5 Exercises to Reshape Your Jawline Without a Surgeon
We usually pay enough attention to our bodies when it comes to exercising, but we forget that our face muscles may need to work out as well. And it’s not just about getting a defined jawline — an expert suggests that performing these exercises may help prevent neck pain, headaches, and jaw pain.
The Bright Side team prepared 5 simple yet effective exercises for you that will help you tone your muscles and give your jawline a more defined look.
What is the jaw?
The jaw consists of 2 large bones, the lower jaw bone and the upper jaw bone, that support soft tissue like muscles, and the tongue and lips. The lower jaw bone is also called the mandible, it’s the only bone of the skull that has movement and the shape of it defines the look of our jawline.
A jaw that didn’t develop correctly can cause problems with chewing, speaking, breathing, sleeping, and even self-confidence. The exercises we have prepared for you are not magic tricks, but they can definitely help to give your jawline some definition.
1. The Jawbone Restorer
How to do the exercise: Put your thumbs below your chin, side-by-side. Then slightly push your chin down, creating resistance, and slowly slide your thumbs along your jawline to your ears.
Duration: Repeat 10 times.
Effect: This exercise helps to make your jawline stronger and more defined.
2. The Sagging Chin Exercise
How to do the exercise: Sit at a table and put your fists under your chin and jawline. Keep your elbows on the table. Slowly and gently try to open your mouth, still pushing your fists up, creating resistance. Hold for a little while and release.
Duration: Repeat 10 times, and do 3 sets (if you’re ready).
Effect: This exercise works your under-chin area, making it more toned and sculpted.
3. The Chin-up Exercise
How to do the exercise: Close your mouth and slowly push your mandible forward, lifting your lower lip up. Feel how the muscles stretch. Stay in this position for about 10 seconds, and do the exercise again.
Duration: Do 3 sets of 15 reps.
Effect: This exercise promotes the lifting of your facial muscles in the lower part of your face.
4. The Vowel Sounds Exercise
How to do the exercise: Your goal is to open your mouth as wide as possible, saying “O” and “E” sounds. Be sure to articulate the sounds and engage your muscles. Try not to touch or show your teeth.
Duration: Do 3 sets of 15 reps.
Effect: This exercise tones the muscles located around your mouth and lips.
5. The Collar Bone Backup Exercise
How to do the exercise: Keep your head parallel to the floor, gently move it back to feel your muscles contract, and then return it to the initial position.
Duration: Do 3 sets of 10 reps. When you’re ready, you can try staying in this position longer.
Effect: This exercise perfectly engages the muscles under your chin.
Maintaining a healthy jaw
When we think about being healthy we don’t immediately think about our jaw. And you might be wondering, how does that work? How can I keep my jaw healthy? Well, it turns out our jaw bones do need proper care, so we are sharing some things you can do to keep your jaw healthy so that you can always have a bright smile and a toned jawline.
- Check your daily calcium intake and if you’re not meeting the recommended daily intake of 1,000 mg. a day, for women between 19 to 50 years old, make adjustments to your diet. You can add dairy products, broccoli, kale, sardines, and calcium-fortified foods to your meal plan.
Calcium is very important for the development of the bones in your body, including your jaw. If you don’t get enough calcium, you can face health problems like osteoporosis, which weakens your bones to the point where they might break.
- Stop grinding your teeth. When you clench your jaw and teeth too much you can cause neck, shoulder, and jaw pain. This can lead to a condition called ’temporomandibular disorder’ which affects the movement of the jaw.
- Maintain great oral hygiene habits. Keeping your mouth clean not only helps your teeth, gums, and tongue but also your jaw. If you leave an infection or disease untreated it can affect your jaw bone. For example, if you don’t treat gingivitis in your gums it can develop into periodontitis, which can lead to the degradation of your jaw bone and tooth loss.
- Replace your missing teeth. This one might come as a surprise, sometimes our body is connected in ways we can’t even imagine. If you lose several teeth, it can make your jaw atrophy since it weakens due to a lack of stimulation.
If you have a weak jaw it can cause fractures and tooth loss since the jaw won’t be able to support the remaining teeth. If this happens, dentures are your only hope.
- Don’t chew excessively and stretch the muscles in your jaw. As you exercise your arm and leg muscles, the ones in your jaw need the same care, but be careful because everything in excess can be damaging for you.
- Last but not least, correct your improper bite. For this tip you might need to pay a visit to your dentist. Sometimes when we have an incorrect bite we might develop jaw pain, headaches, sore jaw muscles, and pressure on the jaw joint.
Now you know what your jaw does for you and why you need to keep it healthy. Try to brush your teeth regularly and keep them clean. Who would have thought that you can help to maintain a beautiful jawline by just exercising and keeping your teeth clean?
Do you train your face muscles? What other exercises do you perform to define your jawline? Do you like the results you’re getting?
Please note: This article was updated in June 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.
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