At one time, a suntan was the mark of an outdoor laborer.  The rich stayed indoors, and treasured their pale skin. 

Even more status could be achieved by white make-up, as worn by Queen Elizabeth I and her courtiers.  The wealthy used parasols to avoid the sun, and even went to the extremes of using make-up with poisons like lead and arsenic on the skin to prevent darkening its color.  It worked, but it killed a lot of pale faces. 

In 1903 the Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to Neils Finsen, for his "Finsen Light Therapy", otherwise known as "suntanning".  Vitamin D deficiency was found to be the cause of rickets among other conditions, and exposure to the sun allowed patients to produce adequate quantities of this vitamin inside their bodies.  Two decades later, by chance, French trend-setter Coco Chanel had an accidental sunburn when visiting the Riviera.  Her fans liked the look (the subsequent tan, not the initial burn!), and the fad began to gain popularity.  Parisians also loved Josephine Baker, the american singer, and wanted to darken their skin to look more like her.  So these two women besically changed the image of a tan into something desireable, healthy, and luxurious.

By the mid twentieth century, the modern bikini entered our culture with Michelle Bernardini showing off her new suit in the summer of 1946.  Hollywood caught on, and so did the race to darken our race.  Initially, doctors knew little of the dangers of ultraviolet rays, and the public used no protective creams.  In fact, often people slathered on clear mineral oil, sometimes colored with iodine for extra fast burning qualities.  Northern climates often produced serious sun worshipers as well.  During winter, vacationers would strive to bake extra time in the sun so they could return home sporting a great tan in the middle of winter.  If that didn't last long enough (and it rarely lasted more than a couple of weeks) then there was the trusty sun-lamp to make it seem like you were weekending all winter in a sunny island somewhere.  However, the blush of luxury was soon to fade, just as each tan did.  Soon doctors started noting an assortment of skin cancers, extra pigmented moles, and signs of premature aging, especially on fair-skinned people.  In Australia, one of the sunniest places on earth, there were no such skin diseases among the Aborigines who lived there for centuries, but the new imigrants from the UK had pale skins more suited to constant rain than to the extreme sunshine.  Coupled with Australians' love affair with the beach, sunbathing, and outdoor sports, soon the continent was know as the skin cancer capital of the world. 

Today, most adults know better than to bake in the direct sun. 

However, most sun damage is done in our childhood and teen years, where most cancers start their genesis, and most of the destruction of the skin begins.  So when an adult seeks to stop wrinkles from lining the face, it is too late to do so by avoiding the sun. 

Prevention:  Stay out of the sun as best you can.  Wear SPF creams and reapply them after bathing; wear a big hat and sunproof clothing; don't lie in the midday sun, especially from 10am to 4pm.  Avoid tanning salons, sun lamps, and any other wrinkle enhancing cancer-incubators.

Detection:  See your doctor or dermatologist regularly if you have had any sun exposure, especially if you are fair-skinned.  Check also in your scalp, because moles here are hard to notice or monitor on your own.  If needed, your doctor can do a biopsy, or prescribe specific treatments for moles, sun spots, age spots etc.  For the skin aging itself, many patients turn to chemical or laser peels, or, ultimately, face lift surgery to remove slack skin and tighten what's left to cover the face.  

But an even better option is to  consider the health of the muscle underneath the skin.   The face has 22 muscles that need to be toned or they will sag.  True of any other muscles in the body as well.  The problem is the face has no station for exercise in the gym, and the facial contortions that are often recommended usually make the surface wrinkles worse.  For years celebrities have known of the power of muscle-toning facials, but these are expensive, and need to be repeated at the spa every week.  But now the FaceMaster Platinum has brought the same power home from the spa, so all can keep their faces toned.  Finally a luxury spa treatment to fit your budget, and to fit your time schedule.  A few minutes a day in your own home is all it takes. 

For more information, visit www.facemaster.com. 

For information on finding a dermatologist near you visit the American Academy of Dermatology at www.aad.org. 

For more on Dr. Hanson, visit www.peterhansonmd.com.       

A homeowner is somebody who is always seen walking out of a hardware store.  Bag of hinges, box of roach killer, toilet plunger, bucket of paint.  It's always something.  The weekend is quickly filled with an endless list of chores, or "honey-do's".  No problem if these chores are relaxing and provide stress relief.  For most, however, weekends have lost their value as stress-busters. 

Several years ago, I was involved in a Hilton Hotel survey of over 1000 people across the US.  Each was asked a series of questions about their stress levels before and after the weekend.  Surprisingly, over 80% stated that they were more stressed on Monday morning than they were when they left the office Friday afternoon. 

In terms of stress relief, most people got nothing out of their weekends. 

The reasons were myriad:

• the chores in the house
• doing the laundry
• the yard work
• taking the kids to their activities
• getting the dog washed
• car wash
• preparing for a dinner party



• cleaning up afterwards, etc. 

So the stress levels at the office were nothing compared to the chaos of the days "off" at the end of the week.  

My own patients tell me the same thing.  Stresses have never been higher, especially in today's economy, and the traditional "down time" seems useless at best.  That's why I've learned to value a true break from weekend stresses, just as we need a break from the mid-week stresses.  Even as a special treat once in a long while, there is great merit to a weekend "getaway".  Not to your own cottage, boat or tent, because the chores just change.  The real stress relief is to go to someone else's place, like a hotel, or boutique bed-and-breakfast. 

Now you can fully relax,  and know that there are NO CHORES to spoil your time.  You can even sleep in, then go back to bed a couple of times,  unless you brought young children with you.  Come to think of it, if you have youngsters, pick a weekend when it's their turn to be overnight at their friends' homes.

One of the amazing results is that you will be able to give in to your fatigue, even if you start off thinking of a very ambitious schedule of sightseeing or shopping. 

Bargains exist for great weekend rates, even in your own town (that way you don't need to factor in the cost or time of air travel).  A short drive can also add to the feeling of relief, by physically changing the scenery.  In Aspen, locals often travel to Denver for a weekend of city stimulation.  We live in Denver, and occasionally "take the mountain air" in Aspen.  For both directions, stress is relieved: the body gets a rest, the mind gets a break, and the face relaxes its furrows!

As we age, our faces become a visible indicator of our stress levels.  The invisible indicators, like blood pressure and cholesterol levels,  you will have to see your doctor about. 

For more information on how to take the stress out of your face, visit www.facemaster.com.  

For more information on Dr. Hanson's stress management techniques, visit him at www.peterhansonmd.com. 

If you want an affordable way to pamper yourself on a special Colorado weekend, visit www.aspenresidence.com. 

If you live elsewhere, and want to bring your pet along, visit http://www.petswelcome.com/. 

Aging is supposed to be a reward, not a punishment.  However, we live in a culture of youth, with media stars and fashion models all being (at least temporarily) young.  So images of health, happiness, sex appeal, charisma and energy are all demonstrated by young people, as if they owned all of these positive qualities.  By default, we think of our elders (if we think of them much at all) as having none of these attributes.  This is the basis of many misconceptions about our aging population, and, even more importantly, about the stereotype that we all carry about our own future.  The reason plastic surgery is so common today is that people are horrified to see themselves getting old.  Yet much of the prejudice about how our own body will age is wrong.  Let's take a look at some of the myths of aging (and take a bit of the pressure off ourselves in the process!):

1.  As we age, we can expect arthritis.  Wrong.  Arthritis is something that can happen at any age, including childhood.  When we see Grampa in shorts in the summer, we notice huge knees in the middle of noodle-thin legs.  Gramps is sure slow to get up from a sitting position.  But this does not mean the problem is arthritis inside the knee joint itself.  When muscles are not exercised, they atrophy.  Thigh muscles that once bulged are now concave.  Even with no change in the joints, the knees will start to look "nobbly" like those of a giraffe.  If Gramps is slow to get up from a sitting position, it is more likely from the lack of muscular strength rather than from arthritis.   

Action item: Exercise, but first consult your doctor and a fitness professional.  Pick activities that suit your interest, or you will quickly lose your enthusiasm.  Also pick something that suits your abilities, and won't cause any harm.  Consider yoga, pilates, aerobics on land or in the pool, or any one of the thousands of sports available from tennis to skiing.  

2.  As we age, our spines will become hunched over, like we are looking for quarters.  Wrong.  Ballerinas and professional models, even in late age, maintain great posture.  This is not by accident, but by discipline; they do daily routines of stetching and toning to keep standing tall. 

Body builder Jack Lalanne, at http://www.jacklalanne.com/jack.html shows amazing posture and energy at age 94 by keeping his muscles toned.  My partner, chiropractor Dr. Brian Stutz, just returned from a convention where he met hundreds of his colleagues, some still working in their 90's.  Even in their tenth decade, all had youthful posture.  Obviously there is something to all the alignment work they do on each other!   

Action items:  Modern work ergonomics are static, drawing our shoulders and necks into forward flexion.  We can see this when we are driving, working in front of our computers, or hunched over a desk reading.  To rebalance the body, start excercising the  muscles that extend in the opposite direction.  For instance, using pulleys or rubber bands to do "rowing" exercises will pull the shoulder blades together, and help oppose the stronger muscles on the front of the chest. Doing daily stretching will lengthen muscles that spend all day contracted: the hamstrings, as well as the pectoral muscles of the front of the ribcage.  Visit a chiropractor for an initial assessment, and consider occasional maintenance visits to treat your alignment.  By doing this you should be able to keep your spine from curving forward, and keep your body fit for vigorous activities for extra years.

3.  Wrinkled skin:  To be sure, none of us will be as smooth-skinned at 80 as we were at 20.  But much of what we assume to be "normal aging" of the face is nothing more than muscle atrophy.  Just like in the legs, this leaves concavities where the muscles once bulged.  Hence the sunken cheeks, drooping eyelids, and downturned mouth.  But your skin does not need to look as wrinkled as this photo: alright, this is an elephant, but you still don't want these wrinkles!

Action item: consider toning your facial muscles the way the professional spas do it.  Use the power of micro-electric current to stimulate your face, and to pump up all 22 muscles on each side.  The skin over top will still age, but muscle toning will take years off your face.  Visit http://www.facemaster.com/ to see Suzanne Somers show how it's done.  In today's economy, it is cheaper to buy your own machine than it is to have even one single treatment at a spa. 

So look aging directly in the face, and don't fear the future.  Not all the answers come from the plastic surgeon's menu.  Take control of your own muscles, and you will have more spring in your step, more height in your spine, and more joy in your face. 

Dr. Hanson welcomes your comments.  Visit Dr. Stutz at his site at http://www.peterhansonmd.com/. 

Good communication is critical in managing stress.  While words are important, the full context of the message depends on non-verbal communication. Words by themselves comprise only 10% of our meaning.  Tone of voice accounts for 40% , and the remaining 50% comes from  visible body language.  That is the main reason that business is not just conducted by e-mail (words only).  People use cell phones to hear the voice, and travel in person (or use video conferencing) to see the body language.  Only then can they get the full intent of the communication.

Let's take a look at a simple job performance assessment: "Robin is doing a great job".  If one looks only at the written words, it seems Robin is doing well.  But let's take a look at the rest of the non-verbal cues:

-Tone of Voice: If one says these same words sarcastically the meaning is quite different.  

-Body Language: If the speaker is rolling his eyes, sticking his tongue out, and giving the "thumbs down" sign as these same words are spoken, then we take it that Robin does a really poor job at work. 

That's why most letters of reference are useless (who has ever seen a bad one?!).

Non-Verbal Tips: 

Let's consider a person preparing for a job interview.  Here are some non-verbal tips from job coaching professionals: 

-Don't slouch when standing, and don't slide your rear forward in your chair when sitting.  When walking, move your arms; don't keep them frozen at your side.  Don't fidget, chew gum, or constantly clear your throat. Shake hands with a firm grip.  Don't have your shoulders elevated in tension, so they block your ears.  Establish good eye contact when listening, and when speaking.  Sit straight up, leaning a little forward. 

You can look serious, but don't glare like this classic stone-faced gentleman (painted by Durer in 1524)

Try not to frown, unless applying for a job as a bouncer or bill collector. 

-Show good listening skills, by incorporating (occasionally) some of the elements of the question in your answers, and demonstrate some empathy for the interviewer's needs.  Listen not only to your interviewer, but also to yourself as you speak.  Watch out for messages your eyes send; stress levels are often revealed by high rates of blinking.  In fact, Boston College professor Joe Tecce documented US presidential debates, and noted that the fastest blinker lost every election since 1980.  So make sure your contact lenses are not dry! 

Obviously, there are other many other issues, like preparation, hygiene, grooming, dress codes, and attitude.  For more comprehensive detail I recommend "interview coach" links like the ones listed below.  But no matter who's coaching style you adopt, optimizing your non-verbal presentation is always a huge advantage.  

One additional tip is made necessary by the aging population of job-seekers.  If you are competing with people half your age, you don't want to look even older than your stated years.  One of the best ways to keep your body from slouching is to exercise.  One of the best ways to keep your face from slouching is to tone its underlying 22 muscles. 

Exercise for the body is as easy as doing any sport, or going to a gym.  Yet there are no stations for "face" in the weight room.  But help is at hand!  The FaceMaster is ideal for turning up the lips at the corners, from frown to smile.  It will also tone the muscles under the eyelids, and plump up the cheeks.  In minutes, you can feel the increased muscle tone, just like you can after weight-lifting in the gym.  Even skin color is improved from a single treatment.  Click the video here to watch Suzanne Somers show how simple and quick this is. 

In todays difficult economy, most people cannot afford the luxury of frequent spa visits.  But the FaceMaster produces the same microcurrent (or "e-stim") as the professional machines that cost over $10,000.  Because owning your own FaceMaster costs less than one spa facial, you can get professional results at an affordable price.     

So if you are wanting to put your best face forward, consider interview coaching, and make sure you optimize your non-verbal communications.  Make the message you send be interpreted the way you intended! 

For more information on Dr. Hanson, visit http://www.peterhansonmd.com/.  For more information on FaceMaster, visit http://www.facemaster.com/.  For more specific advice on coaching for job interviews, visit Carole Martin at http://www.interviewcoach.com/, or http://www.interviewstuff.com/.  

It has been said that one never gets a second chance to make a first impression.  That's why appearance has become so important, especially in today's economy.   The face has assumed new importance in two areas of our lives:

1.Professional Career: record numbers of people are looking for jobs.  Some have had their hours reduced and need supplemental work to make ends meet.  At one time most job applicants were young people entering the work force; today they are joined by many who are in their forties, fifties and sixties.  Naturally they want to look their best, both in their photograph, and in person.  

2. Personal Relationships: For many, today's stresses would be much easier to bear if they had a good relationship.  And with today's time famine, thousands of singles are turning to the internet to find their ideal mate.  Once again, it all starts with a picture of the face, then an eventual meeting in person.  Naturally, one hopes the real face looks as good as the advertised one!

To make a good first impression with your photograph, you naturally want something better than a quick passport photo.   For a portrait, people take care to present their best appearance; they have their hair styled, make-up applied, and make sure they have a good photographer with good lighting.  These details will make the outer face look its best.  

But for those with facial wrinkles or sagging muscles, attention should be directed to the inner face.  At spas all over the country, facial muscles are lifted and toned with micro-electric current gently applied through wands touching the face.  Like weight-lifting, the toning is temporary, but builds with successive sessions.  Often, stars will have a couple of treatments in the week before a big media event, and will keep doing these regularly during the filming of a movie.  The before/after pictures from these spa treatments have always been dramatic.  Indeed, when we do them in our office in Denver, we give the patient a mirror after only half the face is done.  Instantly, we see the wrinkles start to diminish, and can feel the pumped-up tone of the facial muscles.  Once the inner face is toned, then the outer face is much easier to improve with make-up and lighting.

But with today's time famine (see my blog at http://www.facemaster.com/Blog/post/Time-management-how-to-put-a-good-face-on-it!.aspx), most people cannot make room in their schedule for a weekly trip to the spa.  And in today's economy, spending up to a couple of hundred dollars on a temporary facial treatment is, for most, unrealistic.   

So take a tip from Suzanne Somers, and from over 250,000 of her satisfied customers; her FaceMaster produces professional facial toning for less than the price of one spa treatment.  Once your inner face is toned, you can do a much better job with cosmetics to the outer surface.  Suzanne Somers, age 62, attributes her great facial tone to using this machine for the last 16 years.  In fact, she rarely ever misses a day!  In only a few minutes, you can see and feel the muscles firm up, the bags under the eyes start to tighten, the sagging areas over the cheeks start to plump up, and, with the "face-erasing" step called feathering, you can see fine lines and wrinkles disappear.  Watch Suzanne demonstrate how to feather her forehead at http://www.facemaster.com/videoTips.aspx?id=6.  Also take a look at our live models showing the before/after sides of their faces.

So remember, whenever you are about to interface, make sure your inner face is toned. Then you will always put your best face forward!

 Dr. Hanson welcomes your comments.  You can visit him at www.peterhansonmd.com. 

For those of you who are interested in a new career, visit sites like www.monster.com or www.indeed.com. 

For those of you looking for a new personal relationship, visit sites like www.match.com, or www.eharmony.com.

Insomnia is defined by the books as a symptom of a "sleep disorder".  The books continue to explain that it is a "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both", followed by periodic "functional impairments" while awake.  Well, thank goodness for books, otherwise we would think insomnia was nothing to lose sleep over.

In terms of function, the late Sir Winston Churchill was, by all accounts, one of the most energetic elders of his time.  He did not start his career as British Prime Minister until the age of 64, when most of his peers were planning their retirement canasta games.  His time in office was not exactly easy, as World War II had broken out, and all of Europe was being overrun by Hitler's army.  His own army was defeated and routed back to England at Dunkirk, rescued by a galant convoy of  private skiffs and small boats.  His level of focus and function was heroic, the envy of men half his age.  How much sleep did he get?  Not even three hours a day, including cat-naps.  If he lived today, he probably would have been slammed on Ambien (along with antidepressants, etc), and would have been suffering from too much sleep, along with the 48-hour hang-over of the sleeping pills.  And a woman of that age would surely be treated with hormones, like Premarin.  Also not very effective, and full of side effects.  The only sure way to enforce an eight hour sleep in anyone would be to administer a general anesthetic every evening...hardly good medical practice. 

As people age, they often need less sleep.  For example, teenagers often need massive amounts of sleep, due to growth and activities.  At some point in the middle of our lives, around 6-8 hours is common, but certainly not universal.  As we get past 50 or 60, it is very likely that just half that will do fine, although at any age it will be common to have an occasional morning of "sleeping in" to catch up.   By the latest statistics, over 64 million Americans suffer from insomnia regularly.  No wonder the prescription-drug cartel is raking in the money for pills.

So the real measure of sleep is the quality of its results, not just the quantity of time spent.  For some these results refer to focus and function during the waking hours.  But another measure is one's appearance; hence the term "Beauty Sleep".  Nothing tells the world you are feeling tired like "insomnia face": dark circles under the eyes, sagging cheeks, droopy lids, and mattress-print lines all over the face. 

On this latter point comes a great piece of advice from the legendary Cary Grant.  In his late seventies, he noted that the key to maintaining his looks was to sleep on his back, not on his stomach, to avoid the evidence of linen-folds on his face. 

Functional Insomnia: So if you are awake when you should be sleeping, then asleep when you should be awake, take precautions.  Try a strategy of night time "hygiene" that includes keeping all work materials away from your bedroom, trying a hot bath a half-hour before retiring, and avoiding any big protein meals or vigorous exercise just before bedtime. If you wake up in the middle of the night, get up and do some of your next day's activities, eg reading, paying bills, catching up on email etc.  Don't just stare at the clock and get annoyed at being awake.  Consider carving out extra time each day for a "cat-nap" if needed; it certainly worked for Winston. Hot herbal teas can also help, as can meditation/hypnosis, acupuncture, soothing music, aromatherapy candles etc.  Only as a last resort ask for intervention with pills, as they are usually overprescribed (and over-demanded). 

Facial Insomnia: If you alarm yourself with the first glimpse in the bathroom mirror, and if you seem to be suffering from an acute attack of face, don't dispair.  Micro-current can come to your rescue, without having to go to a spa.  Try the FaceMaster® and you will be amazed; sagging muscles will firm up, lids will stop being baggy, and even the eyes themselves will look more open and bright.  Suzanne Somers correctly notes that this is the ideal cure for those "red eye" flights before going on the air.  We have also had the same comments from patients who were up all night with a sick child before they had to attend an important office meeting. 

Action tip: Remember insomnia is not a disease, and it is not caused by the lack of a brand-name drug. 

For more information on functional insomnia, consider medical acupuncture, a great drug-free way to solve the problem.  To find a doctor in your area, visit the link on http://www.peterhansonmd.com/. 

For more information on your face, visit http://www.facemaster.com/. 

Dr. Hanson welcomes your comments and questions.

Not All Plastic Surgery Guarantees A Youthful Look!

In the movie business, cameras are everywhere.  Close up images of stars' faces are broadcast on the big screen, the television, and the internet.  Needless to say, those who are in the public eye are always mindful of the changes that age imposes.  In Hollywood, where plastic surgeons abound, there are unlimited options for facial rejuvenation.  The list of menu items is mind boggling, or one might say face boggling:  injections of fillers, implantations of plastic cheek "bones", threads looped under the chin and under the skin, liposuction, and, ultimately, amputation of unwanted skin through traditional face "lifts".

Peer pressure is a huge factor here.  For example, many teenagers are now getting breast lifts, nose jobs, cheek implants, and are competing with their mothers' age groups for cosmetic procedures.  In some cases these procedures can be justified as one-time fixes.  But often there is a temptation to become "addicted" to constant tinkering, and the results are not always satisfactory. 

Toned muscles always look more natural than injected ones.  That's why people go to the gym to lift weights, not just shoot injections into their biceps!  And nothing provides a better substrate for the skin than great tone on the underlying muscles.  
 
In today's economy, people are looking for ways to save money by following the "DIY" or "do it yourself" model.  Instead of going to a spa or medical setting to have your facial muscles toned (temporarily) using a $12,000 machine, why not capture the same results with your own machine.  For less than the cost of one spa treatment, your own FaceMaster will become your favorite beauty secret, just like it is for hundreds of thousands of satisfied users.

It is clear that many people will want many services on their faces.  But none of the surgeon's list will tone their facial muscles, in fact they usually need more toning after procedures. If you have had plastic surgery the FaceMaster is an ideal way to re-tone your facial muscles, and to maintain your youthful appearance, the natural way.

To read more about Lisa Rinna's comments on her face, visit http://www.usmagazine.com/news/lisa-rinna-i-looked-like-a-freak-after-too-much-plastic-surgery. 

To learn more about the FaceMaster, visit FaceMaster.com. 

Dr. Hanson welcomes your comments, and would be pleased to take your questions.

"Dear Dr. Hanson, I just saw Suzanne Sommers on Oprah today, and she was amazing.  Not only did she explain the role of hormone replacements as a menopause strategy, but she looked incredible.   If I take the same hormones as Suzanne, will my face look that great when I'm 62?   Sue R., age 45, Jupiter Florida.

 Dear Sue,

Indeed Suzanne looks fantastic at age 62, and it is not just by accident.  Her recommendation to first assess your unique hormone levels, then replace what is missing is indeed medically sound, and is a critical piece of her anti-aging protocol.  She also keeps her mind active by working a gruelling schedule, and keeps her body well nourished by eating organic foods.   But her young looks are very much a part of her disciplined muscle management, which she does routinely, in two ways: 

1.  For her body, she tones and stretches her muscles with yoga. 

2.  For her face, she uses her FaceMaster. 

Without question, the body needs its hormones to be in balance as we age.  Deficiencies or excesses cause a host of symptoms from overheating to chills, from insomnia to chronic fatigue, and from mood swings to itchings.  In her books "Ageless" and "Breakthrough" she outlines strategies to first identify and test for your personal condition, then to consider bioidentical hormones to replace those elements that are shown to be missing.  However, she is the first to note that there is more to beauty than just the hormone replacements.

Muscles tone when they are worked, and sag when they aren't.  That's why Suzanne has been a great fan of Iyengar Yoga, to tone and tighten muscles in her arms, legs, abdomen and core.  In the thighs, for example, it will strengthen the quads, and lengthen the hamstring muscles. This technique, made popular by B.K.S. Iyengar, is a form of Hatha Yoga, and focuses on the structural alignment of the body.   For more information see www.bksiyengar.com.  Also note Sir Mark Tully's article in the BBC, at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010116_iyengar.shtml. 

For her face, however, there are no yoga techniques that will compete with the FaceMaster.  This is Suzanne's best beauty secret, and one she has used for the past 16 years.  Microcurrent is used  to stimulate the 22 muscles on each side of the face for just a few seconds each.  In just 18 minutes, the whole face can be rejuvenated, with muscles regaining their tone under the eyelids, along the jaw line, and over the cheek bones.  And just like in yoga, other muscles need to stretch or lengthen, like the muscles between the eyebrows, or those creating the furrows in the brow.  The FaceMaster is the Grand Yogi of the face.  You can learn more about this fantastic technique at www.facemaster.com. 

Aging is supposed to be a reward, not a punishment.   And menopause should not be the ordeal that it is made out to be.  With good hormone assessments and treatments, you can feel  as good as you used to, and as good as Suzanne does now.  With good yoga (or equivalent exercise like Pilates) you can tone, tighten, and lenthen the muscles of your body.  With the FaceMaster, you can tone, tighten, and lengthen selected muscles of the face, and have Suzanne's best beauty secret: a firmer face, with restored muscle volume and fewer wrinkles.

So read Suzanne's books, like Oprah said to her audience today, and see what her techniques can do for you.  Not only your mood will improve, but your body will look younger like her's does.  Also try to exercise and tone your body muscles, in activities such as yoga.  But to put your best face on the menopause, try Suzanne's favorite beauty secret, the FaceMaster.  Give your face the gift of youth in the face of aging.  

We welcome your comments!  Please reply to this blog, or contact us at http://www.facemaster.com/.  For more information from Dr. Hanson, visit http://www.peterhansonmd.com/.