Diagram: Masseter musclesNon-surgical jaw-debulking is an under-utilised but highly effective treatment for facial rejuvenation in women and men.
The masseter muscles are bulky muscles situated at the angles of the jaw, responsible for chewing and grinding of the teeth. With age, these muscles gain bulk, with the effect of widening and hardening the rear part of the jawline. This is very obvious in men, and jaw bulkiness is a prominent feature of male maturation and ageing. Sometimes this can look good, but often the masseters get too bulky and add unnecessary age to a masculine face.
A tiny amount of Botox, carefully applied in the correct anatomical positions, can successfully relax these large powerful muscles of mastication and cause them to gradually shrink and de-bulk over the course of a few weeks. In correctly selected patients, this procedure can produce a delightful rejuvenating effect on the lower face.
In women, bulky masseters can also be addressed as part of a global facial approach to anti-ageing, for example in complement with cheek enhancement and peri-oral rejuvenation using dermal fillers, creating the demure ‘heart shape’ outline to the feminine face that is the prized outcome of aesthetic surgeons and physicians.
Bruxism, which is a phenomenon of night time jaw-grinding, is more common than people think, and probably contributes to masseter muscle bulk (in both men and women) and hence facial ageing. It can also be an unpleasant and painful condition to suffer from.
Applying botox to the masseters can address this problem, and in so doing can also rejuvenate the lower face in these patients who tend to have bulky masseters anyway.
If any of the issues above affect you or if you would like more information, please send us an enquiry at [email protected] or call us on +44 (0) 203 398 1524 to receive a call-back from one of our aesthetic doctors.
