One of the amusing things about living in Japan, is seeing the endless variety of totally bogus health items being promoted. From fraudulent nose-altering clips (3Yen / 2010-08-03) to goofy “O” leg (3Yen / 2006-02-06) and
hinky Japanese school nurses offering ‘Ball Relief’ (3Yen / 2010-09-15), Japan is awash with medical quackery. So you can imagine my surprise with the release of the following research study supporting the claims of Japan’s super-silly facial rollers.
Ready for a close-up:
The science behind face massage rollers
Tokyo Institute Of Technology | 9-Nov-2018
Facial massaging using a roller can increase skin blood flow for more than ten minutes after the massage. It can also improve vasodilation — the widening of blood vessels…
…One surprising outcome was the duration of the effect immediately after the five-minute massage. “The increase in skin blood flow after applying the massage roller persisted much longer than we had expected,” the researchers say in their study published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine. “Short-term mechanical stimulation by a facial massage roller increased skin blood flow for more than ten minutes solely in the massaged cheek.”
In the long-term experiment, the researchers examined the effects of daily massage on the right cheek over a five-week period. They also examined the reactivity of facial blood vessels to a heat stimulus, involving application of a heating probe set at 40°C, in order to test whether there were any changes in vascular dilation response.
More…
The problem is that this research study found a temporary “increase in skin blood flow” but that does not equate to better looking skin any most than gettin slapped in the face. This typically vague Japanese “scientific” research does not really make/support/claim any benefit.
Tokyonama, importer/distributer of original products from Japan–Geneva/Tokyo
Squiddy-diddly from Snagglepus comics
metrocf.or.jp/manners/poster.html
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