Ways to Fix Wrinkles Without Surgery

One of the most discouraging aspects of aging is the loss of elasticity in your skin, which produces wrinkles on your face. The good news is that, unlike other muscles in the body, your facial muscles are attached directly to your skin. So by exercising your facial muscles, you can reduce many of those annoying wrinkles without having to resort to surgery.

Facial Exercises

Several facial exercises, presented by Thomas V. Hagerty at ShapeYourFace.com, have been found to be helpful in reducing wrinkles. For each of these exercises, it is recommended that you begin by moistening the skin with water, oil or a facial moisturizer.

Fixing Wrinkles Around The Eyes

The area around the eyes is often the first place wrinkles form, because the skin there is the thinnest and most delicate on your body. The simplest way to exercise the muscles surrounding the eyes is to wink. But for this exercise, you'll close your eye only part-way, because closing it tightly may deepen those crow's feet instead of remedying them. Hold the wink for one second, open your eye wide, and then repeat the wink. Depending on your comfort level, do up 50 reps of this wink on each eye once or twice a day.

Fixing Wrinkles on the Front of the Neck

The front of the neck is another area that shows the signs of aging early on. Start this exercise in either a sitting or standing position. Tilt your head back slightly, keeping your chin and nose centered. Press your tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth. This will tighten all the muscles along the front of your neck. Keeping your tongue against the roof of the mouth, lower your chin toward your neck. To check if your form is correct, make sure the muscle at the top of your neck directly below your chin (known as the platysma muscle) feels tense as you raise and lower your head. Repeat the exercise as often as you like; just be careful not to overwork the muscles.

Fixing Forehead Wrinkles

Exercising your scalp is very effective in treating forehead wrinkles. Unfortunately, this is also the most difficult facial exercise. There are two basic movements to this exercise. The first involves raising and lowering your eyebrows, using the muscles at the front of your head. The second motion involves contracting the muscles at the back of your head, causing your ears to move back and forth. If you're having difficulty doing this second motion (women find it harder than men), try lying down with your head on a pillow. By feeling whether your ears move against the pillow, you can tell if you're contracting the correct muscles. This will help you gain more control as you practice. Doing only five to 10 repetitions won't do much for you. Try to build up to roughly five minutes of repeating this exercise.