Do you feel like you’re always clenching your teeth? Do you worry your jawline shows it? Overactive muscles in the upper jaw are a likely culprit, making your jaw uncomfortably tight and causing the muscles to bulge. Beyond discomfort, this effect can alter your face shape, giving your jawline a square shape and making others think you’re more angry or serious than you really are.
Facial slimming with Botox is a nonsurgical approach to jaw contouring that offers immense relief. This cosmetic procedure uses injectables to relax muscles in the jaw and slim facial features. You’ll look more relaxed, youthful, and less stressed.
The secret to facial slimming is neurotoxins like Botox and Dysport. These cosmetic injectables are famous for fading wrinkles and fine lines, but today they’re becoming popular for slimming the face by relaxing the jawline.
Your masseter muscles lie underneath the skin of your cheeks. They consist of three layers: the superficial layer, the intermediate layer, and the deep layer, which run from your ear, along the line of your cheekbone, almost to the orbital socket. From there, they stretch down to the bottom of your jaw.
When the masseter muscles are overactive, they get larger – a process called hypertrophy. This can happen for a few reasons.
The main reason is genetics; if one of your parents has “chipmunk cheeks” or a large jawline, you could end up with it, too. Beyond that, anything that causes the masseter muscles to overwork can also increase their size, including:
Overdeveloped masseter muscles can affect your face shape. In most cases, it’ll make your jaw or cheeks stick out on one or both sides. Fortunately, there are ways to slim down your jaw and address asymmetry.
How Neurotoxins Work for Facial Slimming
While the word “toxin” might be intimidating, Botox and Dysport are FDA-approved injectables that are highly purified and completely safe, with many medical uses. They work by selectively freezing specific muscles to smooth out and contour the face.
Historically, Botox was first used to treat lazy eye and muscle spasms. Over the years, it has evolved into one of the leading cosmetic injectables. Today, neurotoxins are most commonly used to smooth away dynamic wrinkles, which are folds or creases caused by repetitive facial expressions.
If your masseter muscles are enlarged, injecting a neurotoxin causes small areas of muscle fibers to relax. This relaxation shrinks formerly overactive masseter muscles and slims facial features like the jaw, giving you a smaller, more defined jawline. However, your masseter muscles are significantly bigger than the muscles that cause crow’s feet or frown lines, so they often require more injections with a slightly higher quantity of Botox.
While facial slimming with Botox does wear off, it’s quick and fairly affordable so injections can be repeated as needed to maintain your results.
Face Slimming Options
There are many other facial slimming procedures and techniques that are often recommended, but very few are as effective as jawline Botox.
Many sources recommend jaw exercises designed to burn away facial fat. But do facial exercises slim face outlines? Unfortunately, no. There is no way to target fat loss on any part of the body, especially the face. In fact, by exercising your jaw, you might be making your masseter muscles bigger.
Another popular method is facial rollers, but again, there is very little evidence that facial rollers slim facial features. Facial rolling may offer some contouring by clearing away lymphatic fluid, so you can introduce it if you think lymph build-up is causing your face to appear puffy.
In the clinic, there are other non-surgical solutions for a slimmer face. Fillers, which technically add volume, can be injected in such a way as to refine the facial contouring — especially to lift the cheeks or elongate the chin. If double chin fat is getting in the way of your jawline, we can address that too. Along with Botox and Dysport, we also offer Kybella injections to eliminate stubborn fat under the chin.
If you’re particularly determined, you may consider surgery to contour your cheeks, narrow your jaw, and slim your face. Plastic surgery has the power to deliver drastic results, especially in situations where it’s not the jaw muscle but your bone structure impacting your facial profile. However, keep in mind that the cost, risks, and downtime make it a difficult commitment.
For most of us, neurotoxins are the most cost-effective and easily obtainable option. Injectables can address enlarged masseter muscles, relax your face, and give you a slimmer, less stressed appearance with minimal spending and smaller commitment.
The Treatment Process
If you’re wondering how facial slimming with Botox works, here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the entire process from start to finish:
Initial Consultation
Before moving forward with facial slimming, we’ll have a discussion with you about your goals for treatment. We’ll explain your options — Botox or Dysport — and help you decide which suits you better.
We will also take time to set expectations for your treatment, recovery, and results. We want you to feel confident and informed about your treatment, which is why SEV is transparent every step of the way.
Injection Procedure
The actual injection process for facial slimming is quick and precise. The whole treatment can be done in less than half an hour. During this time, your injector will carefully mark the key spots needed to slim your jawline based on your muscle activity. Then, your nurse will inject those specific muscles to reduce contractions that cause bulging or hypertrophy.
Post-Treatment Care
After your Botox face slimming injections, you may feel a little sore. This is normal! You can ease any discomfort with cold packs — just don’t apply pressure. This tenderness only lasts a day or two, so take it easy. Your nurse injector will explain all other aspects of the Botox aftercare process, so follow her guidance.
Benefits of Neurotoxin-Based Facial Slimming
There are many benefits to neurotoxin-based facial slimming, including:
Enhanced Facial Symmetry
If your jaw bulges more on one side than the other, injectables can even things out, creating a more symmetric and balanced look.
Attractive Contouring
Facial slimming injections can make your face softer and less tense. This refines your side profile and makes you look more youthful and approachable.
Reduce Tension
If you have jaw pain or tension due to bruxism or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems, relaxing your masseter muscles can help alleviate your discomfort. Injectable facial slimming treatment can even cut down on headaches caused by strain on the TMJ.
Fast and Lasting Results
Using neurotoxins to refine your jawline can lead to both short-term and long-term aesthetic improvements. First, you’ll see your jawline narrow and smooth out from your initial treatment. With continued maintenance, your masseter muscles will likely shrink further, making your face even slimmer.
Expected Results and Maintenance
You’ll start to see early results in just 3 to 7 days. However, your masseter muscles won’t fully unclench and begin to shrink until a few weeks have passed. The effects typically last for 3-4 months before your body breaks down the neurotoxin and flushes it from your system completely.
If you want your face to stay slim, you’ll need to repeat your injections as they wear off. At first, follow-up treatments should be booked quarterly to keep masseter muscles under control and maintain the effects of your initial treatment. Over time, as your masseter muscles continue to shrink, you may be able to go longer between injections.
Risks and Considerations
There are some potential side effects you should know before booking your facial slimming treatment. Inflammation after treatment is common, causing redness, slight bruising, and puffiness in your cheeks and along your jaw. You might even notice mild, temporary asymmetry. This usually dissipates within a few days of treatment!
The risk of adverse side effects like slurred speech or inability to chew is higher with an unskilled injector. They may inject the wrong spot, inject unevenly, or inject too much or too deeply. At SEV, our nurse injectors are comprehensively trained in facial anatomy and administration of injectables, so you’re in safe, capable hands.
Who is an Ideal Candidate for Facial Slimming?
If you wish you could gain a slimmer, narrower jawline, then facial slimming with neurotoxins could be right for you. The perfect candidates for facial slimming with Botox are people who feel that their jaw and cheeks bulge unattractively as a result of overactive masseter muscles. Neurotoxins contour your face by relaxing the muscles and reducing hypertrophy, not by helping you lose weight. Their effects can slim facial features and increase jawline definition.
SEV — Your Destination for Facial Slimming
At SEV, every client is treated exactly as they should be — individually, to bring out your most confident self. Your facial slimming process will be customized to fit your needs and bring balance to your face.
There’s no one-size-fits-all treatment when it comes to jawline contouring, which is why we will evaluate each side of your face separately. If your face looks uneven and you want both sides to match, that’s exactly what your nurse injector will do!
Ready to carve out a sharper jawline? Book with SEV today to begin discussing your personalized facial slimming treatment.
18 Feb, 2025 
9 min read
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