I had the botox jaw to stop grinding teeth and slim my face. This is the truth about how much it costs, the ‘miracle’ effect … and whether it really works: Clara Gaspar

Clamp your teeth. And now REEEELAX!‘Professor Syed Haq instructs me calmly, needle is just like millimeters of my skin. Then comes the sharp scratch. And another one. Up to six small injections have pierced the basis of my jaw line – three on each side.

Today I have a masseter Botox. ‘ In contrast to normal botox, this is not about smoothing fine lines or ‘freezing’ your forehead. It is a treatment that has become known for the stressed mid-lifers as a panacea for Bruxism, the medical term for unconscious tooth-Grinding and jaw locking, which affects one in four adults and often worsens in times of fear.

But that’s not why I have it – or it’s not the only reason. Among women in the twenty as I – sometimes described as the Tap Generation-de treatment drinks in popularity because of a newly discovered side effect.

By preventing the excessive use of the mass muscles, this type of botox is supposed to produce a softer, more preformed jaw line that can change the silhouette of the face dramatically, especially for people with naturally strong or large jaw muscles. So-called ‘jaw slimming’ sculpting the face in a more female heart shape or that is the statement; fewer Brad Pitt and more Scarlett Johanssonwithout surgery or downtime required.

I felt torn on the subject of Botox injections for a long time. In June last year I wrote a piece for this newspaper about the tree in ‘Preventive Botox’ – the idea that the Jabs can delay or prevent the formation of fine lines and wrinkles by relaxing facial muscles in women in the twenty and early thirty.

Most of the women I interviewed were inspired by Tiktok to smooth their forehead and ‘keep their youth’ – although, like me, they hardly had a wrinkle in sight.

In the end, however, I decided that Botox was not for me. Or in no case ‘not yet’. I was not convinced that the aging could slow down and not show myself frozen, with a rather shocked expression, so I gave it a pass.

When, five months ago, during a stressful day at work, I suddenly became aware of a strange tense feeling at the back of my mouth. I was not grinding my back teeth, but only a one-off teeth, but a continuous, involuntary grinding. Once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop.

I caught myself that it was constantly – at my desk, on the bank lecture, even walking to the stores. The worst was at night. I would wake up with painful temples, a painful jaw and the kind of headache that painkillers would not shift.

I tried to de -stress (easier said than done). I looked at traditional treatments, such as an ‘occlusal splints’ (a mouth protector that you wear at night). But with NHS -doloral agreements more elusive than Glastonbury tickets, I looked at around £ 400 to get a private one.

And then, as a sign of the algorithmic gods, Tiktok began to feed me videos of Masseter Botox. Young women show off their newly sculpted faces with striking front and after-shots, and claimed that it had healed their grinding and their limes fell in one.

Of course one can only wonder how many of these women really struggle from clinical Bruxism – and how much it just use as an excuse to close their lime. A bit like when a Hollywood star reveals that they have undergone surgery to ‘correct a different septum’ – and happens to be created with a perfectly sculpted nose.

Flossie Clegg, a 24-year-old Tiktokker from London, revealed that she had had the treatment after fans speculated about the cosmetic work she had done.

“I have Botox in my jaw,” she said. ‘I started to get it because I would grind my teeth and I didn’t really know it changed your face. I really like the look aesthetically. I used to have a very strong, wide jaw – which I didn’t mind at the time, but now that it has been chased my face, I like it. ‘

The hashtag #masseterbotox has so far been used more than 12,000 times on Tiktok.

Some results come from women who try to ‘get rid of’ treatment by warning side effects-such as developing cheeks or a frozen smile. Yet I decided to take the leap.

My appointment takes place in the Marylebone clinic of Professor Syed Haq-one of the most sought after aesthetic doctors of the VK-Die. The practice runs am aesthetics with his wife and aesthetic, Alex Haq.

Before a single needle is not off, I will be taken a detailed consultation. We discuss my medical history, medication and suitability for treatment.

It turns out that, yes, I suffer from bruxism – and I am an excellent candidate. Then Professor Haq asks me to repeatedly clamp and relax my jaw while he notes. He keeps an iPad up to analyze my profile and casually announces: “You have severe facial mermetry.”

Charming!

His wife Alex quickly soften the blow: “There is more muscle thickening – or hypertrophy – of the mass muscle on the right.”

I have always noticed that my jaw line on that side looks a bit stronger, but I assumed it was my natural face. I never thought it could be corrected by Botox – or at least softens -.

Professor Haq explains his plan: 25 units of botulinumtoxin type A on the right, 20 on the left. The goal is to reduce the size of the more prominent muscle to create a more symmetrical, balanced appearance (while also preventing the grinding that has plagued me).

Botox blocks nerve signals for the muscles and relaxes them temporarily. In the case of mass eaters – the muscles responsible for chewing – this means that you are no longer able to clamp or grind unconsciously. The muscle shrinks from under use and gives the jaw line a softer appearance.

The procedure itself is fast. Every injection feels like a small sting – less painful than I expected and not worse than a flu tab.

And although the toxin of the JAB can take a few days to paralyze the massage muscles, Professor Haq tells me that the relief can not only come from the Botox, but from the mechanical process of the needle that breaks through the tense fiber of the muscle.

The next day I wake up with a boring, pulsating headache sitting behind my eyes. Professor Haq warned me about this. It is caused by the temporal muscle on the side of the head that overcupens the weakened mass eater. It is unpleasant – but manageable with painkillers.

But what is more surprising is the almost unreachable relief in my jaw. Only 24 hours after the injections, my teeth grinding stopped almost completely.

For the first time in weeks I wake up without beating pain in my jaw. Sitting at my desk at work, it is relaxed – instead of constantly clamping. And yes, I admit it – I am starting to notice subtle changes in the mirror.

A few weeks later, the right side of my face looks a little less extensive and my jaw line is less completed. It’s a difference so small that I

Wonder if it might be placebo – but I’ll take it! As with all Tiktok-Viral Beauty trends, the recoil against the treatment has already begun.

Made in Chelsea star Sophie Habboo, 30, recently admitted that years of Masseter Botox had left her a ‘frozen’ smile. “It’s really a bad situation,” she said. “I see to be honest.”

And the 23-year-old YouTube star Olivia Neill revealed last year that she had left numbness on one side of her jaw after getting the injections.

Reddit -Threads are also filled with warning stories from women who claim that they have developed cheeks, just a few months after they injected their mass eaters. Some say that their faces are hollow or outdated.

Dr. Sherene Idriss, a respected dermatologist in New York, posted a video warning earlier this year about the growing trend of Botox of Cosmetic Masseter.

“Medically there is a goal,” she says. ‘But cosmetically it is possible [wreck] Your face. As soon as you bring that muscle down, [you get that] Foolish cheek. ‘

There is no known method to reverse the effects of Botox. In the course of time it can only go by nature, usually within three to four months – although Professor Haq tells me that I could feel the effects eight to ten months.

If you are blessed with a strong bone structure, you will be fine when you get older. But if you have a graceful jaw line, your bone structure is not strong enough to keep your face up. That massage muscle gave the illusion of a better jaw line.

So what is the truth?

I certainly don’t have a strong bone structure DUS I will be wary of the side effects while the Botox continues to work.

Alex Haq tells me that it depends on the practitioner, the patient and how often it has been done. Although she would only inject after a medical assessment, many other clinics are reckless and will give injections to those they don’t need.

Maybe I should think twice before I do it again, or adjust the dosage, or let the muscle recover.

But for the time being feels waking up without a painful jaw like a luxury that I didn’t know I was missing. And I would take pain -free mornings over a perfect profile every day.