Depression between cheek and nose and hollow tear throughs

[flower]

Hi Pablita and Tracey,
I am chiming in to share what I experienced, as it might useful for your situations, too.

I am 45 years, old, perimenopausal. I have been without any molar since 2014, and no implant, so you can imagine that one of my main issues is not to have a gaunt look! I am pretty thin, too. I am 163 cm and have been weighting between 45 and 48 kg (100-105 lbs) for the last 4 years, depending on the season, as I tend to eat a little bit more in summer. I used to be 52/54 kg, before. I went low-carb/keto for migraine management.

I started Flex-Effect to avoid looking much older as years go on. I followed what the book suggested and asked for advice here in the forum, but after one year I only got the impression I was getting worse. Sean wasn’t here, in the forum, at that time, by the way. I decided to skip some of the exercised that seemed to make me look worse, but it did not go any better. So I switched to Facercise for just toning. When Sean came back, last here, I decided to go back to Flexing and having a Skype session with him and I have been having a session every month or two, since then. I think having even a single session with him is so worthy!

He showed me what I was doing slightly wrong, he gave me variations for some exercises to target my situation, he helped me in seeing the changes after each and every rep, which keeps me motivated, and he gave me suggestions to progress in the advanced technique, just to give you some examples. I am seeing improvements and results are lasting longer and longer. My cheecks and in fact my whole lower face look so much fuller. Now I need to focus a little bit more on my underchin area and my neck, but I am confident that I will see results there, too. There results I am having are only due to Flex Effect, as I only have a basic moisturizer and sometimes here and there a Vit C serum. Also, my face is pretty much stable, even if my weight can vary quite a little bit, which is also a great result by itself, for me.

So, my message is: don’t give up, things can and will improve if you have the right support, and I am sure Sean can help you so much via Skype.

I also think that skin can improve all over the body, with time, after a significant weight loss. My belly looked like a deflated balloon, and my thighs, too, with the initial weight loss, but they are not looking that way any more, even if my skin is in general quite thin and dry. I did not do anything particular, just dry-brushed once a day for a while and then maybe once a week, tried to drink more water and ate healthy fats and proteins. And the skin went back to normal with time.

So, if you keep you hydrated, flex and massage (and add the splashing technique, if you have time), you might see improvements as well!

[Tracey]

Sean,    Thank you for the correction about menopausal skin.  Yes, I should have written 5x a week is too much for MY menopausal skin but if it works for others that is great.  


Flower,   Thanks for your post.  I am in no way giving up.  In my experience, Menopausal and Perimenopausal are two different things.   I personally noticed a huge difference in my skin AFTER menopause especially accelerated aging.  Now, again this is my experience only.   I am sharing this not to say every woman will have these issue in menopause.  I have been doing Face exercises for several years and will continue to do so BUT it is my opinion that face exercises help a great deal but they can't fix everything especially after menopause. As I already explained you have the loss of fat pads, and bone etc. without the hormones it can be very difficult that is why I went on Bioidentical Hormones.   I am going to leave it there as I don't have time to write more.  Good luck to all!!!

[pablita]

Thanks for your encouragement Sean 😊, i am trying to be positive and have no doubts i am going to overcome the disease and get my face young back whatever it takes. I have started as well using afformattions you teached me when i was new to the forum.

Jun 28, 2018 2:10:22 GMT -5 Sean said:

Well going slowly doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get overbuild or look uneven, because we all have muscles we over use and some we neglect, and part of the journey is discovering which muscles are responsive and which ones are less so, but going slowly allows you to make sure that you don’t get haphazard results and you can usually easily identify the causes early on.

Now whilst your endocrinologist doesn’t sound very good, don’t give up hope. There are always possibilities present and you may be the catalyst for change for this person. Understandable re blood tests and weekly appointments. Don’t fall into fear with graves. There are many people who live successfully with the condition and get it balanced, but you are in a great place to start learning about your body and how it works, and this will really help you to know your body very well. Keeping a positive attitude is a really great thing to do and will always help improve your general well being no matter what stresses and strains you are going through.

Sean

Jun 27, 2018 16:19:50 GMT -5 pablita said:

Thanks for all your help Sean. I will start pressure reps /jolting once a week and maybe in a few weeks go up to twice a week? I am very excited to start doing it, but i will follow your advice and go slowly. I am happy i took your advice of going slowly when i started exercises and massage, as this way i have not have any uneven over build.

My endocrinologist is not very good, we have social security here and dont chose our doctors, i am not working since i got Graves Disease and private doctors here are expensive, so i cant afford to get private one as i need blood tests every 15 days and weekly appointments.
When i went for the first time, my mom told her i took gym supplements, the doctor, before even doing blood tests, told me i was intoxicated by the protein and gym supplements. I knew i have Graves disease since my eyes were very affected and i have searched a lot of information and knew the only type of hyperthyroidism that cause thyroid eye disease is graves, but she kept saying it was the gym supplements (the blood tests confirmed i was right and it was graves disease).
I told her i have been taking protein and vitamins since my teens and never had a reaction to it, she then told me she has one patient with neck no
dules growths due gym protein, i told her provably was due heavy long and not controlled steoid usuage, but she said no it was the gym protein 😌, It is clear to me she does now much about gym supplementing but anyway i stopped all my supplement as my graves is very bad and i am scared.


She refused to test me for food allergies and to test my oestrogen and progesterone levels when she checks my thyroid, she says it is no need to me to get it checked. As it is social security we patients can not chose which tests to have done,and doctors only run the most necessary tests on us,i guess to save money on lavoratorie tests.
I have apply for a change of doctor and hope i will get it soon.

[pablita]

Hi Flower, Nice to meet you and thanks for your encouragement post!

It is very cool to read you are having great results, and that due flexing your face is stable even if you change weight a little bit. For me that would be awesome, and i keep losing weight and then gaining a very little, due the hyperthyroidism, and when i lose even a tiny ammount of weight my face shows it too much, It is the first place my weight goes off,so if i could achieve my face looking stable when i lose a bit of weight i would be so happy.

So do you cross strech your body skin when you dry brush? And do you do the splashing technique on the body as well? Maybe Sean could tell us if this is possible. Cross streching the body.

I think having a monthly Skype session with Sean would be a very good idea and speed up our training progress, i was thinking about it yesterday.
At the moment i am not working since i got sick 7 months ago, as i have been feeling very sick, and as well i work with my looks and my face is destroyed by the disease. I have gotten back to live with my papa and mama and they are paying everything for me, like when i was 12 years old lol.
But as soon as i am able to work again i plan to take Skype sessions with Sean, i think we all should get sessions with him once in a while to make the most out of our training.

Wishing you all the best

Jun 28, 2018 3:49:45 GMT -5 flower said:

Hi Pablita and Tracey,
I am chiming in to share what I experienced, as it might useful for your situations, too.

I am 45 years, old, perimenopausal. I have been without any molar since 2014, and no implant, so you can imagine that one of my main issues is not to have a gaunt look! I am pretty thin, too. I am 163 cm and have been weighting between 45 and 48 kg (100-105 lbs) for the last 4 years, depending on the season, as I tend to eat a little bit more in summer. I used to be 52/54 kg, before. I went low-carb/keto for migraine management.

I started Flex-Effect to avoid looking much older as years go on. I followed what the book suggested and asked for advice here in the forum, but after one year I only got the impression I was getting worse. Sean wasn’t here, in the forum, at that time, by the way. I decided to skip some of the exercised that seemed to make me look worse, but it did not go any better. So I switched to Facercise forjust toning. When Sean came back, last here, I decided to go back to Flexing and having a Skype session with him and I have been having a session every month or two, since then. I think having even a single session with him is so worthy!

He showed me what I was doing slightly wrong, he gave me variations for some exercises to target my situation, he helped me in seeing the changes after each and every rep, which keeps me motivated, and he gave me suggestions to progress in the advanced technique, just to give you some examples. I am seeing improvements and results are lasting longer and longer. My cheecks and in fact my whole lower face look so much fuller. Now I need to focus a little bit more on my underchin area and my neck, but I am confident that I will see results there, too. There results I am having are only due to Flex Effect, as I only have a basic moisturizer and sometimes here and there a Vit C serum. Also, my face is pretty much stable, even if my weight can vary quite a little bit, which is also a great result by itself, for me.

So, my message is: don’t give up, things can and will improve if you have the right support, and I am sure Sean can help you so much via Skype.

I also think that skin can improve all over the body, with time, after a significant weight loss. My belly looked like a deflated balloon, and my thighs, too, with the initial weight loss, but they are not looking that way any more, even if my skin is in general quite thin and dry. I did not do anything particular, just dry-brushed once a day for a while and then maybe once a week, tried to drink more water and ate healthy fats and proteins. And the skin went back to normal with time.

So, if you keep you hydrated, flex and massage (and add the splashing technique, if you have time), you might see improvements as well!

[flower]

Hi Pablita,
no, I don’t do neither Cross Stretching nor splashing on the body.

I might just quickly just put some cream here and there, but not in summer, as it makes me sweat even more than I normally do.

In fact, I would like to dry brush daily but most of the times I end up doing other things! I practice Qi Gong for general health and wellbeing, postural exercises for my scoliosis and meditation for my migraine daily. If I have 5 minutes available I prefer doing some Qi Gong, as I find it so invigorating and relaxing at the same time! I mainly use the Elemental Chi Kung videos from Natural Movement Info website. They are easy to follow and short enough for my needs.

I am pretty fit, though, just by using this simple routine, and this is enough for me. I would prefer to have less muscular arms, shoulders and back (I have bulging veins on my arms like Madonna and Angelina Jolie have) but posture and general health are my first priority and I feel so much better!

Have a nice day!

[Sean]

I have worked with a lot of women who are peri and post menopausal and really am of the belief that no matter where a person is in that process that flexing can and does help. I have yet to meet anyone who it doesnt which is why I continue to teach it.

Like all things, you start off where you are. If 5x a week Isla too intense now - keep doing what you are doing but slowly work up to it. Hormones are without doubt a key factor in how we age and with today’s lifestyle these easily become imbalanced. However any efforts you or anyone else makes to get them balanced is so beneficial.

There are some really great studies being done now and we will no doubt have more in the future but one really nice tool to use alongside flexing is meditation. Now I know I make this recommendation a lot - but it’s with good reason. Studies suggest that those who meditate twice a day for 10-15 minute settings have less stress, their nervous systems are more efficient, their heart rate, blood pressure are all above average and their oxygenation is above average too (meaning their lung capacity is very good and their blood is measured to be flowing more easily around their body). Now studies done by TM suggest that long term meditators also have better than average hormonal balance, and that if for whatever reason they rise/fall that their response time was quicker to get back to balance.

It’s food for thought. I also believe that meditating after flexing speeds up the healing and recovery too. Plus if I meditate after pressure reps - it’s exciting to actually feel the bones vibrating and changing!

Jun 28, 2018 9:07:11 GMT -5 Tracey said:

Sean,    Thank you for the correction about menopausal skin.  Yes, I should have written 5x a week is too much for MY menopausal skin but if it works for others that is great.  


Flower,   Thanks for your post.  I am in no way giving up.  In my experience, Menopausal and Perimenopausal are two different things.   I personally noticed a huge difference in my skin AFTER menopause especially accelerated aging.  Now, again this is my experience only.   I am sharing this not to say every woman will have these issue in menopause.  I have been doing Face exercises for several years and will continue to do so BUT it is my opinion that face exercises help a great deal but they can't fix everything especially after menopause. As I already explained you have the loss of fat pads, and bone etc. without the hormones it can be very difficult that is why I went on Bioidentical Hormones.   I am going to leave it there as I don't have time to write more.  Good luck to all!!!

[pablita]

I have never heard about Qi Gong, but i will google it, actually i have a mil scoliosis too and it may help me. Before i got sick i used to weight train, i have always been very slim and wanted to build a big butt. Now i can not heavy lift, so maybe Qi Gong will be good for me to do till i get better 😊

Jun 29, 2018 2:48:17 GMT -5 flower said:

Hi Pablita,
no, I don’t do neither Cross Stretching nor splashing on the body.

I might just quickly just put some cream here and there, but not in summer, as it makes me sweat even more than I normally do.

In fact, I would like to dry brush daily but most of the times I end up doing other things! I practice Qi Gong for general health and wellbeing, postural exercises for my scoliosis and meditation for my migraine daily. If I have 5 minutes available I prefer doing some Qi Gong, as I find it so invigorating and relaxing at the same time! I mainly use the Elemental Chi Kung videos from Natural Movement Info website. They are easy to follow and short enough for my needs.

I am pretty fit, though, just by using this simple routine, and this is enough for me. I would prefer to have less muscular arms, shoulders and back (I have bulging veins on my arms like Madonna and Angelina Jolie have) but posture and general health are my first priority and I feel so much better!

Have a nice day!

[pablita]

What you say about meditation is very interesting Sean, actually my mom took me to a course when i got sick called consciousness and energy, and they teached me to meditate, i díd it for a while and i felt better, but the teacher said i should meditate sitting down, and it was too hard for me as i was very weak.

Do you think laying down meditation helps too?

Jun 29, 2018 4:41:14 GMT -5 Sean said:

I have worked with a lot of women who are peri and post menopausal and really am of the belief that no matter where a person is in that process that flexing can and does help. I have yet to meet anyone who it doesnt which is why I continue to teach it.

Like all things, you start off where you are. If 5x a week Isla too intense now - keep doing what you are doing but slowly work up to it. Hormones are without doubt a key factor in how we age and with today’s lifestyle these easily become imbalanced. However any efforts you or anyone else makes to get them balanced is so beneficial.

There are some really great studies being done now and we will no doubt have more in the future but one really nice tool to use alongside flexing is meditation. Now I know I make this recommendation a lot - but it’s with good reason. Studies suggest that those who meditate twice a day for 10-15 minute settings have less stress, their nervous systems are more efficient, their heart rate, blood pressure are all above average and their oxygenation is above average too (meaning their lung capacity is very good and their blood is measured to be flowing more easily around their body). Now studies done by TM suggest that long term meditators also have better than average hormonal balance, and that if for whatever reason they rise/fall that their response time was quicker to get back to balance.

It’s food for thought. I also believe that meditating after flexing speeds up the healing and recovery too. Plus if I meditate after pressure reps - it’s exciting to actually feel the bones vibrating and changing!

Jun 28, 2018 9:07:11 GMT -5 Tracey said:

Sean,    Thank you for the correction about menopausal skin.  Yes, I should have written 5x a week is too much for MY menopausal skin but if it works for others that is great.  


Flower,   Thanks for your post.  I am in no way giving up.  In my experience, Menopausal and Perimenopausal are two different things.   I personally noticed a huge difference in my skin AFTER menopause especially accelerated aging.  Now, again this is my experience only.   I am sharing this not to say every woman will have these issue in menopause.  I have been doing Face exercises for several years and will continue to do so BUT it is my opinion that face exercises help a great deal but they can't fix everything especially after menopause. As I already explained you have the loss of fat pads, and bone etc. without the hormones it can be very difficult that is why I went on Bioidentical Hormones.   I am going to leave it there as I don't have time to write more.  Good luck to all!!!

[flower]

Not Sean, but I do meditate laying down, too, as I am much more comfortable! I began meditating as per Sean suggestion. I now meditate 5/6 times a week, once or twice a day.

For Qi gong I also use the first video you find by googling "ged sumner chi kung".It is easy enough for me, yet very powerful!

For my scoliosis I follow a program designed by Ed Paget. It's not cheap, though, but you can try to follow the exercises he shows on YouTube. Just google his name and scoliosis. The videos are two, one for each type of scoliosis. You need to chose the one for your type. I have been really great improvements in my upper back!!! I have been doing this program for the last year. I will PM you for more detailed!

Have a nice day!

[Sean]

Meditating whilst lying down isn’t advisable because often the body deeply relaxes but so much so that people fall asleep so my advice would be to do it sitting up for as long as you are comfortable - so even 5 minutes will bring benefits. So that would be my recommendation unless you are positive that you can stay conscious through lying down. Most people can’t and even advanced and long term meditators who try it lying down fail. Starting out slowly is better than not doing any at all. So if you find you can only do 2-3 minutes - that’s good enough. We want to work with our bodies and where they are at.

.

Jun 29, 2018 20:58:21 GMT -5 pablita said:

What you say about meditation is very interesting Sean, actually my mom took me to a course when i got sick called consciousness and energy, and they teached me to meditate, i díd it for a while and i felt better, but the teacher said i should meditate sitting down, and it was too hard for me as i was very weak.

Do you think laying down meditation helps too?

[pablita]

Dear Sean i upload pictures here as i cant upload them by private messages the red skin is due me starting Retin A 2 weeks ago, i have try to take all the pictures on bad lightings so you can see my problem areas better. My upper eyelids and forehead and neck have improved a lot since my hyperthyroidism destroyed all my face, my jaw os firmet as It was saggy after the huge loss of weight whe i became sick. What i notice is my fat pads have drop, before getting sick the fat was more Up and my jawline was slimmer, not my upper cheek is more flat and i have more meat on the jaw. It is not saggy just more meaty lol. Thats why i am scared to recover the weight i am still missing to be in my perfect weight, i am scared i Will get jowls if i gain cos seem like my fat pads are lower now. Before my face was very round, nos It is more like oval.
.

[pablita]

this picture of the side with bad lightings you can see how my mid face lack so much volumen, It is not that clearly visible on pictures taken from the front. As well when i took this picture to show you i notice i have like a bump of meat on my jaw lol, i havent notice It till now, and i dont have It on the other side of my face. As you can see my mid face have so much loss of volumen as a woman on her 40s and i am on my 30s

[pablita]

Here you can see my eyebags caused by fat depósits and how hollow is the área bellow making them look bigger. A few plastic surgeons told me It is fat but my main problem is the loss of volumen bellow they say, but my health condition does not allow for day Transfer which would be the solution according to them as the fat wont survive as my metabolic rate is so fast.
Anyway i am taking all the pictures on the worst lightings possible so you can see It clearly, but on normal lighting i dont look as bad 

[pablita]

Now this is me smiling. Where i have the wrinkles  on the right side only is actually streched skin as i had an edema malar bag for 18 months due my thyroid, so now the skin is streched but the wrinkles do nots at rest, only when i smile. It look better on some lightings and this is the lighting where It shows more, but It is very depresseimg i have old lady undereye on the right side when smiling, i have try botox  but does not help on that area, as i dont have crows feets, and that is over the cheek where the malar bag used to be. I do Cross streching there once a week.
And i dont smile on public anymore as i dont want ppl to think i am much older than i really am.

So some areas of my face have improved a lot cos the illness left me looking so ugly and much older my age, but upper and mid cheeks and under eye still are very bad. Oh and that wierd bump on my jaw i Hope is not an unilateral jowl, i am too Young to have jowls as well.As well i would like to ask you wheter you mind if i deleted the pictures after you see them, because i look very ugly on them and old and i feel self conscious people seeing them.[Thanks 🙂

[Sean]

Hi Pablita,

Okay a few quick questions first off. Whats your current workout regime (you haven’t included it). Secondly have you tried anything variation wise with the workout (no biggie if you haven’t – its just a key point I’ve found repeatedly that I will make suggestions and people will then reveal I tried that already and it didn’t work etc). So I need to know what you have done or not done to get a better picture.

Now the first thing is that you have some great things going on already that are really important to notice and celebrate. We are in a culture that focuses on flaws and only flaws, and in doing so our minds and brains create more of what we focus on. That’s really key to note. For many people I work with, they all start out with areas that they wish to target, and they are so keen and so focused on the “target” areas that their minds mistakeningly take that focus as a thing that the person wants to create. Usually I will get them to build up their strength across their whole face and in so doing, they will see small changes, but its not until they really stop focusing on the “target” area that the whole face sort of snaps into action and the problem areas really start to change because their not being so reinforced and focused on.

Now great re Retin A and thanks for mentioning about the red skin. What strengthen and form are you using (i.e. gel, cream, microcream?). Its important to note that Retin A and other skin remodellers like Copper Peptides need consistent usage to deliver results. That’s really important to know.

Now your upper eyelids are fantastic! Seriously that area has responded to the exercises big time. Also your neck is also looking great. I havent’ got any before photos to compare to but these jump out. Your jawline is also quite sharp too in places. Also your forehead looks great too.

Now with weight loss, its something I hear a lot of people questioning and getting muddled over. The good news is that its not necessarily about putting fat back on, but rather building strength and beefing up the tissue. The one part that I would add that most people neglect, is that they wrongly either limit their carbs or start consuming excessive fat content carbs (in a bid to put fat back on). Now this is the wrong approach in both circumstances as the body is already being challenged with the weight loss. So rather than limit carbs, I’d actually encourage you to observe how often you are eating and what you are eating. You see for most people, they need good quality nutrient to heal up and repair from the workouts. I’ve found that some people only eat two meals a day (and that’s how they grew up – so there isn’t a wrongness here). So when it come sto working out – I carefully suggest to them things to include or snack on during their day to help their body replenish and also to help their bodies repair and grow stronger.

Now you also have some beliefs going on here that aren’t helping you to feel better. Firstly no two women lose volume identically (let alone because of their age) as we are all different genetically and metabolically too. So age is really not a factor here at all. Its about identifying the challenges your body is alreading facing and looking to see where we can tweak things to make it easier for your body to recover and recuperate. That is a whole conversation topic in and of itself. You see a lot of people wrongly believe it is only about the workout and sometimes try to do several workouts a day in the belief it will deliver faster results (and it never does). What they fail to recognise is its actually during the rest period when your body goes into over drive and recuperates and becomes stronger. Now if you haven’t got sufficient nutrient resources for this, then your body’s ability to recuperate is hampered. Likewise if you aren’t getting sufficient sleep or awake feeling like you haven’t been to sleep for 5 minutes, then this is also going to impact your ability to recuperate (and we have all been there more than we care to admit – me included). Secondly with smiling, and not smiling – again this is a mistake. Most people actually have been tested and they are automatically thought to be more attractive and beautiful because of the act of smiling compared to when they are not. I know this is area of concern for you, but want to encourage you to practice smiling. There are different smiles (engaging different muscles too). Some of the older programs (like Sant Marie Runge’s) actually used to teach people to do what she considered a perfect smile which was to show the upper teeth and to engage the risorisu and zygomaticus minor (to the eye corner). However I know this will not be what you want to hear but its so true and wanted to just flag it to you.

Now thyroid is also another challenge your body is facing (and its really important to note – SURVIVING). The endocrine glands have a vital role to play in the aging process and also metabolic and rest process too. I speak personally from experience here (having been an insulin dependent diabetic for a long long time). The thing is all the endocrine glands act as a team, so whenever one goes out of balance (and it can be for a variety of reasons) your body is often having its other team members work overtime. The good news is that you are bringing this up now and we can take steps to help ease the challenge of the body and work with your body (which I personally thing is a better approach to work with rather than against your body).

Now with the thyroid (actually with any endocrine problem) there are a few other things I would add. Firstly B Vitamin Family are so crucial (and often are lacking). So get yourself a good B vitamin content and look to see if you are eating B rich vitamin foods (or smoothies). These actually work to soothe the nervous system (and again you will appreciate with the rest that often times the nervous system is working on high alert). Secondly some sort of meditation (and deep breathing) is going to relax your body and calm your body into a more peaceful and relaxing state. Looking at your food intake too is also a really good idea and I always encourage people to write down what they are eating (and I am the biggest person guilty of this – in thinking I eat perfectly and its not until I look at my log and find I have eaten a lot of good things but maybe some bad – like bread and butter!). This will help you to start to build up a picture of what your body is working with. The meditation is in and of itself something that so many people overlook yet we know from studies that it has a huge effect on both how a person feels but also how they age and deal with stress (which is a big killer nearly everyone faces on a daily basis nowadays).

Also get back to me workout wise what you have been doing. It may be that we need to change some things up reps or count wise and so it would be good to know what you have done so far and then we can make suggestions. When you work on the mid face with the exercises, are you feeling the contraction in the target muscles also?

Sean