We all love spa treatments. Facials, massages, and body treatments have been touted in the past as “luxuries,” but more research is backing these special treatments as vital to achieving optimal health, and not just another superfluous expense. Each treatment has a long list of health benefits, but today we are going to focus on one of the favorite parts of a facial: the facial massage and lymphatic drainage. Although there are many different techniques (just one quick search on YouTube yields hundreds of thousands of results), there are some common techniques that can help improve your skin, facial tone, and overall health.
What is facial massage?
Facial massage is not only a relaxing ritual, but it is an everyday part of a skin care routine in many places around the world, particularly in Asia. It is used by makeup artists to help prep skin for everything from red carpet events and photoshoots to runway shows. Consistently taking the time to massage the 43 muscles in the face can help with aging, acne, and overall tone to keep your face lifted, tight, and radiant.
Aging
Aging is not just about lines and wrinkles; it is also exhibited by sagging muscles in the face. By regularly massaging your face, you exercise the muscles, which leads to lifting, toning, and firming. When your facial muscles are more toned, your skin appears more taut and it can prevent wrinkles from forming.
Acne
Facial massage helps the skin rid the body of toxins. Toxins lingering in the skin can cause acne, so the more consistently you massage, the more efficient you will become at eliminating toxins and reducing breakouts.
Tone
Movement in the facial muscles encourages blood flow, which transports nutrients to the skin and keeps it healthy and supple. With consistent massage, your complexion will appear brighter, more even, and less puffy. Your skin will be softer with increased cell renewal, and you will have that enviable, youthful glow.
When your facial muscles are massaged, they are not only being toned and lifted, but also relaxed. Think of it like the muscles in your body: when you work out, you tone your muscles, but regularly stretching and massaging them will help them stay strong and lean. As your facial muscles are relaxed, it will soften expression lines around your eyes, lips, and brows.
What is lymphatic drainage?
Lymphatic drainage is a key part of our immune system as one of the limited ways the body has to excrete toxins. The lymphatic system traps and flushes toxins, but does not have a pump to move the fluid. The movement of the body is responsible for ensuring that toxins do not stagnate in the lymph. There are many lymph nodes in your face and neck to protect you from bacteria that may enter through the eyes, nose, and mouth. By stimulating lymphatic drainage, you can reduce swelling and pain and stimulate your immune system, increasing the circulation of white blood cells. You may notice that as an effect of more active drainage, your face and neck have decreased puffiness, making your face appear thinner and revealing more of your face’s natural contours.
Massage vs. Drainage: Are they the same?
Massage and lymphatic drainage differ mostly in the direction and amount of pressure you will be using. Lymphatic drainage only requires you to use an extremely light pressure, whereas a massage is going to be using medium to firm pressure. Because the natural direction of lymphatic drainage is downwards, this is the way you will be guiding the assisted drainage. Massage techniques typically recommend upward and outward movements. Massage is much more common than lymphatic drainage, as all estheticians are trained in multiple types of massage, but not everyone is certified in lymphatic drainage. While massage encourages lymphatic drainage by stimulating the lymph and blood flow, they are related but not the same.
Performing At Home
Just like getting regular facial peels from your esthetician, you need to do home maintenance to get the best, prolonged results. A few minutes a day will make a huge difference in your facial appearance. Mornings are great for lymphatic drainage to help encourage the fluids that have accumulated in your face overnight to drain out. When you apply your eye cream, take your ring fingers to the outer corners of your eyes, trace towards the inner tear duct, up around the brow bone, and in to the inner corner of the eye again. Many people make the mistake of thinking you should be encouraging drainage away from the eyes towards the temple, however the drainage point for the eyes is at the tear duct. From here, lightly trace your fingers down your sinuses and trace your cheekbone to the outside of your face. Continue bringing your fingers down to your jaw line and down your neck to the collarbone before repeating. Continue this movement with very light pressure to help eliminate morning puffiness.
Performing a facial massage is easy to incorporate into your nighttime routine, when you are applying your heavier moisturizer. This will not only help your face’s physical structure, but also reduce anxiety and relieve stress before going to bed. Using your ring and middle fingers, make small circular movements that move upwards and outwards. Begin at the chin and continue the small circular movements along the jaw line to the outside of the face. Repeat a few times as you move upward and from the middle of the face to the sides. Continue until you have reached the top of your forehead. Finish by stimulating pressure points to drain sinus pressure and relieve tension headaches. Using your fingers and focusing on one area at a time, apply light and continuous pressure to the area between the brows, temples, notches in the jaw, and center of the chin.
Do you regularly give yourself facial massages? Let us know your favorite way to incorporate them into your day in the comments below!
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