Exercising the facial muscles for 30 minutes twice a day has slowed the aging process. As proven by Dr. Murad Alam, a dermatology professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and his coworkers have recently published their findings in JAMA Dermatology.
Inevitably, we shall all get older. Even if we try, there is no way to stop the passage of time. We do, however, attempt to maintain a respectable outward appearance. The market for facial and anti-aging treatments has skyrocketed as more and more people opt to invest in these services.
Cosmetic treatments that aim to prevent or reverse the visible effects of aging, such as anti-wrinkle creams, Botox, chemical peels, and anti-pigmentation therapy, are included in these estimates. Facial exercises, on the other hand, appear simple, cheap, and, most importantly, surgical-free compared to these different approaches. But would we look younger after using them? We will be investigating this topic today.
There has been a rise in the popularity of facial exercise regimens in recent years, with advocates saying they can delay the apparent effects of aging. Most “non-surgical face-lift” methods have been developed by men and women who have not undergone formal medical training and instead rely on anecdotal evidence to support their claims of effectiveness.
However, its increasing popularity has been noted by a group of dermatologists at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
The researchers found that various commercial products (DVDs, instructional videos, and even personal trainers) promise to show people how to exercise their faces to enhance their mental and physical health and make them seem younger. They have not been presented with any data demonstrating the success of these kinds of efforts. This prompted Dr. Murad Alam and his team to investigate the benefits of facial exercises with a controlled experiment.
So they reached out to Gary Sikorski of Providence, RI, who developed one of the earliest facial-exercise programs, Happy Face Yoga. Mr. Sikorski suggested a routine of 32 facial and neck exercises targeting most facial muscles.
Mr. Sikorski claims that face workouts are a sort of resistance training for the facial muscles, which, like any other form of strength training, should make the facial muscles more substantial and more prominent. As a result, this should help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and restore volume to the parts of the face that have thinned with age.
Researchers at Northwestern University quickly recruited 27 women (aged 40-65) interested in trying face exercise thanks to that guarantee. According to Dr. Alam, the study was planned as a pilot, and the fewer variables involved, the better.
Each woman posed for a photo before meeting Mr. Sikorski for two 90-minute sessions to learn the 32 movements. Some are relatively sophisticated, requiring the user to provide light resistance with their fingertips while manipulating the muscles in their cheeks, foreheads, and necks (such as smirking or puckering).
The whole time the class was just 30 minutes.
It was recommended that the women do the exercises every day for eight weeks to show any improvement. After taking more pictures, they were told to stick to the same routine twice weekly for a month.
Even though the program lasted 20 weeks, only 16 people could stick it out until the conclusion. Using a standard numerical scale, dermatologists were asked to rate the beauty of each of these women and to provide an age estimate for each. By the study’s conclusion, the women were asked how satisfied they were with their overall facial look and how they felt about specific features.
Standardized photographs of the face were obtained before and after the face exercise and then analyzed by two blinded dermatologists to establish the primary outcome measure. The pictures were rated using a universal facial aging scale (Merz-Carruthers Facial Aging Photoscales). Each of the 19 face features was rated by a dermatologist at the beginning, eight weeks in, and twenty weeks in.
Age was also measured at the beginning, 8 weeks in, and 20 weeks in for each participant. Finally, they asked participants how content they were with the results.
The raters found that the workouts had the most significant impact on increasing both the upper and lower cheek areas. The raters’ estimates of the average age of patients also decreased as the experiment progressed. Beginning at 50 years, 8 weeks, it reduced to 49 years, 6 months, and culminated at 48 years, 1 week.
According to the study’s lead researcher, that’s the equivalent of “visually reducing your age by over three years in just 20 weeks.” In addition, participants reported feeling satisfied with the results, with many reporting enhancements to virtually all areas of their faces that were evaluated.
If you want to take it to another level and reverse aging even further, why not consider combining facial exercises with facial and anti-aging treatments? What’s more. These treatments can address skin concerns where facial exercises can’t, such as acne.
At Trilogy Medical Center, we believe that a rejuvenating facial treatment is the pinnacle of female pampering. Schedule a free consultation, and we will answer your questions and help you choose the facial treatment that is suitable for you, whether it be for acne treatment, anti-aging, or simply an excellent cleansing.
Here are some of the options we offer:
Hydro facial: Trilogy’s anti-aging facial takes 60 minutes and features superior hydration, antioxidant protection, and peptide infusion of the highest medical grade.
Silouette Facial: The peel that doesn’t need to be peeled. The groundbreaking new medical grade chemical peel used in the no downtime silouette facial effectively eliminates dead skin without jeopardizing the epidermis.
Trilogy Trio: In our new “Plump, Pucker, & Glow” Facial Treatment, we combine the efficacy of V Shape to diminish the appearance of deep wrinkles, Natural Growth Factor Injections to impart a luminous sheen to the entire face, and Juvederm to enhance the fullness of the lips.
DermaClear: The Trilogy package includes three of our most impressive therapies. Microneedling with Natural Growth Factor Injections creates tiny wounds that stimulate your body to produce more collagen and elastin. Moreover, MOXI delivers fractionated laser light to replace damaged cells with new ones.
Facial exercises are a nontoxic, inexpensive, and self-administered treatment that can effectively reverse signs of aging. However, consider adding facial and anti-aging treatments to your routine if you want to take it to a new level. If you are interested in our services, consider contacting our clinic, Trilogy Medical Center, to set up an appointment.
