Facial muscles – exercise. Aging process and care

The facial muscles, also known as the mimic muscles, are the group of head muscles located on the front and sides of the head. See what they are characterized by, how they age and how you can counteract it.

Facial muscles – the most important information

The facial muscles are mobile to some extent and are responsible for making simple movements with certain parts of the face. Among other things, facial muscles are responsible for our ability to:

1. blinking eyelids,
2. opening and moving the mouth gap,
3. cheek movements,
4. wrinkling of the skin on the forehead, chin and other parts of the face,
5. moving the eyebrows.

So the facial muscles are involved in our daily facial expressions and movements that produce sounds, such as speaking, whistling or singing.

Facial muscles attach to the skin or mucosa and cause the skin to move as it contracts and expands. All facial muscles, except for the cheek muscle, are devoid of fascia, i.e. a membrane consisting of compact fibrous connective tissue. The facial muscles are innervated by the facial nerve, built mainly from motor fibers, and to a small extent also from sensory and parasympathetic fibers. There are 22 facial muscles.

Facial muscles and the aging process

Aging is associated with, among other things, the process of weakening the body’s muscles. This also applies to the facial muscles that move the skin of our face. These muscles support the natural, oval shape of our face, give it distinctive features and make us look young. Unfortunately, with age, facial muscles degenerate and our appearance begins to age.

One way to stop the symptoms of aging is to streamline your facial muscles. For this purpose, it is recommended to regularly use exercises or massages for the facial muscles. Such exercises consist in causing contractions of the facial muscles. Their implementation is not burdensome for the body and does not require specialist knowledge or access to technology.

Facial muscle exercises

Regular exercise of the facial muscles prevents them from wasting and therefore helps you stay young for longer. In addition, it improves the condition of the skin, stimulating blood circulation and cell function. Below we present a few exercises for the facial muscles that each of us can do on their own.

1. The first exercise is intended for people with sloping mouth corners. Put your index fingers to your mouth on both sides. Moving them to the sides, stretch the lips to both sides. Stretch them until they offer considerable resistance. Then pull them back and arrange them in a so-called spout.
2. Another exercise counteracts the formation of wrinkles on the forehead. To do them, put your fingers on the outside of the eyebrows. Pressing them with your fingers against the skin, try to wrinkle them at the same time so that they resist. Maintain this state for a few seconds.
3. The next exercise will work on the muscles and skin of the lower jaw. Make a so-called spout with your mouth and try to point it to the left and then to the right. Also try to make circular movements with such pursed lips.
4. This exercise is designed for the muscles in the neck, chin, jaw, and mouth. Raise your head up. Then make your mouth pout and pull down your chin. Hold this position for a few seconds.
5. Another of the proposed exercises affects the muscles around the mouth and is used by many actors and actresses. To perform them, you must pronounce the vowels a, e, i, o, u one after the other with your mouth as open as possible. This exercise relaxes the muscles and the skin around the lips.
6. A good exercise for the cheek muscles is “pumping” the mouth with air. We should puff our cheeks as if we were taking a mouth full of water. Thanks to this, we tighten and relax the cheek muscles. Several repetitions of this exercise should be performed.
7. A frequently used exercise to lift drooping cheeks is to massage them. To do this, make circular movements with your fingertips along the surface of the cheeks, and point them upwards, i.e. in the opposite direction to the wrinkles.

Performing the above exercises, especially in the form of massage, can be combined with beauty rituals. When massaging the facial muscles, you can use essential oils or moisturizing oils, as well as creams or tonics. The massage performed in this way will not only affect the facial muscles, it will also improve the level of absorption of cosmetics and have a positive effect on the skin’s blood supply and oxygenation. For face massage, you can use, for example, the Dermofuture travel sonic facial brush.