Risks of facial slimming treatment | How we reduce your risk  

• A small bruise after treatment: This is unlikely, however, as the jaw area is not particularly vascular. 
• Difficulty grinding tough foods: The masseter muscle will weaken because of the injections, and you may notice it being more difficult to grind food. This is not a permanent side effect. 
• Affecting the smile muscle: The masseter muscle lives very close to a muscle called ‘risorius’, as shown by the red muscle in the picture below. Risorius is the muscle responsible for opening the mouth wide when smiling. We are very careful to avoid this muscle when injecting the masseters to avoid the smile from being affected. In the unlikely event of the smile muscle being affected it would wear off quickly with no permanent problems. 

When patients over 40 come to the clinic we must be more careful when treating the bite muscle. Slimming the jawline can sometimes make the jowl area more prominent – something we want to avoid as we age. 

We treat facial slimming and tooth grinding by injecting anti-wrinkle product into the masseter muscle. This causes the relaxation of the muscle and slims it down. Imagine going to the gym and doing weights for months then stopping gym for 6 months. By reducing the ability of the masseter muscle to contract it reduces the size of the muscle and causes a slimming effect.