Why Smiling Is Healthy

Why Is Smiling So Important?

The great thing about a smile is its infectiousness. When you smile at someone, the person will almost certainly return your smile.

A smile is universally recognized as a sign of a pleasant mood and a positive attitude.

In addition, 5 to 53 facial muscles contract when you smile. The more muscles that work, the more advantage there is with an improvement of blood circulation in the face.

What Are the Benefits of Smiling More?

Smiling has an endless list of benefits. Here are some of the reasons you should smile.

• Smiling strengthens the immune system

A smile can strengthen not only the mental but also the physical health of a person, because when we smile, our body becomes more relaxed, which increases the production of white blood cells.

• Smiling is contagious

If someone near you yawns, you also involuntarily want to yawn; if someone next to you smiles, you also want to smile.

• Smiling reduces stress

Smiling reduces the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Many of the bad feelings associated with stress are produced by cortisol, and by lowering it, we may greatly enhance our mood. Cortisol decrease is an advantage that contributes to your general productivity and happiness. All you have to do is smile.

• It is simply easier to smile than to frown

Facts and Myths About Smiling

• Myth: Children laugh 300 to 400 times a day, and adults only 17.5
• Facts: We smile less at work. Currently, we smile less at work than at home (28% versus 30%).
• Myth: Women smile more often than men . Gender does not dictate how much a person smiles. It is more influenced by what role or activities a person plays daily.
• Facts: Scientists have classified smiles into 19 different types. Scientists at a research laboratory in San Francisco have identified 19 different types of smiles and categorized them into two categories – polite “social” smiles, which require the least effort, and sincere smiles from the heart, which involve all 53 facial muscles.
• Fact: Newborns start smiling immediately. Most doctors are sure that babies start smiling only at the age of 4-6 weeks, but smiles on babies’ faces appear much earlier – during sleep on their first birthday.

A Smile Helps Us

There are numerous things we benefit from smiling. Here are some of the most obvious facts.

• Trains the lungs

Smiling often will make it easier to laugh. When laughing, we take longer and deeper breaths and we interchange it with shorter breaths. Thus, we kind of train the lungs, force them to expand, releasing more air. We also improve blood flow in the lungs. Laughter is also useful for diseases of the respiratory tract, as it promotes better air circulation in the lungs and helps to free the bronchi and respiratory tract from phlegm.

• Boost Your Mood and Fight Depression

When we smile or laugh, our brains release endorphins, which are substances that improve our emotional state. Our brain doesn’t care how genuine your grin and laughter are; it will release endorphins since the body signals it to. By the way, the same logic applies to frowning brows, only that they do not boost mood, but rather raise stress. As a result, if you want to relax and get your dose of happiness hormones, smile wider and avoid frowning.

• Kills stress and helps to relax

Rather, not stress itself, but the production of cortisol, and at the same time contributes to the production of the hormone of happiness – endorphin. This same beneficial hormone helps us relieve pain. Also, after smiling, the muscles of the body completely relax, so that five minutes of healthy cackle can replace a full 30-40 minutes of rest.

• Heals the heart

Laughter strengthens the endothelium, the cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels and the heart. It is estimated that in just ten minutes of laughter, blood vessels dilate and blood pressure is significantly regulated, decreasing the risk of plaque build-up on cholesterol.

• Massages skin cells

Laughter was previously thought to cause premature wrinkles. But in fact, many cosmetologists call laughter “face-building”, that is, exercise for the face. Laughter strengthens the muscles of the face, improves blood circulation, which makes the skin look younger and healthier.

• Helps to lose weight

The more often you laugh, the faster the metabolism, and hence the burning of the calories you eat and the completely natural weight loss. This was stated by American researchers in all seriousness who reported that 15 minutes of laughter burns the same amount of calories as in a bar of chocolate.

• Helps us make friends

People are predisposed to relate better with someone that smiles. The inverse is for people who have a frown on their faces all the time, we tend to avoid them so that we don’t involuntarily “contract” a portion of negativity.

• Laughter improves relationships

A study by scientists proved that marriages in which spouses often joke with each other, laugh and smile a lot, and less often end in divorce. Laughter helps to distract from unpleasant emotions after a quarrel, defuses the situation and allows you to quickly forget about the mistakes and shortcomings of a loved one.

• Helps stimulate the eye muscles

According to research, smiling makes you less likely to suffer from a sharp decrease in vision at a young age. The muscle stimulation that occurs during a smile not only sets the surface of the face in motion but also sends a signal to the area of ​​our brain that is responsible for vision. Smile more often and forget about boring glasses and lenses.

The decision to get and maintain a healthy smile should be at the top of your priority list. At Wilmington Orthodontics, we use the best resources to give you a healthy smile that will keep your lips curled up all the time. Contact Dr Perlitsh today on (978) 658-3310 to book an appointment or visit our office at 25 Lowell Street Wilmington, MA 01887.