Strength Training For Your Jaw: Do 'Jaw Trainers' for Men Actually Work? - Men's Health Magazine Australia

Strength Training For Your Jaw: Do ‘Jaw Trainers’ for Men Actually Work?

A doctor explains.

Strength training for your jaw isn’t brand new: soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made a series of commercials for “facial fitness” equipment back in 2014. But a growing number of methods and gadgets designed to increase the angularity of your jawline have proliferated on platforms like TikTok more recently.

In a new video where he answers an array of subscriber questions, YouTube’s Doctor Mike addresses the efficacy of jaw trainers.

“Cristiano Ronaldo got paid mad money to do that ad, and you shouldn’t really be using these things, because the masseter muscles are really strong, but the reality is that if you overdo it, you can create problems in the TMJ area that literally, literally causes you to have a pain in the head,” he says.

“And then at night, if you overtrain these muscles, you can start doing teeth clenching and teeth grinding, wearing down your molars,” he continues. “You do not want these problems, trust me on this, I’ve seen patients who suffer with it, it’s a big big problem.”

Elsewhere on the internet, there are those who believe that “mewing” exercises can help define your jaw muscles, although these claims remain spurious. “I think mewing is a good example of the power of a story,” says Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. “This is one of those areas where there really isn’t a lot of evidence, good clinical evidence, to support it. It’s based almost entirely on that intuitive appeal and anecdotes and testimonials.”

It’s important to remember that for most guys, the shape of their jawline is determined not by their facial muscles, but rather by bone structure. And while you can sculpt the jaw you want through injectibles like calcium hydroxylapatite, it’s an extreme, expensive process.

This article was originally published on menshealth.com.

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