You Can Touch Your Face. And You Should

This informal CPD article You Can Touch Your Face. And You Should was provided by Tatiana Vorontsova, director at Pro-Age Aesthetics Academy, a wellness and beauty education clinic in London.

Remember when you were a kid your mum told you: "Don't touch your face!"?

Surely there must have been something else said about dirty hands and germs, but I have a feeling that majority of us remembered only “do not touch” part. Since I have been diving deeper and deeper into the topic of mind-body connection, I increasingly saw links that previously did not seem all that significant to me. And then one day – boom, a light bulb moment! I often see people with sensory deprivation which is very discouraging phenomenon for me as a trainer teaching manual techniques - a ban on touching oneself. These people not only lacked hugs and touches from adults in their childhood, they weren't even allowed to touch themselves!

What is it?

Imagine that a baby, already in the womb, distinguishes their body from the mother's through touch. After birth, a small person builds their entire concept of "I", their entire perception of the world, relationships, sensations through touching themselves.

Touch is a fundamental human need and our bodies need touch at their subconscious level. After all, you probably know that babies living in orphanages often times are far behind in physical and mental development. They are not picked up, they are not stroked, they are not touched… they are deprived from physical affection, from touch. 

A study by Dr. Katerina Fotopoulou, Professor of Psychodynamic Neuroscience at University College London, has shown that even people who do not like touch, even the biggest anti-huggers and massage-haters, begin to experience stress and so-called “skin hunger” if they have not had physical contact for a long time with other people. In addition to stress, a person who experiences “skin hunger” for a long time literally loses interest in themselves over time.

Do you remember how little babies love to study their bodies? They touch their hands, fingers, little feet and tummies. And then, as we grow older, this interest to our own bodies seems somewhat forbidden all of a sudden. “Do not touch your face!”, “Don’t scratch yourself!”, “Don’t fiddle with fingers!” and on, an on, an on…

So, filled with all the beliefs, we burry our natural interest to our bodies in the farthest corners of our existence. Our self-care becomes routine and mundane – to quickly take a shower, to brush teeth or hair. And how do we react to stress? We bury it even further. It feels like the body becomes lifeless, looses vitality, energy, feelings… Do you know how many women show up at doctor’s office way too late, having the breast cancer at the latest stages simply because they never touched their breasts? Or how many women live their lives with diastasis after having kids simply because they never touched their stomachs? Self-examination, self-touch, or as we properly call it, palpation, is vital for our health, our physiological and psychological well-being.

When we teach, we start with connecting our students to themselves first. Because without that connection in place, you cannot be an effective therapist. Empowered with that knowledge, they educate their clients to do the same and here is why:

• When touching your face regularly, there is no chance you will miss any changes in the condition of your skin;
• When examining your body on a regular base, you’ll notice the smallest changes and can take action before it’s too late.

Our fingertips are extremely sensitive! Each fingertip contains over 3,000 touch receptors in addition to thermoreceptors which allow you to feel different temperatures, and nociceptors which make you feel pain. Your fingers will be the first to tell us that your skin has become drier, its turgor and elasticity have changed, new wrinkles started to form… It’s quite easy to help yourself at this stage, far easier than be alarmed by the red, flaky skin and deep wrinkles! By touching your face and neck, you develop an understanding of your own complexion, your anatomy, your muscle tone and the state of your skin.

Majority complains starts with realisation that it is painful to touch jaws, brows, cheeks, that the forehead feels spasmed and although on the surface everything still looks good, the formation of wrinkles has already started.

During training we often speak about Braille code as an example, a writing system which enables blind and partially blind people to read and write through touch. These people learn to read with their fingers. We teach our students to “read” faces, their stories, their condition and, by using touch, mindfulness, and compassion, go past their fears and internal blocks to touch their faces. By doing so, we help them discover more about who they truly are and connect them to their own light.

We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Pro-Age Aesthetics Academy, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively please visit the CPD Industry Hubs for more CPD articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.