Yoga has been practiced as a health and wellness ritual for ages. We have seen the practice evolve and branch out into many different forms; the trendiest of them all being facial yoga. Face yoga are muscular exercises for the face targeted at face toning. Many influencers swear by it, claiming that it helped them achieve sharp cheekbones and jawlines (without surgical interference of course). But should you really jump on this bandwagon without doing your fair share of research? Let’s have a look at what dermatologists have to say about this famed practice.
What exactly is Facial Yoga?
The face is made up of more than fifty muscles and facial yoga is aimed at targeting them – tightening and toning their structure to make you look more youthful. We already know that yoga for the body has a lot of benefits, both physical and mental, but yoga offering benefits for the face is often debated in skincare circles. It is quite popular and social media can be blamed for that. According to Dr Jamuna Pai, Cosmetic Physician, Author, and Founder – SkinLab, “Facial yoga can help to lift and tone the muscles, which effectively softens and reduces fine lines and wrinkles on the face. The increased tonicity of the muscles further helps to naturally prevent sagging. Another benefit of facial yoga is it helps to also relax the mind. It has been an inexpensive, at-home, easy to do method to achieve a healthy, toned skin. The benefits that a simple 10-15 minute facial yoga brings about is what has made it such a rising trend.”
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Should you really put the effort into practising Facial Yoga?
So once you’ve perfected your Suryanamaskar, should you ditch your fillers and adopt facial yoga in your routine?
Dr Chytra Anand, Celebrity Cosmetic Dermatologist and Founder of Kosmoderma Clinics and SkinQ said, “You must remember that the muscles on the face are extremely thin, thinner than a sheet of paper and doing yoga or other exercises will not strengthen this to the degree of causing anti-ageing benefits for the skin, but it would only boost circulation and lymphatic drainage in a localised area.”
If done wrong, facial yoga can do more harm than good. Improper practice can accelerate your facial wrinkles and folds because of constant movement, leading to development of dynamic wrinkles.
Dr Pai further elaborated, “Facial yoga definitely works and has multiple benefits to it, provided one is consistent and regular with it. Having said that, facial exercises may not work as a mono therapy for anti ageing and would require other treatments and anti-ageing ingredients to complement it; but it definitely works.”
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What are the precautions to take with facial yoga?
If you have decided to try facial yoga, there are some precautions to keep in mind. Dr Pai revealed, “Quite a few superficial smaller muscles are inserted into the skin, which is why, when these underlying muscles are massaged, sometimes the overlying skin may get loose or crinkled. The massages need to be done to particular muscles in a particular manner for it to be beneficial.”
She further elaborated on the right technique of the practice, “Another thing to take care of while doing facial yoga is to ensure the posture of the neck, especially for people who have a pre-existing condition of vertigo or spondylitis. Overdoing facial yoga can also lead to over exertion and fatigue of the muscles”.
Make sure check with your respective physicians or someone qualified about the right movements and right muscles to target as there is a particular manner to massage the facial muscles.
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If not facial yoga, what should you put your trust into for anti-ageing benefits?
Dr Chytra adviced, “Overall the skin needs protection and nourishment for maintenance and in the long run repair for damage. If we can keep this concept in our mind and use our skincare appropriately then we can definitely maintain glowing healthy skin for a long period. In terms of including procedures it is mainly heat-based procedures using lasers, toning devices, ultrasound and RF devices to stimulate skin collagen production.”
According to Dr Pai,”Consistency is the key to a healthy, happy and youthful skin. A combination of at-home products and exercises along with in-clinic treatments and facials is what helps the skin to be healthy. Retinol based night creams, topped with moisturisers rich in peptides, niacinamide and other hydrating agents further help to delay, prevent or reverse signs of ageing. In-clinic treatments like micro-needling, fractional lasers, PRP treatments further help with the process of neocollagenesis that helps to rejuvenate the skin. Specific anti-ageing machine treatments with radio-frequency and/or ultrasound work wonders with skin laxity. Needless to say, always follow a routine guided by your skin care physician.
In conclusion, facial yoga can work for you if you perfect the right technique and stay committed to the practice. ‘Consistency’ is the only keyword here. You have to do it every day for a few months to see any kind of results. You also need to manage your expectations – while the practice can enhance skin glow and tone, it won’t miraculously turn back time on your skin ageing!
