Do Facial Exercises Work?

Think of what happens when you furrow your brow. Chances are you’re furrowing it right now, so go ahead and feel how the skin there becomes corrugated and lined. If you clench those muscles for a few seconds, you’ll feel a nice taut feeling across your brow when you relax. Facial exercise proponents would have you believe that this taut feeling is evidence of how well the exercises work.

Facial Exercises Make Wrinkles

Unfortunately, this taut feeling doesn’t contribute to any more actual smoothing than the taut feeling you get in your abs after a workout means you have a flatter stomach. In fact, say doctors at the Mayo Clinic, all that facial bending and stretching could even make matters worse. If you’ve ever worn a linen skirt, you know that it creases right across your lap when you sit. Your skin does the same thing over decades of making the same facial expressions. If a million brow-furrowings gave you lines, why would a million and thirty erase them? The short answer: they don’t.

Indentations in the skin don’t get plumped out with muscles because facial muscles are too small and delicate to build up the way a body-builder creates massive biceps and quads. Dr. Rodney Basler of the American Academy of Dermatology notes that “The only thing that’s going to push those wrinkles out is if you increase the volume of your face, like blowing air into a balloon.” Most of us don’t want a balloon-shaped face, but even if we did, the thin, flat sheets of facial muscle cannot grow into the full forms that would push out the wrinkles.

Even if they could, a six-pack forehead doesn’t sound nearly as appealing as six-pack abs. It might be a good look for a Klingon, but not so much for a human.

Wrinkle Prevention

Dermatologists estimate that 80% of the visible features associated with premature aging — fine lines, sagging, discoloration and coarsening — are the direct result not of slack facial muscle tone, but of sun exposure. Ultraviolet rays travel through translucent outer layers of the skin to the deeper dermis within, blasting apart collagen and elastin molecules.

“Elastin” is only one letter different from “elastic” for a reason: the two materials serve a similar purpose. A ponytail holder or elastic waistband that has withstood too much pulling and stretching gets saggy. Skin, unlike fabric, renews itself. However, the sun actively reduces elastin’s integrity even as aging makes your skin less capable of renewing itself. Taxing your remaining elastin with facial exercises can’t build it up because elastin isn’t a muscle.

The best exercise you can give your face is covering it with a good sunscreen.

Smooth Facial Lines Naturally

If you want to prevent lines, there are ways to do it without folding your face. Stay aware of things you do that put creases in your face and find other means of doing them. That doesn’t mean you have to become expressionless, but you can stop some of the repetitive motions you make. Think of it as natural Botox.

• Quit smoking if possible. If it isn’t possible, try to smoke without pursing your lips.
• Drink from glasses, not from straws that make you pucker.
• Invest in sunglasses. If you have to squint, you’ll develop crow’s feet at the corners of your eyes.
• Check your eyeglass or contact lens prescription.
• Rest your chin on the back of your hand instead of cupping your face with your palm.
• Apply a tiny piece of tape to the center of your forehead at your frown lines. It’ll make you aware of when you furrow your brow subconsciously. Just remember to remove it before leaving the house.

Director of facial reconstructive surgery at Penn State University Dr. Fred Fedok points out that faces get a work-out every day. We chew, talk, smile, frown, bite our lips in consternation or laugh out loud. Even in sleep, our muscles still move. Dr. Fedok suggests that people “practice relaxing the muscles, not toning them.” Eat an apple and you’ll give your face all the exercise it needs.

It’s easy to understand why everyone wants a non-surgical face-lift or rejuvenation without injections; who wouldn’t rather make a few funny faces than go under the knife? Unfortunately, the laws of physics and biology work against us. Moving muscles doesn’t remove the underlying creases in them any more than you can smooth that linen skirt by shifting in your seat.

If you want to exercise for the sake of your face, try whole-body exercises like yoga that encourage deep breathing and serene expressions. Even if it doesn’t smooth out your lines, it’ll do wonders for everything else including your mood and self-image.

Interested in more tips? Try these articles:

Should You Wear Makeup at the Gym?

SPF Without Sunscreen: Sun Protection from Beauty Products

Wabi-Sabi Beauty: The Beauty of Imperfection

Sources:

University of Utah Health Information: Does Exercise Deliver for Skin Care?

Mayo Clinic: Wrinkle Causes