Some people may be concerned about the sagging skin around their face, saying things like, “I feel like my face has gotten bigger recently,” or, “I noticed my face sagging during online conferences.” To improve the sagging skin around your face, it is important to identify the cause and then take appropriate care.
This article will explain in detail the causes of facial sagging, self-care methods, and treatment methods available at beauty clinics. If you want to get a beautiful face line by slimming down the area around your face, be sure to read this article.
What is Puffiness Around the Face?
What does it mean when someone says that their face is sagging? For example, here are some examples:
- A condition in which loose skin appears to hang down from the face line
- The face line is stretched and looks voluminous
- The boundary between the face and neck is unclear
When the previously firm face line starts to sag or gain volume, the area around the face looks sagging. In addition, as nasolabial folds become more prominent, you may also notice the sagging of the face line. With online conferences becoming more commonplace recently, it seems that there are many cases where people notice changes for the first time when they see their face from an angle they have never seen before.
6 Reasons Why Your Face Looks Puffy
There are six reasons why the area around the face becomes sagging. Since there are various reasons, it is important to first identify the cause in order to take appropriate measures.
1. Facial swelling
If your face is swollen, it can make the area around your face look bloated. If you notice bloating around your face the day after eating a high-salt meal or drinking alcohol, this is likely the cause. Similarly, people who don’t sweat much on a regular basis or who are prone to swelling due to menstrual symptoms may also have days when their face looks dull.
To prevent swelling, it is recommended to actively eat almonds, cucumbers, wakame seaweed, etc., which are rich in potassium, which helps excrete salt.
2. Weakened facial muscles
One of the causes of puffiness around the face is weakening of facial muscles.
Facial muscles are the collective name for the cutaneous muscles that run from the head to the face and neck. There are more than a dozen different types, and they combine in complex ways to create human facial expressions.
People who do not use their facial muscles much, who have the habit of breathing through their mouths, and those whose physical strength has weakened with age are more likely to have weaker facial muscles. When the muscles weaken, they are no longer able to support the skin, which can make the area around the face look saggy.
Additionally, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has meant wearing masks for long periods of time, could also be a cause of weakening of facial muscles.
3. Poor posture
If you continue to slouch/bend, the muscles in your neck and shoulders that support your heavy head will be constantly tense, which will impair lymphatic flow, causing swelling and making your face look dull.
In addition, slouching causes the head to be positioned too far forward, which can lead to skeletal distortion and poor tooth alignment.
4. Collagen loss
A decrease in facial collagen is also a cause of sagging skin around the face. Collagen gives the skin firmness and elasticity, but when it decreases or deteriorates, it cannot support the skin, resulting in sagging.
Factors that cause collagen loss include aging, ultraviolet rays, and dryness.
5. Fat accumulation and sagging
Other causes of facial sagging include fat accumulation and sagging. When fat accumulates in the face due to overeating or lack of exercise, the weight of the fat causes the skin to sag, blurring the boundary between the face and neck.
In addition, even if there is no significant change in the amount of fat, the fat that was originally attached may sag due to aging. This is because the collagen that previously supported the skin decreases and can no longer support the fat.
6. Loss of bone density in the face
The sagging around the face is also affected by a decrease in bone density. The facial bones function as a foundation to support the skin, fat, and muscles. When bone density decreases, they are unable to support these, which is why the area around the face sagging.
Factors that cause bone density loss in the face include aging, excessive dieting, illness, the effects of taking medication, etc. Bone density decreases when cells that break down old bone become more active than cells that create new bone.
Check the Degree of Bulkiness Around the Face
If you can’t determine whether or not you have puffiness around your face, check the items below to see how puffy your face is.
- Check the degree of bulkiness around the face
- Nasolabial folds are prominent
- The corners of the mouth are downturned
- The lines extending from the corners of the mouth to the chin (marionette lines) are prominent
- Easily pinch the skin on the back of your neck
- Easily pinch the skin under your chin
- No boundary between chin and neck
- The face is asymmetrical
- The outline appears to be squared off.
- When you look down, the highest point of your cheeks changes.
If any of these apply to you, it’s a sign that the sagging around your face is getting worse. Try the self-care methods introduced below.
Self-Care to Make Your Face Look Slimmer: 5 Ways
Here are five ways to reduce puffiness around your face.
1. Relax your facial muscles
If you feel your face is puffy or your facial muscles are weakening, try loosening the muscles first. By eliminating swelling and loosening stiff muscles, you will feel a refreshed feeling around your face.
– Lift the entire face [Temporal muscle stretch]
The muscle above the ear is called the temporalis muscle. The temporalis muscle is used to move the lower jaw, so it can be said to be a muscle related to the facial line. By loosening this area, you can lift your face and create a youthful impression.
Procedure
- Place your index finger, middle finger, and ring finger on your temples and press firmly.
- Lift it up and wait for 30 seconds
Press your temples with just the right amount of pressure, without pressing too hard.
– Loosen the muscles in the front of the neck [Platysma Stretch]
Recently, the number of people who cannot put down their smartphones and always keep their necks down is increasing. As a result, many people have stiff muscles in the front of their neck. In particular, the platysma muscle, which is attached from the collarbone to the chin, is an important muscle that affects the sluggishness around the face. By loosening this muscle, the face line will look tighter.
Procedure
- Hook the index finger to the little finger of your right hand around your right collarbone.
- Place your left hand on the right side of your face and look diagonally upwards to the right.
- Press your collarbone down with your right hand and your chin up with your left hand to stretch your platysma for 30 seconds.
Breathe slowly and stretch as far as you can.
Also, when looking at your smartphone, it is important to hold the screen in front of your face to avoid straining your neck. Try to maintain good as much as possible when doing posture desk work or studying.
2. Exercise your facial muscles
If you don’t use your facial muscles much, or if you feel that they have weakened due to wearing a mask, try the following exercise. If you consciously train your facial muscles, the area around your face will look slimmer. However, excessive exercise of your facial muscles may deepen wrinkles. Be careful not to overdo it.
– Strengthen the muscles around the mouth [orbicularis oris muscle training]
If you don’t use the orbicularis oris muscle around your mouth, the corners of your mouth will droop. If you make a conscious effort to move it on a daily basis, your lips will lift and you will maintain a youthful appearance.
Procedure
- Place a chopstick under your nose, make an “U” shape with your lips without dropping it, and keep it there for 30 seconds.
- Next, place the chopstick in your mouth and hold it in the letter “I” shape for 30 seconds.
- Do the same movement 3 times a day
– Strengthen the muscles that open your eyes [levator palpebrae superioris training]
Sagging of the orbicularis oculi muscle can also lead to sagging of the cheeks and face line, so it is important to train this area as well.
Procedure
- Close your eyes tightly and focus on the back of your eyes.
- Hold your forehead with both hands and open your eyes wide
- Move your eyes left and right
- Repeat the same exercise 2-3 times
The key to training the levator palpebrae superioris is to be conscious of not moving your forehead. By training the levator palpebrae superioris muscle, which is used when opening your eyes, you will be able to open your eyes without using the muscles in your forehead, which will also help prevent wrinkles.
3. Consciously stop mouth breathing
Weakened facial muscles make you more likely to breathe through your mouth. Simply being conscious of and correcting mouth breathing will help train your mouth and eliminate the bulkiness around your face.
In addition to the mouth training mentioned above, we also recommend incorporating mewing. Mewing is training your tongue to return it to its correct position. The correct position for the tongue is when it is attached to the upper palate and does not touch the front teeth However, when the tongue muscles weaken, the position of the tongue drops and moves away from the upper palate or sticks to the front teeth.
To return it to the correct position, lift the base of your tongue and keep it attached to the roof of your mouth, being careful not to just place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth or push your tongue against your front teeth .
4. Full body exercises and stretches
As mentioned earlier, the causes of sagging around the face include poor posture and fat accumulation. To improve these problems, full-body exercises and stretches are effective. Strengthening your muscles will help you maintain good posture and improve the accumulation of excess fat.
If you don’t usually exercise much, start by stretching to loosen up your stiff muscles. Here are some basic stretches to improve your posture.
– Eliminate rounded shoulders [shoulder blade stretch]
When you slouch, your shoulder blades spread apart and your shoulder bones fall forward from their correct position. Try the following stretches to bring your shoulder blades together and return your shoulders to the correct position.
Procedure
- Stand with your back and heels against a wall, raise both arms and turn your palms forward, then stretch as if drawing your shoulder blades together.
- Extend your arms up the wall and lower them until your elbows are bent at 90 degrees.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 about 5 times.
If you inhale at number 1 and exhale at number 2, you will relax your body and increase the stretching effect.
– Soften your back [erector spinae stretch]
The erector spinae, which runs from the spine to the hips, is a muscle necessary for keeping the upper body straight. If you continue to slouch, this muscle will become stiff and it will become difficult to straighten your back. Stretching will help stretch muscles that are not normally used, and will help you correct your slouch.
Procedure
- Get on all fours with your hands and knees shoulder-width apart, then inhale and slowly arch your back.
- As you exhale, slowly curve your spine as if you are looking toward your navel.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 about five times while breathing deeply.
You can stretch your erector spinae muscles by being aware of looking up when doing step 1 and looking toward your belly button when doing step 2. This is a part of the body that doesn’t move much in everyday life, so be careful not to move it too much and hurt your back or waist.
5. Improve your hairstyle and makeup
It takes time to reduce the puffiness around your face, so try different hairstyles and makeup until you see results.
For example, one way to do this is to choose a hairstyle that effectively covers your face line. A tip is to get your hair cut at a hair salon so that the silhouette is diamond-shaped, which will draw the eye to the center of your face and reduce the bulkiness around your face. Also, when styling your hair, adding volume to the top of your hair will give the impression that your face is lifted.
When it comes to makeup, try incorporating shading. Using a light shade in a color that matches your skin will make your face look smaller.
First, apply shade from the chin to the jawline and blend it naturally with a brush. Next, apply vertical shading to the neck and blend it in to eliminate any bulkiness on the lower half of the face.
Also, take measures against UV rays and moisturize every day to prevent collagen loss. It is also important to take in calcium and vitamin D to prevent bone loss.
If You Can’t Improve Your Sluggishness on Your Own, Consult a Beauty Clinic
So far, the causes of puffiness around the face and how to care for it yourself have been introduced.
Some people may have some concerns but are unable to determine if they are the real cause, or may not see results from self-care, or may want to see results quickly. In such cases, we recommend counseling with a specialist at a beauty clinic. Not only will the cause be clarified, but you will also be able to learn specific ways to improve. By consulting a doctor, you will be able to find a clue to solving your problem.
Conclusion
There are various causes of facial bloating, so in order to improve it, you need to take appropriate self-care measures for each situation. Self-care measures such as stretching and training do not show immediate results, so it is a good idea to continue doing them and also consider changing your hairstyle and makeup.
If you don’t see any results or you’re having trouble figuring out the cause, one option is to receive counseling from a specialist at a beauty clinic.