Acupressure---the ancient Chinese art of massaging key points anywhere on the body---has a lot to offer you and your face. Facial acupressure can help relieve signs of stress that show on your face by relieving underlying muscle tension. The face houses many acupressure points that you can use to ease headache, fatigue and emotional stress.
Theory
Like all traditional Chinese medicine modalities, acupressure works by alleviating blocks to the free flow of qi. When you're healthy and relaxed, qi flows throughout your body along channels called "meridians" or "pathways." Extreme heat or cold, poor diet, stress and injury can all result in stagnant qi. Stagnation works like a traffic jam, creating blockages in your internal organs, which in turn result in muscle pain and illness. Pressure points lie on the meridians, where they function like traffic lights: stimulating the point gives qi a green light, opening the flow along that meridian.
Conditions
Facial acupressure points are especially helpful for relieving chronic or temporary facial pain. Temporomandibular joint disorders or simple tension in the jaw, acne, toothache and vision problems are just a few of the conditions that facial acupressure can help ease or resolve. If you're dealing with a chronic condition, use acupressure for immediate relief whenever symptoms arise, and once or twice daily for maintenance.
Tips
When you prepare to perform acupressure on your face, be a little more gentle than you would be on other areas of the body, advises Anne Cossé, acupressure and shiatsu practitioner and author of "The Do-It-Yourself Face Lift: Facial Acupressure Programs for Natural Lifting and Youthful Glow." Relax and breathe deeply throughout a self-treatment. Use a mirror to make sure you're in the exact areas you need to be when you first start working with acupressure points.
Key Points
Find some of the most powerful facial pressure points along the midline of the face, advises Michael Reed Gach, founder of the Acupressure Insitute in Berkeley, Calif., and coauthor of "Acupressure for Emotional Healing." Governer Vessel point no. 26 sits on the midline between the base of the nose and the top of the upper lip. Press and hold it firmly to clear your nasal passages and restore your spirit if you've suffered an emotional blow. Conception Vessel point no. 24, halfway between the center of the lower lip and chin, relieves facial tension and allows you to reopen your emotions if you've become numb following a disappointment or painful experience.
Try This
The Institute of Human Technology describes a facial massage technique that covers many key acupressure points, relieves fatigue and headache and refreshes the face in the guidebook "Home Healing Massage." Beginning at the center of the forehead just above the brows, glide your thumbs out from the center, to the temples. Then repeat. Use your thumbs to gently but firmly press all around the bony edge of the eye socket. Be careful not to press on the eye itself. Use this massage to refresh your eyesight after long hours working at the computer or performing repetitive tasks.
References
- Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation: What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine?
- "The Do-It-Yourself Face Lift: Facial Acupressure Programs for Natural Lifting and Youthful Glow"; Anne Cossé; 2008
- "Acupressure for Emotional Healing"; Michael Reed Gach and Beth Ann Henning; 2004
- "Home Healing Massage: Hwal-Gong for Everyday Wellness"; Institute of Human Technology; 2009
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