Nasolabial lines

[uneek]

I have been flexing for years. These nasolabial lines just never seem to get any better. Right after doing my reps they look so much better.. .and after I pull off my frownies in the morning the area is smooth... but they go right back to the way they were. Any suggestions for lasting improvement???

[tessie2016]

Jun 20, 2016 15:46:15 GMT -5 uneek said:

I have been flexing for years. These nasolabial lines just never seem to get any better. Right after doing my reps they look so much better.. .and after I pull off my frownies in the morning the area is smooth... but they go right back to the way they were. Any suggestions for lasting improvement???

For me I always thought I'd have NLs. My mother had them and hers had them too. It wasn't till I did cross stretching that my hubby mentioned that they were lessening. I thought he was mad but ran to the mirror and they weren't anywhere near as deep as they were. However I know when I smile, they are visible, but when I stop smiling they aren't visible.  The fact that when you pull the frownies off the area is smooth seems to suggest (to me anyhow) that maybe you are making an expression that creates the NLs.

[Deb]

Jun 20, 2016 15:46:15 GMT -5 uneek said:

I have been flexing for years. These nasolabial lines just never seem to get any better. Right after doing my reps they look so much better.. .and after I pull off my frownies in the morning the area is smooth... but they go right back to the way they were. Any suggestions for lasting improvement???

Hey uneek!

Work this combination: EVERY DAY!

NASOLABIAL LINES:  
  
(1) Pressure Reps:

AREA: Press along /down the side of your nose (in the crease between the nose and cheek) and move outward.

Use the heel (outer corner) of your palm; pressing extremely firm, work outward toward the center (top) of the cheekbone.

You are not only thickening the bone (the platform of area targeted) but you are also thickening (through pressure) the muscles that will directly LIFT that area.

work area as long as comfortable.
________________________________

(2) Resistance Training:

Negatives ONLY

CANINE – NEGATIVE pg 123
I want you to do ONE SIDE AT A TIME… This will increase the negative affect to maximum (pulling in ALL the targeted area muscles) 

No less than 3-5 sets / 6 sec. count (each side)

________________________________

(3) Cross Stretching:

Directly over the NL crease.

________________________________

(4) Topical Aid:

For erasing the line once area has lifted
Retin-A or VIT. C Serum: your call.

________________________________

Please take a photo of area BEFORE you start this … give it a few weeks and take another one.

BTW you can add ANYTHING else you like... your call on how much you can handle... or just do this by itself for a few weeks...But, doing just this combination without adding anything else, will really build your believability in Pressure Reps etc. 

[bejou1959]

Hi Deb,


Regarding the advice you gave Uneek for nasolabial folds: 


Hey uneek!



Work this combination: EVERY DAY!



NASOLABIAL LINES:



(1) Pressure Reps:



AREA: Press along /down the side of your nose (in the crease between the nose and cheek) and move outward.



Use the heel (outer corner) of your palm; pressing extremely firm, work outward toward the center (top) of the cheekbone.



You are not only thickening the bone (the platform of area targeted) but you are also thickening (through pressure) the muscles that will directly LIFT that area.



work area as long as comfortable.

________________________________



(2) Resistance Training:



Negatives ONLY



CANINE – NEGATIVE pg 123

I want you to do ONE SIDE AT A TIME… This will increase the negative affect to maximum (pulling in ALL the targeted area muscles)



No less than 3-5 sets / 6 sec. count (each side)



________________________________



(3) Cross Stretching:



Directly over the NL crease. 


Would this same technique work for marionette lines too? I'm starting to notice deep folds from the mouth corners down to the chin. I'd love some "Extra" help to fix this area.


Thanks,
Linda

[Sean]

Not Deb, but with marionette lines I've found that these are quite easy to remove.  Firstly, often times iwth marionettes it can be partially due to the triangularis overbuilding.  This is the muscle that pulls the mouth corners down into a sad face expression.  Believe it or not, when you do the triangul exercises these often times lessen that fold and people notice that the folds initially lessen and fill in somewhat, albeit in the beginning this seems a temporary short fix, as time progresses, the results last longer and longer.

Now the Furrow Lift exercise is another that helps to lessen the folds of the MLs too.  The focus here really is on pulling the tissue from the jawline by contracting all the accessory muscles along the jawline.  Along with the muscles that lift up the cheeks too - as when any muscles slacken they create the face falling downwards.

Now the pressure reps are a must for the whole face - and this includes the jawline too and will help.  The bone remodelling is a factor that you don't see a lot of other programs discussing and its such a key part as to the way the face ages.  Of course, massage, massage, massage is another element for the MLs.

Feb 15, 2018 16:11:59 GMT -5 bejou1959 said:

Would this same technique work for marionette lines too? I'm starting to notice deep folds from the mouth corners down to the chin. I'd love some "Extra" help to fix this area.

Thanks,

Linda

[bejou1959]

Hi Sean,


Thanks for your reply. I've been doing the Flex Effect (FE) for about 7 weeks now. 5 days on 2 days off. I know these little folds of skin (on either side of my mouth corners down to the chin) are due to FE because I didn't have them before I started. And they are now really bad to the point that friends (close to me) have mentioned them!! 


I'm aware of the warning that the triangularis muscle is easily overbuilt. So when I started this workout again,  I pretty much avoided doing exercise 23 Triangul completely for this reason.

I have a feeling that I'm using this muscle while doing some of the other lower face/mouth workouts. There are a lot of lower face/mouth workouts  in the FE program.


I'm afraid to do the Furrow Lift #24 because I am worried that the triangularis muscle might still get a workout. Is there a way to target the Risorius muscle without engaging the triangularis muscle?


Thanks,

Linda
P.S. I massage my face everyday and perform the pressure reps and jolting at least 4 times a week. I might increase the pressure reps to everyday or twice a day. Would that help?

[Sean]

Okay 7 weeks is still relatively early yet, so don’t despair as this is indeed a change in progress. Now a lot of people overbuild their triangularis muscle, for some it is a very strong muscle and I’ve overbuilt it several times. It is as you say, likely, that you may be engaging this muscle throughout other exercises. That’s very common and I have seen people mistakeningly overdo the triangula exercise because of its simplicity.


Now with the triangularis, one of the things that I have found repeatedly is that where it does build and over engage, its usually holding a lot of stress. So with a lot of clients, when I teach them this exercise they often, like you, begin thinking its not an exercise to be done. That’s however a mistake. You see in doing the exercise, and if it overbuilds you need only do one or two reps minimum, you will destress that muscle. So with exercising the face, you want to exercise all the muscles but you want to do so to the point of keeping them healthy. Neglecting muscles isn’t necessarily a good idea.

Now at 7 weeks in, Im thinking its better for you to back off and take a break from exercises to allow the areas to recuperate and any overbuilt muscles will start to even out and rebalance. Then you can reintroduce the exercises – but think about doing the triangularis exercises because they are there for good reason.

Whilst there are exercises for the lower face, and they can seem to be a lot – they are there for good reason. You see other programs sometimes neglect the lower facial muscles, but this doesn’t rehabilitate the face – it simply creates a further imbalance which often the body tries to recorrect to the best of its ability.  The triangularis exercises aren't just about that muscle, they also have other benefits such as at times, lifting the mouth corners (often for those that engage it throughout their days they have a tendancy to pull down their mouth corners unconsciously).  By doing this exercise, they release that motion and expression from their faces and the mouth corner lifts upwards.  

Now with furrow lift – yes it will impact the triangularis muscle but it will also impact all the accessory muscles of the jawline, and the actual contraction will pull and strengthen the ML area and so it should lessen somewhat when you do that exercise. There are ways of targeting the risorius muscles but to some degree, often times its such a weak muscle that other muscles like the triangularis muscles jump in to try and pick up some of the tension of that muscle. They try to over compensate for the weaker muscles. This is why we go after all the muscles – because we want to establish all the muscles as being fit, strong and healthy. However with muscles that overbuild, it doesn’t mean neglect them, rather keep them healthy and toned without going to overbuild.

Now I’ve overbuilt my triangularis several times – and due to the nature of sessions sometimes my triangularis bulks up and it creates what looks like a kind of jowl formation. When that happens, I simply back off doing that exercise and engaging that muscle for about a week or so, and the area always returns to its previously unbulked state and then I reintroduce that exercise but only with maybe one or two reps for a while.


Great re massaging your face every day. You can actually destress the tissue easily with that technique alone. Try also tapping the jawline and triangularis. As I say its often a muscle that holds a lot of tension and stress, so tapping it can help to destress it (and also increases the circulation).


Now with pressure reps and jolting, remember you need a minimum of 2 days rest between sessions. That’s really important as we are going after bone formation and remodeling here. If you try to do it sooner that that, you will actually stop the bone from mending and becoming stronger (which is the opposite of what we want to achieve). The facial bones often deteriorate without any form of stimulation, but they need down time to heal up. So for some of my clients, I often tell them to do it once a week to enable their bodies to heal up. This is particularly true for any one with health concerns such as thyroidism, because their immune system and endocrine system are already stressed out. So please DO NOT DO THESE DAILY or TWICE A DAY – you will not get faster results and will end up worse off.

[Sean]

Okay so to double check, what does your routine consist of?  You see 7 weeks is still early days, but its often times that bad habits can creep in like you mentioned.  For example, with triangularis, it can creep in when you are exercising say the upper lids (for example).  Even if you hold tension there - thats something you want to release with the tapping for example.  Now its not uncommon to find that there is a lot of tension in muscles like these.  

Now also to double check, were you leaving the 2 days between the pressure reps?  This is crucial to look at - as in the beginning many people went gung ho and ignored the book detailing the recommendations and some were doing things like cross stretching every day (NOT RECOMMENDED!).  

[fionaj]

Hi there,

I don't know if this makes any sense or not but last week when I was doing my Caninus exercise my hand slipped and I must of pulled my caninus muscle incorrectly. I haven't done this before. The result was pain in my sinuses. It felt like it went straight up the side of my nose into my sinuses. Does this make sense that it could be the caninus exercise? Or could I have inadvertently yanked something else (a nerve?) that could have caused this pain. Need to stay away from it whatever it was. I have now taken a break and the pain has gone away.

Thanks,

Fiona

[Sean]

Hi Fiona

Okay it is a definite sign you need to rest up and take a break for a while and 2-3 weeks is probably a good length but if you feel drawn to do more, then please follow that.

Things like this can and do happen, and sometimes its just a great sign we need to take a break. It sounds like you have just pulled an area on the face and the sinuses run all around the eyes and nose areas so you may have temporarily created some inflammation there. Its not a permanent change, and the area will heal up, its just about resting and taking things easy for now.

Now with the caninus, even if you pulled it differently than we suggested, you would not have damaged the muscle (actually the pain threshold for tearing muscles is beyond description and you would likely pass out before you could even get near to that) so don’t worry. With sinuses though, they can be tempermental at the best of times and even things like temperature changes can create a lot of discomfort too (not that this is the same in your case, just sharing to show you how small things can create discomfort here).

Sean

Mar 4, 2019 22:29:54 GMT -5 fionaj said:

Hi there,

I don't know if this makes any sense or not but last week when I was doing my Caninus exercise my hand slipped and I must of pulled my caninus muscle incorrectly. I haven't done this before. The result was pain in my sinuses. It felt like it went straight up the side of my nose into my sinuses. Does this make sense that it could be the caninus exercise? Or could I have inadvertently yanked something else (a nerve?) that could have caused this pain. Need to stay away from it whatever it was. I have now taken a break and the pain has gone away.

Thanks,

Fiona