Could worrying about looking old actually make you look older? The short answer is yes. The good news is that premature facial aging is a process we can thankfully control. How? By getting at the root causes. While there are many variables in play, one predominant cause of facial aging is facial tension. Surprised? That’s because facial tension is a rarely discussed topic. So we want to help unpack all you need to know about facial tension in relation to stress and how you can slow down the process.
What Exactly is Facial Tension?
Tension, in general, is a phenomenon that manifests itself in different parts of the body, the face included. It’s a natural response to emotional and physical stress. Tension causes the muscles to stiffen and can be incredibly uncomfortable.
Facial tension refers to the tightening of your facial muscles, generally in response to emotional and/or physical stress. So, if you ever wondered how people can tell when you’re stressed, it may be because it’s written all over your face.
Facial Tension Beyond the Wrinkle
Every time you experience high degrees of stress and anxiety, your body naturally triggers hormones that, in turn, activate the sympathetic nervous system. This system consequently responds by causing your muscles to contract and become stiff in readiness for fight or flight. Some of the characteristic facial tension symptoms include;
- Dry, chapped lips
- Facial tingling
- Itchy and dry skin
- Facial reddening
- Breakouts and acne
- Headaches
Facial Tension in Relation to Facial Aging
Muscle and facial tension is the body’s natural response to stress and anxiety. With short, stiffened muscles come stressed tissue and the appearance of dynamic wrinkles. In a young person, these dynamic wrinkles bounce bank once muscles relax. However, over time with frequent or habitual muscle tension, the lines caused by the dynamic wrinkles will stick.
Managing Facial Tension
While you may not be able to control the amount of stress you experience, there are ways to control the way your brain and ultimately, your face responds to it. Try these tips to relax facial tension to help keep dynamic wrinkles from becoming a further source of stress and anxiety.
Find Ways to De-stress
Stress is the main reason you experience facial tension in the first place. Soak in a comforting essential oils bath after a long day at work, sleep enough, do yoga, practice mindfulness, or do whatever it is that helps you relax after a stressful time.
Facial Massage
Facial massage can quickly help ease muscle tension, relaxing dynamic wrinkles before they become wrinkles at rest. Today, you don’t have to seek out a specialized aesthetician to derive all the benefits of facial massage. You can ease face tension anytime, anywhere with a Solvasa Crystal Wand. It not only eases facial tension but also helps with under-eye puffiness, eases stress, and stimulates the pineal gland in the brain which has been shown to help improve memory and sleep patterns.
Relax the Jaw
Because the jaw is where most of the facial tension occurs, holding it here causes headaches, and even worse, TMJ. That why it’s important to learn to relax your jaw. While at it, also do the following;
- Maintain a peaceful expression
- Keep your neck long and relaxed
- Regular face massages
- Wear a night-guard to mitigate the effects of clenching your teeth while sleeping.
If we could, we’d all live in a stress-free world. But life happens and even happy people find themselves scowling, frowning, furrowing, clenching and squinting from time to time. The trick is to learn how to keep stress from becoming etched onto your face. Simple practices to stay in control over stress will keep it from taking control of you.
