Seven Facial Exercises to Prevent Sagging Skin
The cosmetic industry has designed a wide variety of treatments to nourish our skin and minimize the damage caused by free radicals. However, did you know you can complement their effectiveness with facial exercises?
Although many of these products work well, they often don’t work on their own. Therefore, it’s necessary to complement them with other good habits such as a good diet and some exercises. Regarding the latter, we’ll look at facial exercises that, apparently, work the muscles in the face.
Although the evidence on their efficacy remains limited, there are currently some studies suggesting they’re beneficial for modestly improving the facial appearance of middle-aged women. If you want to do them, discover the options that we’ll give you below.
Facial exercises to avoid sagging skin and premature wrinkles
To date, there’s very little evidence on the effects of facial exercises in preventing aging. However, anecdotal data and testimonials suggest that its consistent practice can be beneficial in preventing sagging skin and premature wrinkles.
According to a Harvard Health Publishing post, these exercises don’t have instant effects on facial muscles and skin. It’s even difficult to establish whether they’re useful or not. Despite this, they’re believed to be helpful in reducing the appearance of thick scars, preventing sagging, and minimizing some early signs of aging.
Dr. Olbricht points out, in this same publication, that there’s really no problem in practicing this type of activity. They aren’t dangerous and don’t pose risks of negative effects. So, if you decide to incorporate them into your routine, you can opt for the following options.
1. Cheek exercises
- Inhale and then fill your cheeks with air. After this, tap them gently with the tips of your fingers.
- Try holding the pressure or 8 seconds and then release the air slowly.
- Another activity you can do is to twist your lips, first to the right side and then to the left.
- Finally, to get good results, you should make sure that both movements include pressure on the cheekbones.
2. Facial exercises for eye creases
- Form circles with your index fingers and thumbs, as if you were making fake eyeglasses.
- Put your fingers around your eyes and use them to tighten the skin around your eyes from top to bottom.
- Blink gently about 20 times, hold for a few seconds, and then relax.
- Another option is to place your index fingers on each of your eyebrows and press down.
- As you do this, try raising your eyebrows. Relax and repeat this 15 times to prevent skin from sagging on the upper eyelids.
3. Exercises for mouth creases
- Open your mouth widely and then close it. Complete 10 repetitions.
- Another exercise you can do is to pronounce the vowels out loud in a marked way. In other words, you should open your mouth as much as possible when pronouncing the vowels.
- Repeat 10 times.
- Lastly, rest.
4. Forehead exercises
- Put both of your hands on your forehead with the palms facing inward and stretch your skin outwards, as if you were sweeping.
- Relax your skin, rest 10 seconds, and repeat this exercise up to 15 times.
5. Neck exercise
- Keeping your gaze straight, place the tips of your fingers on the lower part of the neck, and push your skin downwards. Your head should be tilted back when doing this.
- Then, move your head forward and back and repeat this 6 to 8 times.
6. Exercise to avoid droopy eyebrows
- Put your index fingers under each eye. Both of them should be pointing towards your nose.
- Cover your teeth with your lips and begin to blink fast while looking up at the ceiling.
- Repeat this 3 times for 30 seconds.
7. Exercise for your double chin
- Adopt an upright position, either by standing up or sitting up straight in a chair.
- Move your head back and keep your gaze up. After this, make your mouth move as if you were chewing food.
- Do 15 repetitions.
Complement facial exercises
As a complement to these daily facial exercises, remember to be properly hydrated by drinking enough water and other healthy drinks. In addition, avoid overexposure to the sun and moderate habits such as drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging”,
- Van Borsel, J., De Vos, M. C., Bastiaansen, K., Welvaert, J., & Lambert, J. (2014, January 1). The effectiveness of facial exercises for facial rejuvenation: A systematic review. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 34(1), 22-27
- De Vos MC, Van den Brande H, Boone B, Van Borsel J, “Facial exercises for facial rejuvenation: a control group study”, Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2013;65(3):117-22.
