The Actual Benefits Of Dry Brushing, According To Experts

Whether you’ve been dry brushing for years or just came across a dry brushing video on TikTok, you might be into the idea of exfoliating and detoxing your body with the simple swish of a brush. Users report it can also boost digestion, stimulate lymphatic drainage, and improve skin texture. But what does dry brushing do, exactly — and what claims are too good to be true?

Dry brushing is a method of exfoliating the skin that originated with Ayurvedic medicine, says Dr. Melanie Palm, MD, MBA, a board-certified dermatologist. “It involves brushing a dry brush with natural bristles over the body in a specific pattern,” she tells Bustle. To give dry brushing a try you’ll need a brush with bristles that are stiff enough to feel slightly rough when you press down, but not so stiff that they scratch or cause pain, says Dr. Jaimie DeRosa, M.D., a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon and founder and lead facial plastic surgeon of DeRosa Center Plastic Surgery & Med Spa.

The idea is to brush with an upward motion starting at your feet, eventually moving to your legs, butt, and back, DeRosa tells Bustle. When you get to your stomach, chest, hands, and arms, you’re supposed to apply less pressure since those areas have thinner skin — and continue brushing up or in towards your heart. Once you finish, Derosa recommends hopping in the shower to rinse off all those dead skin cells before applying moisturizer.

While dry brushing is helpful for many folks, you’ll want to skip it if you have eczema, rosacea, or open wounds, DeRosa says, or if you have extra dry or sensitive skin. Otherwise, you’re good to dry brush once or twice a week to start, brushing for about five minutes at a time. As for the benefits? Here’s what dry brushing can do — as well as what it can’t — if you decide to make it part of your routine.

What Dry Brushing Can Do

Start a dry brushing routine, like the one above, and you can expect to see (and feel) quite a few benefits:

1. It Exfoliates Your Skin

Dry brushing is a type of manual exfoliation that buffs away dry, flaky skin cells, DeRosa says. Removing this buildup makes way for a new layer of skin cells, says Dr. Deanne Mraz Robinson, M.D., chief medical officer of Ideal Image and co-founder of Modern Dermatology PC. Even one dry brushing session can leave your skin looking and feeling smoother, similar to the way it’d feel after using a loofah or body scrub.

2. It Gives You A Glow

Another skin-boosting perk? “Dry brushing can help increase circulation near the surface of the skin,” DeRosa says. The short-term benefit, she explains, is that it will make your skin look more radiant due to the increased blood flow as well as the manual exfoliation.

3. It Helps With Lymphatic Flow

Brushing towards the heart is said to work with the natural flow of lymphatic fluid in the body, Robinson tells Bustle. Your lymphatic system, BTW, filters pathogens, bacteria, and cellular waste out of your lymph nodes and into your bloodstream (i.e. it’s a key part of your immune and digestive systems) — but it needs some help to keep things moving. And, according to Robinson, dry brushing is one way to promote this flow: “The lymphatic system works with the cardiovascular system synergistically — by encouraging flow back to the heart [by dry brushing], we support this and prevent blockages and stagnation,” she says. Just note that there is not much research to prove this.

4. It Wakes You Up

Dry brushing is also stimulating and energizing, according to DeRosa, which is why some folks like to do it first thing in the morning to start their day. Drag those bristles across your epidermis, and you’re sure to wake right up thanks to the boost in circulation. A brisk brush can also get your heart rate up so that you feel more alert.

5. It’s Meditative

Depending on how you go about it, dry brushing can also make for a meditative experience. The act of gently dry brushing for a few minutes — before you step into a nice, warm shower — totally counts as a self-care ritual, Palm says. And it’s one that you might enjoy zoning out to.

What Dry Brushing Can’t Do

While everyone has their own experience, and there are plenty of anecdotes out there that support some dry brushing benefits, here’s what experts say the wellness practice can’t do:

1. It Doesn’t Detox The Body

Although the skin is the largest organ of the body, DeRosa notes that it isn’t the primary or even secondary organ involved in the process of removing toxins from your system. Those top spots go to the liver and kidneys, respectively. While you see it claimed all over TikTok that dry brushing “detoxes” you, Palm agrees there just isn’t enough scientific evidence to back this up. To ensure that your body detoxes itself and drains away impurities through the lymphatic system, Palm says you’re better off exercising — or simply drinking more water.

2. It Doesn’t Reduce Cellulite

A reduction in cellulite or bumpy skin is another dry brushing claim to fame, but it’s one that doesn’t really hold up in the long run. “This simply is impossible to do with dry brushing as cellulite is a combination of subcutaneous fat being ‘trapped’ into sections by fibrous connective tissue,” DeRosa says. “What may have led to this myth is that the temporary [swelling] in the skin from dry brushing may hide the underlying cellulite.”

3. It Doesn’t Improve Digestion

While it’d be so cool if you could dry brush your way to better digestion, there just isn’t enough evidence to show that it actually helps. “Unless you’re doing your dry brushing similar to shiatsu [massage] by following the meridians that may help your digestion, traditional dry brushing is not going to improve your digestion,” says DeRosa. “I would say that if dry brushing is relaxing to you — and this is a stretch — one could argue that this stimulates the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic nerves in your body that are involved in digestion.” But it’s best not to rely on dry brushing alone to help you out.

Studies referenced:

Cueni, L. N. (2007). The Lymphatic System in Health and Disease. Lymphatic research and biology, 6(3-4), 109. https://doi.org/10.1089/lrb.2008.1008

Stephen, I. D. (2008). Skin Blood Perfusion and Oxygenation Colour Affect Perceived Human Health. PLoS ONE, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005083

Tindle, J. (2021). Neuroanatomy, Parasympathetic Nervous System. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-.

Tokarska, K. (2018). Cellulite: a cosmetic or systemic issue? Contemporary views on the etiopathogenesis of cellulite. Advances in Dermatology and Allergology/Postȩpy Dermatologii i Alergologii, 35(5), 442-446. https://doi.org/10.5114/ada.2018.77235

Sources:

Dr. Melanie Palm, MD, MBA, board-certified dermatologist

Dr. Deanne Mraz Robinson, chief medical officer of Ideal Image, co-founder of Modern Dermatology PC

Dr. Jaimie DeRosa, double board-certified facial plastic surgeon, founder and lead facial plastic surgeon of DeRosa Center Plastic Surgery & Med Spa