As I have been analyzing so many faces, I thought it would be interesting to analyze a model and introduce the process here. We have got a beautiful face volunteer, so thank you so much.
First of all, if you can carefully look at the teeth, especially the lower teeth, very often you can see that the lower teeth are shifted to the right (or left) side slightly. Please check your teeth. The reason why we check the lower teeth over the upper teeth is that lower teeth are often shifted to the dominant jaw side. Upper teeth move too, but lower teeth move way more, so it’s easy to find which jaw is dominant by checking the lower teeth.
In this model’s case, the lower teeth are shifted to the right side. It's very different but you can see, right? I can see that. So that means probably the jaw is shifted to the right side as well. And probably chewing on the right side too. I would assume her dominant jaw is on the right side. That's why when she smiles, her right cheek is higher.
Don’t get confused that this is just 1 pattern and might not apply to your face though, because everyone’s facial habits vary and that makes asymmetry more complicated. In other words, in her case, her right cheek is higher because her right jaw is dominant, but you might be right jaw dominant and left cheek higher too.
Let’s get back to this model now. Check the chin. Do you see that the chin is tilted slightly to the right side? This asymmetry is very little compared to others, but you can see that the chin is not in a straight alignment, which is normal. I think she's very careful about body posture, face posture maybe. Anyway, her face is in very good shape.
Now let’s carefully see her smile posture. When she smiles, the right lower teeth are slightly showing more than the left. That is probably coming from more overworked masseter muscles on the right than the left. The masseter is pulling the lower lip downward to 45 degrees or so.
1. Face Adjustment
In this case, I would definitely do Face Adjustment, aka Facial Chiropractic™. In her case, the right is dominant, so shift the right jaw to the left. Slowly inhale, and when you exhale, move the jaw. You can repeat the same move a couple of times a day, but every single day. It will change the position immediately, but it comes back, so it is important to do this from time to time throughout the day. 1-5 times a day.
Please be careful not to move to the point where you feel pain. You should never feel pain when you do, and if you do, that means too much. It’s not like the harder you press or move, the better it works.
Interestingly, my face is not like this typical asymmetry pattern. In my case, my dominance is on the left side, and the left side is saggier and bigger too, which is a rare case. I am just saying that asymmetry patterns vary, depending on facial and body habits so much. Usually, the dominant side’s superficial masseter muscle is not that strong, but in her case, it is strong, in addition to the deep layer of the masseter muscle. You can see that difference among superficial, deep, and 3rd layers here, although we only discuss the superficial and deep this time.
In her case, because both the superficial and deep layers of the masseter muscle are stronger, it is very good to stretch the right side. Stretching the tight strong muscle help balance. Note that the superficial layer of the masseter is the one that makes your face bigger, so if one cheek is bigger or wider, probably it is this superficial layer of the masseter that is making so. The goal of this masseter stretch is to be able to feel the same on both sides. So if you feel either masseter is tighter, you should stretch the tighter side more. My recommendation is just a couple of times a day, but ideally throughout the day.
By the way, if you want to quickly analyze your face, our KFY iPhone app (The name of the app is “KFY” on iPhone) offers an AI-based scanning feature to tell you how asymmetry and where they are. This is a great tool to keep a record of the progress.
2. Cheek Exercise
I want to adjust 3 cheek muscles in this case. Zygomaticus major, minor, and Levator Labii Superioris. (See the 3 blue muscles in the cheeks here.)
Zygomaticus Major: This is easier because they are relatively bigger muscles than the rest. Try to move them one by one to the same height, same angle, and same level as possible.
Zygomaticus Minor: Do the same. It’s a bit harder because it’s smaller than zygomaticus major.
Levator Labii Superioris: Do the same, but be careful NOT to move other muscles so much. If you do big movements, that’s cheating, because you are engaging other unnecessary muscles. You might not see the movement, but that’s ok. Try not to cause wrinkles on the sides of the nose. If you cause them, you are depending on other muscles, so it should be very small movement.
You probably don't see a big difference on my face, so you might be wondering what are you doing. But that is completely fine. You don't have to necessarily see a big difference. In fact, you don't want to see a big difference because those are smaller muscles. Be sure to try this exercise in front of the mirror to make sure that you are activating the right muscles. (See the anatomy here.)
The more subtle movement you make, the better. And when you do it, do you feel either side is harder to lift? If so, practice the harder side. So you wanna practice more to make it the same level.
3. Buccal Massage
You can also do buccal massage (detailed tutorials here.) In her case, her right superficial and deep layers of the masseter muscle are both stronger than the left. So it’d be effective to massage them both on the right side.
Sandwich the masseters from outside and inside and massage. You want to go deeper for the deep layer of the masseter and shiatsu hold it once you catch the fish. Hold it for a minute or around if you can. When you release, you should feel a big release. In her case, focus on the right side, because the right’s deep layer of the masseter seems very stronger than the left.
In her case, her depressor Anguli Oris aka DAO (watch the video about DAO here.) muscles and chin (mentalis) are pulling the skin down too (How to relax chin tension here). So it’d be effective to relax there with a buccal massage too.
Many misunderstand that the reason why your skin is saggy is just weak muscles. That is 1 reason, but not the only reason. In my opinion, the bigger reason is too strong overworking muscles that act downward. (See the red muscles in the lower face here.) So it is important to relax them.
Till now since I started doing the massage, I did only the left side, right? So now my left feels much lighter. I feel like there is a heavy mini dumbbell weight on the other side.
By the way, if you are interested in everything that I do, and even if you are not going to teach as an instructor like me, our instructor certification course is the perfect education, because you will learn just so much about facial muscles and even bones. If you want to change the face, you want to change the shape of the face, not just the skin surface, right? It is a community for muscle nerds, but the facial muscle nerd. And after the course, you're gonna be in the community I will give you an update every time I learn something new. So you're gonna be in my lifetime, friends.
If you are interested in doing this analysis on your face, send us a picture. Four pictures.
1.Resting face
2. Smiling
3. Yawning face (or opening mouth big long.)
4. Teeth with upper and lower GUM showing
4 is the most important image, so please don’t send me only the upper gum is showing or anything like that. Both gums have to be shown at the same time. Otherwise, I cannot analyze