Facial massage at home: simple and effective techniques

There are 640 muscles in our body, 57 of which are located on the face. They allow us to express feelings and emotions with a variety of facial expressions. At the same time, the muscles form the face, and if they are relaxed, not spasmodic, they cope with this task more efficiently, maintaining a clear contour. Therefore, it is very important to monitor their tone.

Rejuvenation through relaxation

The facial muscles, like the muscles of the whole body, need to be relaxed, because they are interconnected and form a single system. For example, the state of the front surface of the neck is affected by the state of its back surface, the oval of the face is affected by the state of the spine and posture in general.

If the muscle is tense, it ceases to be elastic and shortens, creating creases and wrinkles. Therefore, the root cause of the folds on the face and the floating oval is not hypotonicity, but hypertonicity of certain muscles. To prevent this from happening, they need to relax.

Preparation for the procedure – what to look for

1. You need to cleanse your face. Massage can be done both on dry skin and by applying your favorite care product. This could be your day/night cream, squalane oil, or mask. A nice bonus: the effect of the massage is complemented by the enhancement of the action of the cosmetic product.

2. All movements go from the center of the face to the periphery, along the massage lines, mainly from the bottom up. By following this rule, you will avoid swelling and effectively disperse the lymph.

3. The intensity of movements depends on the goal: with lymphatic drainage techniques to relieve swelling and smooth wrinkles, the touch is soft and gentle, while working out the muscles to obtain a lifting effect, precise and deep.

4. It is necessary to devote at least 30 seconds to working out the muscles of each zone, since the muscle responds to the impact only at the 29th second.

5. It is important to maintain correct posture both during self-massage and throughout the day. To do this, we straighten our shoulders, pull them down from the ears, and point the top of our head up.

6. Self-massage of the face is not recommended after injections of fillers and botulinum toxin, plastic surgery and facial injuries. Acne in an aggravated form and neuritis of the facial nerve are also contraindications.

We remove puffiness

Since the lymph itself moves slowly, it needs help. We start from the area around the eyes: with soft sliding movements of the fingers along the eyebrows, we move from the upper eyelid to the temple. Next, we move on to the lower eyelid and also with our fingers we lead from the wings of the nose to the ears. Then we go down and continue these movements from the corners of the lips to the earlobes. Further, the same thing – along the lower edge of the jaw, and the final movement of the hands along the neck down.

Vibration technique is also effective for accelerating lymphatic drainage and relieving swelling. It is based on tapping one hand with the other, which allows you to work out the muscles of the face with a slight vibration.

We put the palm with open fingers on the face, placing the index finger on the upper eyebrow, the middle finger under the lower eyelid, the ring finger on the corner of the lips and the little finger on the lower jaw. With the edge of the second palm, we tap the palm on the face in the direction of the bodice – from the center to the periphery. Similarly, we work with the other half of the face.

We smooth wrinkles

The most noticeable age-related changes on the face occur in the neck area, on the chin, in the nasolabial folds, in the “crow’s feet” area at the outer corner of the eyes, between the eyebrows, or in the “proud muscle”, as well as on the forehead in the form of longitudinal wrinkles.

We will smooth out these wrinkles with epidermal tweezers, which we do with the first and third (or second – as you prefer) fingers.

We do pinching along the wrinkle in one direction, and then a smoothing movement of the fingers along the wrinkle is already in the opposite direction. Then we change direction. Thus, we work out all the problem areas of the face:

• the nasolabial folds are “pulled up” with a smoothing movement of the finger and with light pinches along this fold we go down;
• “crow’s feet” we smooth with a finger towards the temple and return back to the outer corner of the eye already with tweezers;
• we smooth the interbrow with our fingers upwards and go down, making tweaks along it;
• wrinkles on the forehead are also plucked along in one direction and smoothed out in the opposite direction.

During the performance of these manipulations, slight hyperemia and slight reddening of the skin are possible – this is normal and passes quickly.

Lifting effect

One of the most effective and simple lifting movements allows you to effectively work out the muscles of the face, especially the masticatory muscles, which are painfully tense for many. To do this, while exhaling, we tilt our head to the side – this is how we stretch the muscles of the neck. If we tilt to the right, then we will work on the face with the right hand. We hug ourselves with this hand behind the head and begin, as it were, to tap on the face, fingering, in the direction from the center to the ear.

Movements should be fast, vigorous and deep. We grab the muscle (not the skin!) and pull it up. Next, we move the hand a little higher and with the same movements, but more gently, we work with the temporal zone and the forehead area. We then do the same with the other side of the face.

In this position, you can additionally make patting movements with your palm with a shift in muscle tissue: we grab the muscles no longer alternately with our fingers, but all at once, and pull them up. We move from the lower jaw along the cheekbone in the direction of the ear.

We act comprehensively

Since the muscles form a single system, the impact on some of them affects the work of others. By massaging the scalp, we not only relax and tone it, but also, as it were, “raise” the tissues of the face.

Gently grab the hair near the forehead with your fingers and in a circular motion pull it back a little to the back of the head. Without discomfort, pain and pulling sensations – everything should be pleasant. Then we take the next strands and do the same, moving from the forehead to the back of the head over and over again.

Self-massage of the collar zone, along with a pleasant relaxing effect, allows you to activate the metabolic processes of the entire head area, and also relieves headaches.

We stroke the muscles of the neck from top to bottom, gently and with little effort. You can also use your fingers to massage the muscles of the neck, located directly along the spine – they are easy to find, since they are usually very tense. We make circular movements with the fingertips, going down from top to bottom.

Just 5 minutes a day gives a noticeable result. By applying the cream, you can distribute it with such massage movements and combine business with pleasure – enhance the effect of cosmetic products and relax muscles, preventing the appearance of wrinkles. You can also do self-massage as a separate procedure for the prevention of age-related changes.