Why massage is not enough! Facial Exercises builds the muscles for lift!
Hi! I’m Carolyn and I’ve been in the facial exercise business for over 25 years. My understanding from Dr. Frederick Rossiter, M.D.*, a professor of anatomy and physiology from the 1960’s, is how he suggests that massage is beneficial to the entire face. But, there’s more.
For example, he’s the one that emphasizes the importance of contracting a muscle first and sliding across the skin as you rub out a wrinkle or wish to build and tone muscles. Essentially, he says a massage without contraction is beneficial for relaxation and circulation but not to eliminate wrinkles or create lift. He is very emphatic about keeping the muscles in contraction before rubbing across the skin.
As we age, the skin has changes that need to be addressed
Furthermore, he states that massaging the skin increases and improves circulation of the blood and lymph nodes in the skin. In fact, he states that there can even be structural changes in the fat deposits within each cell.
For example, when wrinkles are stubbornly set after many years, these wrinkles seem almost “rooted” in the skin and cannot be entirely erased. Such wrinkles characterize a definite microscopic change in the tissues under them. Elastic fibers are absorbed, tiny skin muscles are absorbed, fat is absorbed at that point and so the wrinkle is actually a scar in the skin. This is the reason why in some cases, massage will not remove the wrinkles completely or create lift. However, using proper technique, you can diminish and in many cases completely erase these lines. You will also build and tone muscle with this technique.
Conclusion: Skin and Muscles are intertwined in the face
In the body, muscles are mostly attached bone to bone. It’s different for the face. Because the skin and muscles are intertwined in the face, when you contract a muscle first and then slide across the skin, you not only tone and build muscle fiber, but you also bring the skin up as well.
You can see this yourself looking at your pores in your skin. The pores do not have muscles on them. Once they are stretched, that’s it. However, since the skin is attached to the muscles in the face, when you contract and slide, you firm up the pores in the face as the muscles tone and build and the pores appear smaller resulting in a smoother and finer skin texture.
You cannot achieve this with massage alone. A combination of resistance building (contracting the muscles and sliding) and massage gives the best results!
*Frederick M. Rossiter, M.D.: A professor of anatomy and physiology and author of the book, Face Culture, Pageant Press (Copyright 1956) (Out of Print)
