I tried it! A 'lymphatic drainage' massage meant to de-puff my face and define my features - Gothamist

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If you’ve consumed beauty and wellness content on social media lately — and if the answer is “no,” you have my full respect — maybe you’ve been exposed to the #lymphaticdrainage craze.

Influencers in New York and around the world are using a variety of techniques to manually drain fluid from the lymph nodes behind their faces with the goal of a de-puffed, lifted face with nicely defined cheeks, chins and jawlines

There are lymphatic facials, which aim to encourage drainage from the entire face; buccal massage, sometimes called the “inner facial” because it takes place inside your mouth with a focus on the cheeks. Gua sha offers massage via a small tool made of metal or stone; and then there’s face yoga — exercises that strengthen, tone, massage and stretch the facial muscles.


These practices are often paired with “workouts” that have folks manipulating and contorting their facial muscles in truly hilarious ways, involving moves like lip puckers and tongue clucks. (If you’re not familiar with mewing, buckle up.)

Why I wanted to try lymphatic drainage​

I accept the sag of certain features as payment for the wisdom of age. But all this beauty content had me wondering … could a lymphatic drainage massage turn back the clock and redefine my facial features, even a little?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, healthy lymph nodes will drain themselves — that’s a big part of their job. An important element of immune function, the roughly 600 nodes throughout the body are tasked with clearing out damaged cells, bacteria and other harmful substances.

There is little data published in peer-reviewed literature on facial lymphatic massage — much less on its impact on one’s jawline. But it is well documented that massage can help alleviate swelling in patients with lymphedema, a condition in which the fluid pools as the result of cancer or surgery.

Dr. Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital's Department of Dermatology said he’s seen lymphatic drainage confer cosmetic benefits in his own clinical experience.

“Facial massage can help enhance lymphatic drainage, [and] help provide modest benefits in depuffing the face,” he said in an email, caveating that it helps if your “puff” is from excess fluid and not the accumulation of excess fat.

I wanted to test this for myself, so I started poking around. A few of the New York influencers had raved about Katya Young, but $250-$525 for a buccal facial was way outside my budget. I found a spa in midtown offering a lymphatic drainage facial for $125, but the reviews were iffy.

Finally, I landed on FACEGYM, a “facial fitness” studio with four locations in Manhattan and an average of four out of five stars in Google. After calling to confirm they would focus on drainage, I booked a 45-minute Signature Sculpt at their NoHo studio for $135.

What it was like to try lymphatic drainage facial massage​

Arriving at my appointment at FACEGYM’s NoHo location, I saw that the space had more in common, visually, with a hair salon than a fitness studio.

After settling me into one of the four reclining chairs, my “trainer,” Kaylee, got to work. (At FACEGYM, you don’t book treatments, you book “workouts.”) She started with a small FACEGYM-branded ball — think body rolling, but for the face — to start to loosen up my face muscles.

Soon, she applied an oil in preparation for the massage. Starting near my eyes and temples, Kaylee used her fingertips and knuckles to work the lymph nodes repeatedly in downward motions.

It felt amazing — at times it seemed like she must have eight or nine fingers on each hand — but I can’t say I noticed any “draining,” de-puffing, or lightening sensation.

After spending some time at the top of my face, Kaylee turned my head to the right and worked on my jaw, where the higher lymphatic vessels converge and drain into the neck area. I was surprised at how much space she seemed to create — my jaw was so tight and it did sort of feel as if pockets were opening, like when clogged ears finally pop.

Next, Kaylee used a chilled, smooth-edged metal tool to work the contours of my face, an East Asian therapy called gua sha often used in the lymphatic drainage videos I’ve seen.

In the final phase, Kaylee layered on a thick gel. Then she massaged with an electronic muscle stimulator, or EMS, which delivers low-level electrical current to make the facial muscles gently contract.

As Kaylee had warned, the EMS prompted alien twitching around my mouth and eyes. I actually had the thought, “I hope I can still see after this” — but it wasn’t painful, so I just went with it. When Kaylee was done with the right side of my face, she handed me a mirror so I could see the difference. The EMS-treated side (left side in the images below) was noticeably perkier and less puffy:


In those photos, I see reduced puff under the eye and at the jawline and some lift in the mouth and cheek. You may have to squint to see the difference.

Once Kaylee EMS-ified the left side of my face and gave me a shoulder-massage cool-down, my Signature Sculpt was done.

What to know before you try a lymphatic drainage massage​

IMO, the physical improvement is good, not great.​

I do think my jawline and cheekbones look more defined in the “after” pictures. I also think the difference is negligible — no one’s coming up to me in the grocery store and going, “Whoa! Did you get work done!?”

That said, my tween daughter complimented my glow and when looking over my shoulder as I wrote a draft of this article, she affirmed that my skin looked more “lifted” in the after shots.

This isn’t a replacement for skin health basics.​

Factors like nutrition, hydration, stress management, sleep, alcohol consumption and smoking status influence your face’s baseline appearance; a lymphatic drainage regimen is more like icing than cake.

Paying someone for lymphatic drainage is probably for people with more time and money than me.​

The aforementioned skin health basics consume a lot of the time and money I have at my disposal for self-care. I can imagine getting a face massage once in a while as a treat — it really felt amazing — but it won’t become a routine.

Kaylee told me my results would last five to seven days and a FACEGYM membership includes one workout per month; a lot of TikTokers are doing face yoga and/or gua sha treatments on a daily basis.

However — I can’t believe I’m saying this — I may take up a face yoga practice.

“Face yoga and other facial exercises can naturally help maintain muscle tone, which can decline with age [contributing] to facial aging,” Dr. Zeichner said.

Similarly, I may invest in a $30 gua sha tool. Quick how-to from Dr. Zeichner: “When massaging, it’s important to apply pressure down and out in the direction of lymphatic flow.”

It might be a slippery slope.​

Until this experiment, I’ve never studied my face in such detail. I quickly made peace with my “problematic” jawline and started bargaining: Can we just transfer some “puff” from my under eyes to my lips? (Yes, fat grafting is a thing, but not a thing for me.)

It might inspire you.​

In the end, giving some fresh attention to the contours of my face actually renewed both my self-love and my interest in caring for my face. It’s a pretty decent face and anyway it’s the only one I’ve got. I’m recommitting to giving it water, nutrients and (yes) its daily retinol.


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