At one time, comic books showed that the epitome of the American hero had a square jaw. This showed he was honest, true, and above all else, better than those around him. Superheroes, like Superman and Batman, and more down to earth heroes, like Sgt. Rock all displayed the same jaw line. Some of them still do. This over-pronunciation of the jaw may look good in comics, but not so much in real life where it is given the name masseter hypertrophy.

Masseter Hypertrophy

Masseter hypertrophy is the enlargement of the jaw muscle. The masseter is one of the strongest muscles in the human body. It is used every single day for speaking and chewing food. Hypertrophy is the enlargement of the jaw muscle through excessive use, such as habitual clenching of the jaw or teeth grinding. However, it is also a genetic trait for those of East Asian decent, most notably Koreans and Japanese. As a result of change social mores, a square jaw is not something people look at as attractive.

Many people with masseter hypertrophy have looked into procedures to reduce this. One of them was jaw sculpting, which can be painful and take a long time to recover from. However, it has been discovered that using BOTOX® Cosmetic will temporarily reduce the size of the muscles and narrow the jaw line. When this occurs, cheekbones are more prominent. In people who are genetically prone to high cheekbones, such as Koreans and Japanese, the result can be dramatic.

Use of BOTOX® Cosmetic

BOTOX® Cosmetic has a sterile form of the botulinum toxin, which paralyzes the muscles at the injection site. This blocks the use of the muscle for several months, without harming the structure of the jaw. After a series of BOTOX® Cosmetic injections at the masseter, the patient's face becomes much narrower. While a repeat of the injections is needed, the results may last for most of the year.

Using BOTOX® Cosmetic is a safe way to have your jaw line narrowed without having to undergo other painful procedures.