Here’s to the crazy ones! Even The Face Exercisers:
So one of the themes anyone researching health/wellness hacks runs into is that some of the ideas seem a little bit “out there”.
And one of those that did in a very funny way was Carole Maggio’s 80s-fantastic, “Facercise”.
Short of Kristen Wiig re-enacting an aerobics video from the same era, it’s probably one of the funniest wellness-style vids you’ll ever see.
And like many of the more “out-there” innovations, it all seemed like a joke.
-Until someone did a study…
Face Yoga Is Actually A Thing:
Now some of the results should raise questions, as one of the authors runs a small online school called (and I’m not kidding), “Face Yoga”.
What is the downward-dog pose for that?
However, this study probably wouldn’t have ended up in JAMA’s network if it were pure BS.
It also would be unlikely to use double-blind trials if it were, either.
So, What Did The Researchers Do?:
In a very small group of middle-aged women between 40 and 65, the subjects were given a set of exercises.
Specifically, 32 of them.
And for after training, these women were instructed to perform each for 1 minute to add up to a total of about 32 minutes every day,
For eight weeks.
Then for the next 20 weeks, they were instructed to space out the exercises to every other day.
20 Weeks Of Exercise, Surprising Results:
The results were then reviewed in double-blind fashion which is standard for all quality studies, by 2 dermatologists.
So why do this at all?
Well, for many of the same reasons that people get plastic surgery procedures.
As people age, the parts of their face that supported their features tend to change.
And in most cases this consists of the structures that make a face look round, chubby & young, thinning-out, losing volume, and seeming to make the face flatten and “fall down”.
So how do you fix this?
Fixing A Flattening Face:
Many people use plastic surgery face-lifts, injections, and other procedures like implants.
Well, doctor face yoga had a different idea.
Strangely, it turns out to be something very similar to what actors do to even out their features.
-What if you could lift your facial features & reshape or sculpt them using exercise like people getting pumped-up in a gym?
Guess what?
You Can Pump-Up Your Face Muscles Just Like Your Biceps!:
The results of this study show that you absolutely can!
Another interesting benefit is that the subjects may have even increased circulation and other healthy bodily processes involving repair & collagen, just by getting the area moving.
Even though the major effect of exercise would be volumizing & toning muscles that just became a little flat and flabby over time.
After having the portraits reviewed by dermatologists (but not plastic surgeons for some reason),
A standardized examination of 19 different facial features from photos at weeks 1, 9, and 20 called the Merz-Carruthers Scale,
Double-Blind Analysis Of 19 Different Features:
Showed that the participants reduced their apparent age by an average of 3 years, by doing exercises for only 20 weeks total.
Furthermore, one of the most-interesting parts of the results were that the areas most-improved were both parts of the Cheeks,
Both upper and Lower.
And except for crow’s feet, wrinkles and maybe a few smaller details,
Cheek position, roundness, and firmness is one of the key hallmarks of a younger face.
Cheek Position & Fullness Greatly-Improved, Naturally:
Now you can improve it without the use of surgery or weird injections.
This also gives people the luxury of less risk, and lower potential complications from fillers or anesthesia.
-Although Creatine might be an interesting addition, as it does volumize muscles.
One more hidden benefit is that study subjects might end up looking a bit more natural afterwards, too.
-Though nothing can guarantee a woman that she’ll get to look like Yazemeenah Rossi, though.
For that you don’t need face exercises; you need black magic…
Photo Credits: Low Impact Aerobics by, Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels, Don Roy King, NBC, and Michael Gottlieb
Links:
• Source: Northwestern
• via: BigThink
• Source Study: J.Dermatol- Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging
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