I tried the rubber band TikTok beauty trend and this is what I found

A new beauty trend that promises to depuff your face using just a simple rubber band is sweeping across TikTok.

The "hack" is said to originate from South Korea, where beauty treatments are highly popular. While it may look a little silly, beauty enthusiasts on the video-sharing platform have sworn that the trend makes their faces look more defined after just 10 to 30 minutes.

It involves placing rubber bands over your ears. Dr David Kim, a dermatologist based in New York City who was one of the first to post about the trend, wrote in the caption of his now-viral video: "Biggest beauty hack in Korea right now, rubber bands on ears x 10 mins to de-puff your face."

Dr Kim’s video has garnered more than 6.4 million views. It shows him simply placing a rubber band around each ear, with each band appearing tight enough to slightly pinch the ear but not so tight that it is uncomfortable.

Although Dr Kim shared his video last year, it recently surfaced again after beauty influencer Kirti Tewani shared her own results using the hack. She posted a video explaining that she noticed a difference on the side of her face where she had placed the rubber band on her ear, whereas the other side remained puffy.

Tewani said she had only put the rubber band on one ear for five minutes, and pressed on the apple of her cheeks to suggest there was a difference between how puffy one side was compared to the other.

"Yes it works!" she wrote in the caption.

After a restless night thanks to a disruptive and demanding moggy, I emerged from my bedroom this morning feeling a bit worse for wear, with a puffy face to punctuate just how tired I was.

I decided to give the hack a go, since it only required two rubber bands. However, neither Dr Kim nor Tewani specified how tight the rubber bands should be. So I tested a looser rubber band over my right ear and a tighter one over the left.

I took photographs of my face before putting the rubber bands on and during. After around 15 minutes, the left side started to feel slightly uncomfortable, and I removed them both after 20 minutes and took photographs from approximately the same angle.

In all honesty, I didn’t see much difference in the puff levels of my face. Perhaps my cheekbone looked a little more defined on the left side where the rubber band had been tighter? Overall, it was barely noticeable.

Those who advocate for the hack claim that it encourages lymphatic drainage, therefore depuffing your face. However, some dermatologists have said it does not actually work because there are no lymph nodes inside your ear - although, there are lymph nodes situated behind the ear.

The lymphatic system is part of the immune system and consists of a network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue that are found throughout the body.

A popular beauty treatment that has surfaced in recent years is a lymphatic drainage massage, which helps move lymph fluid through the body. It can ease swelling and move waste towards the lymph nodes, making it easier to get rid of toxins.

The idea that rubber bands can help depuff the face by acting as a lymphatic drainage massage around the ears is understandably popular, but Dr Daniel Barrett, a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California, said it is simply a myth.

"Lymphatic drainage doesn’t really go through your ears," he said in a TikTok video. "You actually have multiple nerves that go to your ears, I think it’s five, which is actually unique. But in terms of your lymphatic drainage, it all comes through your neck.

"So I don’t really think this does anything other than make you look like a creature from Lord of the Rings."

Master aesthetician Katya Khayutin also dismissed the trend and said it will not work to help reduce facial swelling.

Speaking to PopSugar, she explained: "While manipulations around the ears are indeed a part of lymphatic drainage massage, a technique used by professionals to reduce puffiness, these require specific, trained motions to be effective.

"Simply wrapping rubber bands or hair ties around your ears won’t achieve the desired effect."

Read more about beauty:

• Dermatologist-approved facial toning devices for a needle-free face lift (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)

• Beauty influencer shares 'unpopular' skincare hack that transformed her skin (SurreyLive, 3-min read)

• Adding one cheap item to daily skincare routine could promise 'winter glow' (Manchester Evening News, 2-min read)