{"id":19171,"date":"2021-04-05T11:18:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T18:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=19171"},"modified":"2024-02-16T10:33:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T18:33:40","slug":"botox-lower-face-and-neck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/botox-lower-face-and-neck","title":{"rendered":"Full-Face Botox? It\u2019s a Thing. Here\u2019s How Neurotoxin Can Lift, Smooth, and Reshape the Lower Face and Neck."},"content":{"rendered":"

At RealSelf, we believe that loving the skin you’re in and wanting to enhance it are not mutually exclusive ideas. Whether you’re aiming to repair decades-old sun damage, restore your facial contours to previous proportions, or simply protect your complexion with a summer-smart regimen—we’ve rounded up the ultimate skin-rejuvenation advice for you, here, in our new series, The Skin You’re In<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>

When you hear the word Botox<\/em><\/a>, what springs to mind? Frowning for your injector, to accentuate your eleven lines? The tiny blebs that decorate your brow for a bit post-shot? The quick pinch of the needle piercing each crease of your crow’s-feet? For most of us, neuromodulators represent an upper-face fix—a way to prevent expression lines from digging in over time, by sedating the muscles that move when we’re surprised, worried, or genuinely joyful.<\/p>

But botulinum toxins can be used in the lower face as well—across the entire face, really—to ease age- or stress-related changes, boost the longevity of filler, and literally turn frowns upside down. Since the FDA-approval studies for toxins focus solely on the upper face, however, all other areas are considered off-label. Still, according to New York City board-certified dermatologist Dr. Jennifer MacGregor<\/a>, many doctors have been injecting Botox around the mouth, into the chin and chewing muscles (aka masseters), under the jawline, and across the neck for more than a decade now. <\/p>

“Techniques evolve and improve over time, but the basic principles haven’t changed much,” she says. “The main things that have changed are that a lighter hand, using fewer units, is now the norm, and we’re better at balancing multiple areas, to harmonize the entire face and neck instead of just freezing the frown, for instance.” Those smaller doses, which are especially critical for the lower face, allow muscles to maintain some mobility. And by not knocking them out entirely, injectors prevent stony expressions and keep untreated muscles from overcompensating and forging new wrinkles. (“Bunny lines<\/a>” on the sides of the nose are a prime example of this, she notes—when someone can’t move their upper face, they’ll often start scrunching their nose when striving to show emotion.)<\/p>

Despite neurotoxin’s tried-and-true versatility, many patients don’t know what a game changer the drug can be for the lower face. Dr. MacGregor theorizes this may be because changes in this area “are more insidious and hard to recognize, so people may not realize it’s the muscle pulling that’s causing their skin texture to change—or that treating it with neurotoxin can smooth things out.” Ahead, dermatologists share strategies for injecting the dynamic southern hemisphere of the face—and the near magical effects a few drops of toxin can achieve here. <\/p>

Interested in Botox?<\/small><\/div>Find Doctors Near You<\/a><\/div>

What happens to the lower face over time?<\/h2>

Much of the stuff we obsess over in the mirror (or Zoom grid)—the burgeoning smile lines, the subtly downturned mouth, the golf-ball-textured chin, the blunted jawline—can be blamed on our facial muscles, which tend to get larger and stronger over time, Dr. Macgregor tells us. We know that by repeatedly contracting and by simultaneously folding the overlying skin again and again, muscles contribute to wrinkle formation—but there’s actually more to it than that. People frequently store tension in the lower face, actively holding certain muscles in unnatural poses—clenched jaws, pursed lips—for much of the day and, sometimes, night. (The pandemic has heightened this phenomenon, our doctors say, accelerating the aging process for many.) These unwitting expressions not only dimple and crease the skin; they can gradually alter our features, causing jaws to become wide and boxy or chins to tighten and recede. <\/p>

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A post shared by Dr. MacGregor, Dermatologist (@nyclaserdoc)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>