Bruxism/Tooth grinding

The Masseter is the powerful muscle on the side of you cheek that enables you to bite and chew. It is important for two separate reasons:

• A large masseter muscle makes your jaw look square. A square jaw can actually look good on some men. But it’s a different matter if it is too square, especially if you are a woman for it takes away that feminine oval face.
• Medically, a large masseter is associated with teeth grinding and bruxism, or a pain in your jaw caused by spasm of the muscles
• There is some suggestion that Bruxism is associated with Migraines. Certainly it can cause headaches though one of the migraine trigger zones is in the temples.

Very often the squareness is due to increased strength and volume of your jaw muscle, called the  Masseter, and muscle relaxer can be used to weaken it, giving  a less square jaw with a softer angle. By blocking the action of selected muscles with a relaxer we can reduce their power and cause a reduction in muscle size over time , very much like the process in treating wrinkles. For those with bruxism, they notice the pain decreasing within a week. You will generally notice softening of the masseter muscle at 2 weeks and softening of the jawline over the next 4 weeks. Researchers have observed that with continued treatment the reduced power of the muscle can actually allow the body to remodel the bone shape, so that your softer jawline is due both to muscle volume reduction and a change in your jaw shape to a more feminine line. The effects can be truly remarkable.