5 Ways to Hack Your Fascia Tissue to Look Younger, According to an Expert

SUPPORTING YOUR BODY'S CONNECTIVE TISSUE MAY BE THE NATURAL ANSWER TO ANTI-AGING FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN.

Somewhere between filmmaker Justine Bateman's refusal to mess with Mother Nature and Madonna's embrace of extreme wrinkle intervention lies an anti-aging middle ground wherein you can take practical steps to look younger. To help in this pursuit, experts have been looking at beauty fixes that go deeper into our biological makeup—and they've identified fascia as a potential key to anti-aging.

Fascia is the webbing of connective tissue that covers your entire body and supports your muscles, bones, organs, cells, nerves, joints, tissues, tendons, and ligaments throughout your body. In other words, think of it as the strings, which are made out of collagen, that hold up your entire body. As Lauren Roxburgh, a board-certified structural integration practitioner, wellness expert, and educator who focuses on fascia, explains, this tissue plays a key role in looking younger because, when it's strong and flexible, it can provide structure and support. However, "the aging process involves a cellular breakdown and slowdown that impacts facial structure and skin health," which involves the weakening of fascia over time, says Roxburgh.

To combat this, "there are non-invasive things you can do at home to support the tautness and suppleness of your face," says Roxburgh, who has worked with celebrity clients such as Kate Beckinsale, Emmy Rossum, Amber Valetta, and Gwyneth Paltrow. These steps can help strengthen your fascia tissue and stave off the signs of aging in the most natural way possible. Keep reading for Roxburgh's 5 best ways to hack your fascia to look younger.

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1. Eat fascia-supporting foods rich in vitamin C and zinc
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The food you eat can help strengthen and support your fascia tissue by producing collagen. "Because fascia itself is made of bundles of collagen fibers, collagen is vitally important for the fascia to be healthy and resilient," explains Roxburgh.

Add the following foods high in vitamins and minerals like vitamin C and since to your daily intake (or, try some of the recipes in Roxburgh's free 7-Day Fascia Challenge):

Collagen powder: "Mixing high-quality collagen powder into your coffee, smoothie, or even just water is a great way to up your intake of amino acids, which is essential to collagen production," says Roxburgh.

Chia seeds, beans, and broccoli: Foods that are high in fiber contribute to your overall gut health and, as a result, help improve your body's ability to better absorb all of the nutrients that promote collagen production.

Bone broth: This fortifying liquid is made by simmering the bones, marrow, and connective tissue of animals—bison, chicken, and more—along with other ingredients. It provides many vitamins and nutrients, including gelatin (derived from the protein collagen) that support joint and gut health.

2. Practice "facial yoga" to sculpt fascia
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Facial yoga might make you look ridiculous while you're doing it, but exercises such as eyebrow raises, cheek lifts, and jaw clenches "may help to tone and strengthen the underlying facial muscles, which can also help to sculpt the fascia," says Roxburgh.

3. Apply pressure to your face
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A series of collaborative studies from the cosmetic company Shiseido and a medical research university in Japan showed that applying pressure to facial skin "promotes the proliferation of stem cells released from stem cell reservoirs… resulting in the production of collagen, which ultimately results in regeneration of the skin."

It makes sense. "Collagen in the skin significantly decreases with age and that causes us to lose elasticity," says Roxburgh. "So anything that stimulates collagen production—pressure, stretching, rolling, self-massage, tapping—can help restore that bounce we associate with youthful skin."

This is why gua sha, an ancient Chinese Medicine practice, has taken the beauty world by storm over the last few years. The practice involves using a smooth, flat tool (such as a jade or rose quartz stone) to apply gentle pressure and strokes in a specific direction to improve circulation and promote lymphatic drainage. If done correctly (and regularly!), it can help you look and feel less puffy.

4. Give yourself a body massage
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Roxburgh also suggests going beyond your face and working on the connective tissue that extends into your hairline to pull everything up, as she demonstrates in this video. She calls it the "fascia facelift."

Next, you can focus on applying pressure to massage the fascia throughout your entire body. "Dry brushing, body gua sha, and other techniques will optimize your lymphatic system and help flush cellular waste," explains Roxburgh (she developed a Fascia Body Comb for exactly this purpose).

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5. Try this 4-step fascia face massage routine
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You don't necessarily need fancy tools to get the job done—you can apply pressure manually, just using your own fingers, knuckles, and the heels of your hands to move your fascia around.

Here's a simple face massage that can turn up the glow while also improving the symmetry of your visage:

1. Wash your hands and remove any makeup or other products from your skin. Apply a small amount of facial oil to your face and neck. Use your fingers to massage your face in a circular motion, starting at the center of your face and working outwards towards your temples and jawline.

2. Gently massage your forehead, starting at the center and working outwards towards your hairline. Use your fingers to massage the area around your eyes, carefully moving in a sweeping motion under your eyes from your inner nose area to the outer corners of your eyes.

3. Use your fingers to massage your cheeks, using gentle upward strokes to help lift and contour the face and pinch cheeks very gently to increase blood flow. Use your fingers and knuckles to massage tension out of your jawline.

4. Finish by applying a warm towel to your face for a few minutes to help open up the pores and promote relaxation.

In addition to strengthening your fascia tissue, which can help you in your pursuit of ageless beauty, this process also boasts other benefits, says Roxburgh: "It's about melting accumulated stress and tension, hydrating tissue, and boosting circulation to ensure that nutrient-rich blood makes its way to your face."