Iris injected my jaw and cheeks on her lunch hour last week. That evening I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and smiled at my reflection for the first time in a VERY long time. It was like I recognized myself again: Oh hey girl! Where you been?? I almost wanted to cry with happiness. I immediately texted Iris and thanked her for giving me my face back!
The thing that was bothering me so much was my jawline. I’ve always had a square jaw and I love it; my face is angular and it’s what I’m used to. But my first year at Body Tonic I started getting Botox injection in my masseters to help with TMJ pain and over time, as the masseters weaken and shrink, my face changed from a more square shape to an oval. I periodically have filler added to my jaw to correct this, but this time I waited a few years between treatments and the difference was very noticeable (at least to me).
While I dislike the oval-shaped jawline on myself, many people purposefully use Botox injections to slim the jaw. You may have heard it referred to as a masseter reduction. If you’re unfamiliar with where the masseters are, they are the muscles that sit to the side of your lower molars. If you clench your jaw or grind your teeth those muscles get larger and can accentuate a square jawline which many find to look more masculine. Botox injected into the masseter will have a slimming effect. The results can take weeks or even months to notice though…results are not as quickly seen as Botox for wrinkles.
If for some reason you are more like me and prefer the more squared jaw, filler can be added a long the jawline and in the masseter area to accomplish that. Jawline filler can actually serve several purposes.
One, as we age our bones actually change shape and the youthful L-shape of the jaw turns more into an I shape. Filler can be used to replace that bone loss and return the original shape.
Two, filler along the jawline can create sharper lines and give the appearance of a slimmed neck or camoflauge jowls.
And three, filler in the jaw area can replace the volume lost with shrunken masseters (like my situation).
I wish I had before and afters to show today but Iris and I haven’t had a chance to snap the “afters” yet. We WILL post them on Instagram this week so you can see my very first "befores" (before any Botox), an “after” that shows how much my jaw shrank, and finally my “after” from the filler last week. BIG changes.
Also got an added cherry on top of my beautiful results: my husband noticed and said he loves it😊