Ever thought what is the most prominent feature of your face that people notice first and foremost? If jawline is what comes to your mind, you guessed it right! It is most certainly a major element of your facial appearance and dictates your aesthetic appeal.
In this day and age, nobody wants a weak chin and a heavy jaw. Why? Because a weak chin and a falling jawline are indicators of imbalanced body fat ratio and premature aging.
Today we are going to discuss in depth about two most commonly asked questions on the internet – Why do you have a weak chin? And how to fix it?
Table of Contents
What is a Weak Chin?
A weak chin is basically a recessed chin. This occurs when your chin is slightly backward toward your neck rather than being forward. This condition is also known as Retrogenia in medical terms.
Moving on to a weak jawline, other than a weak chin another trait of a weak jawline is excess fat in the jaw area. The excess fat can cause what is popularly known as the ‘Double Chin’.
Some do believe genetics play a part in the way a persons’ jawline is shaped, however, studies prove that the growth of a human jaw severely depends on his diet and lifestyle habits.
Most of them indicate that a weak chin and an ill shaped jawline is a result of eating soft foods, living in limited spaces, and poor posture that includes mouth-breathing.
What these things do to our jaws is, they make palate narrow and block the development of the maxilla and mandible resulting in a weak chin.
Weak Chin – Male
Weak Chin – Female
What Causes a Weak chin?
There are various reasons that could lead to a weak chin, we are mainly focusing on non-genetic causes here.
Improper Tongue Posture
As our jaws cover the entire lower half of our face, they have a very prominent effect on our facial aesthetics. A study conducted in 1981 by Professor John Mew named “The ‘Tropic’ Premise” discusses in depth about how jaw development is linked with maintaining the proper oral posture.
“The ideal development of the jaws and teeth is dependent on correct oral posture with the tongue resting on the palate, the lips sealed and the teeth in light contact for between four and eight hours a day.” – John Mew
We have an in-depth blog discussing the Proper Tongue Posture, feel free to go through it to master the technique of Mewing.
To summarize, the ideal tongue posture is where the entire tongue is pushed on the roof of your mouth called the palate, while your molar teeth (flat teeth at the back of the mouth) rest lightly on top of each other and your lips are sealed to ensure you are breathing from your nose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYvm_cvgUcg
Soft Food Diet
How does soft food affect your jawline you ask? Let us break it down for you. Recently Richard Klein, a Stanford paleontologist, created an online buzz when he claimed – “I’ve never seen a hunter-gatherer skull with crooked teeth.” What did this imply?
It implies that our ancestors had broader palates and wider, more defined jaws as compared to a modern 20th century man. There is a strong connection between modern lifestyle and underdeveloped jaws. With the amenities of modernization came constraints such as limited spaces, posture degradation and ill habits such as mouth breathing.
All of these things together made our jaws shrink in size, as our palates became narrower, our teeth began to crowd. Soft and over cooked diets reduced the importance of proper mastication (chewing) that further affected the jaw and chin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGWc03HxMG0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQY8a-ng6g
Lifestyle & Habits
We can all agree that no matter what field we are from, it mostly includes long hours in front of a desktop screen. Unfortunately, complete elimination of this isn’t always evitable but it is important to know about the consequence that include:
Improper Posture
Our body is intricately connected and hence your overall body posture does indirectly affect your jaw development. Improper body posture includes slouching with your shoulders hunched forward, carrying weight on one side of your body and Lordosis aka Sway Back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcPktW0fpPQ
Lack of Physical Activity
A study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reflects that 1 in 4 Americans sit for more than 8 hours a day. Out of this, 44% report doing no moderate to vigorous physical activity like exercising or Yoga.
Since 1950, sedentary jobs have increased by 83% and this has to do with a lot of health issues that young adults face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkdceBcRa5w
Excess Body Fat
A weak chin can be a result of excess amount of body fat which forms under the chin, making it appear less defined. For achieving a leaner looking strong jawline, one has to keep in check the amount of calories he or she is consuming.
How to Fix a Weak Jawline?
Mewing
Mewing is all about maintaining the correct tongue posture. While mewing, one has to create a vacuum between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. This in return makes sure the entire tongue is sticking to the palate promoting forward maxilla growth.
Mewing can block any abnormal maxilla and mandible (upper and lower jaw) development. To read further in depth check out our blogs on Mewing guide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gxuzPcnwaY&t=7s
Facial Exercises
Facial Exercises can help you with your weak chin. As discussed earlier, excess fat is one of the reasons for a weak chin, by exercising your facial muscles you can get rid of any extra muscle fat and tone your jawline.
Facial muscles include the masseter muscle which is one of the strongest muscles of the human body and is the one connecting our lower jaw to our cheekbones. Facial exercises increase blood flow and oxygen which results in a well-defined chin and jawline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdHlbzqzO70
Chewing Gum
Chewing is a natural way of exercising your masticatory muscles. These include the four main muscles of your face that help in the process of chewing. There are studies that prove that mastication results in hypertrophy.
Hypertrophy the enlargement of an organ or tissue from the increase in the size of its cells. Hence, chewing gum regularly will help you say goodbye to your weak chin.
The gum that is recommended for exercising your chin area is mastic gum – this gum is all natural with no added sugar. Its extra resistance will help you work out your facial muscles.
Chisell 2.0 |  | |||
Jawliner 2.0 |  | |||
Jawzrsize |  | |||
Solaray Mastic Gum |  | |||
Falim Gum |  | |||
Krinos Gum |  |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8do6FdgZeKEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQAdVHZf4G0
Apart from these edible gums, there are silicone chewing gums made specially for a jaw workout. These include Chisell and Jawliner that are also backed by great reviews.
Posture Correction
As mentioned earlier, your neck and back posture places a vital role in the projection of your chin and jawline. Hence, maintaining an erect posture is necessary while practicing mewing throughout the day.
Overall Body Workout
We have already established that any extra muscle fat is going to divert us from our goal towards a strong chin and a strong jawline. And hence, it is important to maintain an active lifestyle.
Mewing is no magic trick and if you are overweight or suffering from obesity, it is obvious that just Mewing or a jaw workout will not help your case. It is important to workout your body muscles so you can get in better shape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC_L9qAHVJ8
For starters, you can begin with working out twice a week for 30 minutes. There are dozens of simple at home workouts for you to get started. Make sure you start slow and be consistent.
Hacks on How to Hide a Weak Chin?
While you are practicing all the necessary measures to curb a weak chin that we have mentioned above, you can also try a few hacks to give yourself a faux jawline till the time you have a strong one to flaunt.
Facial hair is one such method that is very popular in men, by shaping your beard and hairline you can shape the outlines of your face. A crisp cut will project a sharp jawline.
Final Thoughts
There are definite non-surgical ways of improving a weak chin if you are committed to them.
However, all natural changes take time. Hence, while Mewing and Jawline exercises will surely show results, it purely depends on how frequently you practice them.