Benefits of Jaw Botox
The jaw muscles are one of the biggest muscular features on your face, and they’re responsible for chewing, opening your mouth wide, and expressing your emotions. While many people are perfectly happy with the way their jaw muscle looks, others may want it to look slimmer or more feminine. Jaw Botox can help achieve these goals by relaxing the jaw muscles and reducing the size of your lower face.
The main reason for clenching or grinding the teeth is often stress and frustration. However, these behaviors can also lead to a host of other problems, such as headaches, neck pain and discomfort, earaches, damaged or worn teeth, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues, and even jaw bone loss. While some patients choose to use biofeedback or a mouthguard at night to prevent clenching, many of these treatments do not work for everyone.
Jaw Botox works by attaching to nerve endings and blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from being released, which is responsible for triggering muscle contractions. By inhibiting the release of acetylcholine, Botox relaxes the jaw muscles and reduces the appearance of wrinkles. In addition, when injected into the masseter muscle, it can also cause the jaw to appear more slender.
What Are the Benefits of Jaw Botox?
To perform jaw Botox, a doctor or certified nurse practitioner will first cleanse the area to reduce infection risk. After the site has been sterilized, several injections will be placed into the masseter muscle on each side of the face. This process can take up to 15 minutes, and patients experience no downtime.
Once the jaw muscles are injected with Botox, they will begin to weaken and atrophies over time, which causes them to shrink in size. This results in a slimmer jawline and a more feminine facial contour.
The masseter muscle is located on each side of the jaw and is a primary part of chewing. When this muscle is overworked from clenching or grinding the teeth, it can lead to a rounder jawline in some people and a squarer facial shape in other people.
In addition to reducing the jawline’s width, Botox can also help alleviate a range of TMJ issues. According to a 2015 study, the masseter muscle injections from botulinum toxin helped decrease the frequency and duration of clenching episodes in TMJ sufferers.
While masseter jaw Botox has significant benefits for those suffering from TMJ disorders, it is important to note that this is an off-label use of the drug. It is not FDA-approved and there are some potential complications that patients should be aware of, such as dry mouth or paradoxical bulging (when the muscle remains active despite being paralyzed by Botox). Nevertheless, this is a safe treatment for those who are seeking short-term relief from TMJ symptoms and wish to improve their overall quality of life.