Express Yourself By Cheryl Alker

Take one pot of cream, apply sparingly to the whole body, use gentle upward strokes, pat cream gently into the skin with your fingertips to fragile areas and ensure you do not drag the skin as you work.  Apply morning and night maybe use a heavier cream at night, give the cream a week to work its magic and Voila! No more visits to the gym, no more back-breaking workouts, no more early starts to fit a workout into your already too busy schedule and definitely no more pitiful looks as your personal trainer asks you for one more set!!

There you have it “Magic in a Jar” the perfect toned and flexible body that you’ve always wanted and just by applying cream morning and night.  No?  It works for my face doesn’t it?

Why is it we treat from the neck down one way and from the neck up in a completely different manner and expect them both to look equally fit and healthy?  Surely the two are made differently? The last time I checked they were both made up of bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood, veins, arteries, skin etc.  So why no daily exercise routine for the face?

Some might argue that the face gets enough work through everyday expressions, talking, chewing etc. but surely my arms, legs, abdominals get equally as much work just moving me from A to B let alone how many times I carry, lift push, and reach in one day.  Our most exposed and viewed area of our entire body and we leave its health, wellbeing and aesthetics to a pot or two of cream, surely not?!

FACE FACTS

• There are fifty-seven muscles of the face and neck which are all connected in a striated, quilt-like structure that lies just below the surface of the skin.  Interwoven by fibers, the muscles are attached to each other, to the bone, and to the skin.
• Facial muscles work synergistically to help you do everything from smiling frowning to chewing, whistling, breathing and even swallowing.
• Every expression you make, as well as every emotion and reaction you experience is displayed on your face because of the connection of these muscles to specific cranial nerves whose nuclei lay within the brain stem.
• Scientists believe that the muscles of the face and neck are unique because of their involuntary link to your emotional processes.
• It is also believed that no other animal has evolved as complex a set of facial muscles as humans have.
• When a muscle is contracting the supply of blood is ten times greater than it is to a muscle at rest.
• Fresh blood supply delivers vital oxygen and nutrients to the skin and revitalizes the tissues.

As if a naturally youthful appearance wasn’t reason enough for you to give your face its daily workout you might like to consider alleviating TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder and neck and shoulder pain.

TMJ DISORDER

TMJ disorder affects millions of Americans.  This extremely painful disorder stems from an unwanted deviation of the jaw when opening the mouth.  TMJ disorder usually occurs when the teeth are misaligned or a person suffers an injury, such as a blow to the face or an indirect trauma, such as whiplash, which causes a displacement of the cartilage where the jaw is attached to the skull.  This displacement in turn causes a painful sense of pressure and stretching of the associated sensory nerves.  Another condition known as bruxism, which is an abnormal grinding of the teeth, is also a leading cause of TMJ disorder.  Facial exercises are used to help reeducate the jaw to open correctly, thus alleviating many of these symptoms.

NECK AND SHOULDER PAIN

Postural alignment problems due to short tight muscles can force the head out of neutral so it is carried a little too far forward.  Walk into any office and note the head position of each person at a computer.  The shoulders rolled forward, chest collapsed and jaw jutting forward can put a huge amount of strain on the cervical vertebrae in the neck.  Our head weighs anything from 4.5 to 5kgs and constitutes around 8% of our whole body mass.  That is an awful amount of pressure bearing down on our cervical vertebrae if the head is not properly aligned, hence the millions of Americans who seek pain relief from neck and shoulder tension.  A good facial program should address the position of the head to the shoulder girdle and include flexibility exercises for this area.

So there you have it, it would seem much may be gained by a daily workout for your facial muscles, so why do we still rely solely on a pot of cream?

Firstly, until they become familiar, the exercises are difficult and clumsy to perform.

Secondly, the majority of exercise professionals finish their training at the neck which in turn means that facial classes or advice on facial exercises/neck and shoulder girdle alignment is not readily available at your local gym.

The internet is a wonderful tool and a simple google on Facial Exercises will lead you to some fine examples of how they work and professionals who specialize in this field. Many gyms are prepared to listen though, so maybe the next time you are sitting mindlessly on that bike or walking up yet another incline on the treadmill you might consider asking your trainer/gym how you might include a workout for 57 of your finest muscles – the ones you use to express yourself!  Now that’s something to smile about!