This week I’ll show you a quick and easy cheek lift massage. When your cheeks are lifted, naturally you see less nasolabial lines.
Let’s loosen modiolus which is a fibromuscular structure next to and slightly above the corners of your mouth. This is a where eight facial muscles meet and when they are tight, it can sag and make your nasolabial lines more visible. When you loosen muscles it helps to loosen the muscle attachment sites. Here you are helping to loosen all eight facial muscles that are converging here.
This is my before picture.
Wash your hands and pinch your modiolus with your thumb from the inside and index finger from the outside. Close your mouth so your upper and lower teeth are touching lightly. Move up and down 30 times. You can make circles too. Since some people have dimples in this area, this is sometimes called dimple shakes in Japan.
Here’s how it looks after 30 dimple shakes. I think my right side of my mouth is slightly lifted.
Now bite or clench to locate the bite muscles called masseter. Put your thumb deeper until you feel the bone. Pinch the bite muscles with your thumb from the inside and index finger from the outside. Close your mouth so your upper and lower teeth are touching lightly. Move up and down the bit muscles 30 times. You can make circles too. You may find this very tight and sore if you tend to clench or grind your teeth at night.
Here’s how it looks after shaking bite muscles. I think my right side is little bit more lifted.
I will do the same on the left side. First pinch the modiolus and move up and down 30 times. You don’t have to squeeze when you pinch. Just pinch firm enough to move the modiolus.
Let’s shake the bite muscles 30 times on the left side. I find my left side is tighter probably because I tend to bite food using the left side than the right side. I need to chew more on the right side. This helps if you have TMJ too.
This is after the left side is treated. I think the corners of my mouth and cheeks are lifted enough to make the nasolabial lines less visible than before.
Let’s loosen few more muscles to see more results.
We will focus on the cheek muscles. First, levator labii superioris which lifts the upper lip upward.
Pinch this muscles with your index finger, side of your index finger or middle finger by your nose and your thumb. Our bodies are 3D and our muscles are overlapping with each other in layers. As you can see this muscle lies underneath other muscles. So don’t just pinch the skin. Grab firmly so you can grab this muscle. And move sideways 30 times. Move about half an inch on both sides.
Slightly move down and pinch the cheek muscles called zygomatic muscles. Again, grab hold of the muscles firmly and move sideways 30 times. These muscles are closer to the surface but you may have cheek fat over the muscles.
Repeat on the other side. Grab the levator labii superioris and move sideways 30 times. I keep saying 30 times but if you have more time, you can do 30 seconds instead for more results.
Slightly move down and grab your cheek zygomatic muscles and move sideways 30 times. Use enough grip to grab onto the muscles as you move sideways but not too strong to cause bruise on your face.
Finally, find a table to put your elbows on. Place the heel of your palm under the cheek bone and lean in so your cheek muscles are pressed upward. Hold for a count of 30 or 30 seconds. When you have your elbows on the table, there is no need to press your hands up into the cheek bones. Just lean in with your head weight and relax. Now I have a natural blush.
This is my final after picture. Not bad for the few minutes of gently moving muscles.
Since you stick your thumbs in your mouth, you can use gloves or just cut up the finger part of the gloves and use it on your thumb, or do this in a shower so you don’t have to worry about washing. Do this as needed or do this once everyday to see more consistent results.
Massage Monday #638 Quick Cheek Lift Massage http://bit.ly/mm-638