| Author | Message | ||
     Anonymous |
Hi Tom I have been doing your exercise for about two weeks now. I think I am doing it right, I can contract the muscles at the back of my head and my whole scalp moves. After doing your exercise for about 10 - 15 min my whole head gets infused with rushing blood. My hair starts to tingle and the muscles at the back of head are pumped up. But I am starting to get thick wrinkles on my forhead. I dont't now what I am doing wrong. I watch you in your video and I do it the same as you do, but I have a lot of wrinkle when I raise my eyebrows. Any Insight will be greatly appreciated Kind Regards | ||
| Tom Hagerty |
Anonymous: A few people have written me about the formation of lines on the forehead. Most people see the lines disappear after doing the exercise a period of time. Everyone is different though. The way you described doing the exercise makes me think that you are doing it right. When the occipitalis muscles at the back of your head get properly toned up, this should pull the face up and back eliminating the lines. Several thoughts. You've been doing the exercise for only two weeks. These new lines on your forehead may vanish after you have been doing the exercise for several months. I think I noticed the same thing when I started doing the exercise at nineteen although I'm not sure about this. Are you rubbing a thin film of oil on your forehead before you start doing the exercise the way I recommended in the booklet? This is important. | ||
| Anonymous |
I have also noticed a deepening of the wrinkles. I'm thinking that they will get worse until I start to develop a little more head muscle. | ||
| arutha |
Now for a semi-on-topic post: Is anyone using anything to combat the puffy eyes and puffy face associated with minoxidil and, to a lesser extent, Propecia? I've been using Neutrogena Visibly Firm and it's been tightening up my face a whole bunch. I've also just started using their eye cream~too early to notice any results on that. I wonder what effect this might have on the forehead lines? I have a few myself and would like to dispose of them if possible. How about using Vitamin E oil before doing the exercise? It's an oil, but it's supposed to have healing properties. | ||
| terri |
Vit. E is good but I have a mild reaction to it. I don't know if chemical preperations can be reversed by facial exercise, but exercises can help puffy eyes in general, and will help smooth out forehead lines. Check out facial resistance training at www.flexeffect.com. FlexEffect highly recommends using Vit. E for facial massage. You may find some forehead and eye exercises in their Drop Down Directory in Archives posted by the Trainers. | ||
| Tom Hagerty |
Terri: How about jojoba oil used on the forehead before you do the scalp exercise? Do you think this might be a good idea to perhaps reduce or eliminate horizontal lines. Thanks for that book recommendation. Paula Begoun is a hard-working writer with strong voice. I believe her. Don't Go Shopping for Hair Care Products Without Me got some good reviews on Amazon.com and deserves them. | ||
| terri |
Howdy Tom, Glad you liked the book. Although many facial exercise 'experts' recommend using some form of oil to prevent lines during exercise, Deb Crowly's resistance exercises does not specify using oil because it is difficult to hold on to a muscle that is slipping out of your grasp! She does advocate using Vit. E oil, squeezed from a capsule, for a massage after exercise. Since the SE does not require resistance, Jojoba oil or Vit. E can be used. Although, in all my research I've never read that oil will eliminate lines. It's a fine barrier to trap moisture in the skin when it is exposed to harsh elements like the weather, dry air etc. Oil does soften the look of lines as long as it remains on the skin, but it can't get rid of them. If you find evidence otherwise, let me know. Crowly believes lines of expression, like forehead lines, can be greatly reduced by bulking up the muscles through exercise, specifically exercises using resistance. Plastic surgeons disagree. They believe the more your exercise the facial muscles, the deeper you set expression lines in your face. A friend of mine who is a p.s. says the only way to have an unlined face is to keep it perfectly serene. Of course, a plastic surgeon wouldn't tell you to exercise, otherwise he would be out of business! Crowly has been exercising her face since '79. She should have a tremendous amount of lines by now. Tom, if you don't have lines on your forehead, you have proven the "establishment" wrong too! | ||
| Julie |
One think you could also try is to use resistance on the forehead with the palm of your hand or your fingers while doing the SE. This will inhibit the forehead lines as you raise the eyebrows and might also help build the muscle beneath. I do that myself at times. Julie | ||
| Tom Hagerty |
Terri: I don't think oil will erase lines. The film of oil that I suggest applying to your forehead before doing the scalp exercise might keep them from forming though. Bodybuilders who do severe pumping exercises smear oil on their skin so that they do not get stretch marks. | ||
| terri |
Tom, I know zilch about body building. I always thought they applied oil during competition so the definition of their muscles would be visibly enhanced. But speaking of stretch marks, I do remember my gynocologist told me to rub coconut oil on my belly & hips for stretch marks when I was pregnant about 100 years ago!!! The question is whether the scalp exercise stretches the skin to the extent that it warrants the use of oil? At about the 4th mo. or so during pregnancy, that baby is keeping the skin constantly stretched. Not so in the SE. Tom, I'd continue to recommend the oil during exercise just to be safe. It can't hurt!!! Resistance can help forehead lines. One of your fellow board members says he uses resistance with the palms of his hands on his forehead and pushes "in" when he lifts his brow to prevent wrinkles. That's really not resistance but it does keep the skin from moving so much. Resistance is to push the forehead muscle "down" with your palms while the brows are trying to push up. Julie says she's doing the SE that way to strengthen the muscle to prevent wrinkles. This is 1/2 of the exercise we both learned to eliminate horizontal forehead lines. The next 1/2 would be to frown (contract brows down) and then push the muscle "up" with your palms, but we couldn't do this part during the SE. |
