving, my personal journey with eczema began, which showed me the path I would follow as a career.

 

 

My personal journey with eczema

My years in China were challenging and stressful.

I was overwhelmed with studying and facing challenges from being in a foreign country. However, this led to me doing nothing but seeking more knowledge from any direction available.

I was chasing resources to learn from, as I had now come to realise that medicine is a platform where so many different puzzle pieces come together to create a broader picture.

I was stressed and that affected my skin and eczema appeared to express my psychological state.

I never thought that I would have a skin condition. I thought that stress was something you experienced only in your mind and the way you feel.

I tried everything and anything available at the time to cure it.

A lot of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, conventional treatments and so on.

I had to solve this problem and suddenly it all made sense.

Body and mind – Chinese and western medicine are all interactive facets that express different aspects of health and wellbeing.

My body was manifesting what I was trying to understand in my head.

Skin became my inspiration to specialise further and do a postgraduate in cosmetic acupuncture at the Hope institute of Chinese medicine in Beijing.

I had found what I wanted to do as a career and to specialise in.

Fascinated with the skin reflexion of inner and outer triggers

I would focus on skin health and how the skin is affected by inner and outer triggers as well as ageing.

I developed my signature treatment techniques addressing skin ageing.

My bespoke facial cosmetic acupuncture and related techniques are focused on scientific evaluation and integrate the wisdom of Chinese medicine with modern aesthetic methods, merging the knowledge of ‘ageing well’ into a clinical practice.

I brought his concept of facial cosmetic acupuncture to the UK and European market and with hard work, I was acknowledged as a pioneer in the field of facial acupuncture.

I had to work with difficult cases from the very start of my career

I worked non-stop and I started getting a lot of attention from the media.

I was featured in most of the high-end magazines and newspapers in the UK as well as international publications and was invited to appear as a guest speaker on television shows.

I also started to receive a lot of attention from celebrities who were interested in my work. I attracted a large international celebrity following at my London practice which includes supermodels, Hollywood A-listers, internationally recognised TV presenters and many other international celebrities, including Penelope Cruz, Katherine Jenkins, Anna Vissi, Giorgos Mazonakis, Anaantic, Russell Howard, Jimmy Carr, Lenlenstyle by Elena Taranina, Hiba Akouk, Gabby Logan, Natasha Davydova, Oxana Lavrentiena, Ksenia Sobchack, Yana Rudkovskaya, Lena Perminova, Natalia Vodianova, Margarita De Quzman and Eugenia Silva.

In addition to treating VIP clients, I have been regularly consulting for members of the Royal Families of several Middle Eastern countries.

I have been a regular expert contributor in the media, regularly appearing on TV and radio in both the UK, Russia, Spain and in my native Greece.

Tatler Magazine gave me the honour of naming me as “one of the best private doctors in the UK” and I am often asked to provide quotes and an expert opinion for a wide range of newspaper and magazine features.

My celebrity following and experience has led to me regularly appearing on TV and radio shows in both the UK, Russia, Spain and in my native Greece. I have also occasionally lectured and presented topics related to Chinese medicine and Chinese medical aesthetics.

From early on in my career, I attracted difficult clinical cases and the attention of sceptical journalists, who were of the opinion that talking about Yin and Yang was not enough.

The editors had heard it all before. They had tried everything and anything and were always on the lookout for the next new thing.

I had to deliver efficiently – and with skills that would be easily understood by the media and my patients.

Operating in the world of wellness, beauty and age defining industries, it embraced my views for bridging the ancient tradition of Chinese medicine with modern aesthetics.

I have been frequently invited to work as a guest therapist in some of the most reputable medical and wellness resorts internationally, such as SHA Wellness Clinic, One&Only Group, Lanserhof, Harrods Wellness Clinic and acknowledged medical institutions internationally.

This led me to undertake numerous aesthetic training courses to enrich my practice still further and to elevate my acupuncture knowledge into a modern scientific modality.

Over twenty-five years of clinical practice, working with skin conditions and continuous international travel as a guest therapist in most prestigious medical clinics and resorts has given me the opportunity to gain a lot of experience treating a wide variety of different skin conditions.

I had the chance to investigate how different environments, genetics, cultural perception and ageing factors would inform and alter my treatments to deliver the best results.

 

 

Integrating the practice and blending East and West

Years of clinical practice made me realise that acupuncture and Chinese medicine, as a whole, had more to offer than just tradition.

It has helped me to merge ancient wisdom, modern science, health and beauty, age embracing and modern aesthetics into a wellness experience.

My passion for beautiful, healthy skin resulted in launching my skin care based in Chinese medicinal herbal actives that I blended with western ingredients.

The potential of Chinese herbal medicine was a big revelation for me as now the humble Chinese root was not only a Chinese tonic, but a very potent collagen-boosting active ingredient that can enhance skin hydration and elasticity in the skin.

I spent years investigating Chinese herbal actives from a biochemical perspective to complement my premium skin care project, where Chinese tradition and bioscience were meeting to justify my efforts to change the way I was practicing Chinese medicine.

The holistic and traditional needed to be upgraded into a scientific knowledge to meet the needs of modern aesthetics.

My clinical practice made me understand the use of acupuncture needles as a therapeutic tool rather than a conventional stimulatory medium.

I started exploring needle-based western methods and understanding the science behind them – micro needling, injectables, needle shaping, derma-fillers and anything else that had to do with skin rejuvenation.

Now my needles have evolved into a bio-stimulant tool with a specific biochemical and biomechanical action.

Integration Application Transmission

After more than twenty years of constant practice and on-going education, I realised that the best way to comprehend and elevate my knowledge further was to teach.

Circumstances allowed me to introduce facial cosmetic acupuncture into the UK and make it a trend that has been embraced by the media and international celebrities.

Facial acupuncture is now able to be commercially competitive with aesthetic alternatives and offer more than beautification results – rather a wellness experience offering healthier and more youthful skin.

There are numerous facial enhancement courses by acupuncturists, however, this method had to be based on very high standards of practice as it has to compete with injectable cosmetic treatments, facelifts, surgical procedures and modern aesthetic equipment.

Realising that Chinese practitioners have only their acupuncture needles, upscaling the practice in integrating western elements is fundamental for modern clinical applications.

Acupuncture is an instrument that can be used in an inspiring way to deliver natural and effective results, combining aesthetic advancements without losing its holistic perspective, which distinguishes it as a holistic treatment.

Cosmetic acupuncture had no chance to play on the aesthetic terrain successfully, without elevating into a credible practice that delivers results with safety and scientific integrity.

The next generation of experts

The time has come to be able to share my knowledge and experience and to investigate even further the potential of beauty acupuncture as an alternative to injectable and skin treatments. That is why I am delighted that Health Med. is bringing CPD eLearning to healthcare professionals, bridging the gap between traditional and complementary medicine.

If you are interested in learning more about Acuskinlift Method, please take a look at the course details for further information.