Home › Treatments › Facial Slimming
Facial Slimming at AARVA
An honest answer on why your jaw looks wide or square, and what can change it
About Facial Slimming
Facial slimming at Aarva starts with a consultation for a wide or square lower face and jaw tension. The masseter is the chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw. In people who grind or clench their teeth, often at night or under stress, it can become overactive and larger, making the lower face look broader and sometimes bringing jaw ache, headaches or worn teeth with it. A broad lower face can also come from fat, loosening skin or the shape of the jaw bone, covered on our jowls and jawline page, so a doctor works out which it is first.
You are seen by Dr Shivani Malhotra, a practising GP who leads our skin and regenerative medicine, at our practice on Midland Drive, Royal Sutton Coldfield. Where an overactive muscle is the cause, one option is a prescription-only treatment, which can only be prescribed after a face-to-face consultation with a prescriber who has examined you. It is never the only option we discuss: a dentist’s view, sleep and stress, or treatment for skin and fat may matter more. You leave your consultation with a written treatment plan with clear pricing.
“A wider jaw is often a jaw muscle working too hard. Before we talk about slimming, I want to know whether you clench or grind, because that changes the plan.”
Is Facial Slimming Right for You?
Likely a good fit if you:
- clench or grind your teeth, and your jaw feels tight or aches
- have a lower face that looks wider or squarer than it used to, particularly when you bite down
- want to know whether muscle, fat or skin is behind the shape of your jaw
Probably not the right first step if you:
- want to lose fat from your face, because facial slimming does not remove fat
- mainly have fullness under the chin or early jowls, where AI Endolaser or Sectum Radiofrequency may suit you better
- are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have jaw joint pain, clicking or locking that has not yet been assessed
Not sure which side you are on? That is exactly what the consultation is for.
Facial Slimming Before and After
Real Aarva patients, photographed in the same light and at the same angle, three months after their last session. No filters, no retouching.
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
Every patient is different. These images show what happened for them, not a promise of what will happen for you. Shared with each patient’s written consent.
Our Promise to You
The standards every Aarva patient can expect, whatever they come in for.
- You see a doctor before any treatment is planned.
- You get a written treatment plan to take away, with clear pricing, so you can go ahead on the day or decide in your own time.
- We will tell you if facial slimming will not help, even if that means no treatment at all.
- If something does not feel right afterwards, a doctor sees you.
- Your consultation is time with a doctor, set aside just for you.
From First Conversation to Follow-Up
Four simple steps, with the same doctor-led care from your first message to your follow-up.
Tell us what is bothering you
Request an appointment online or call us. If you grind at night or your jaw aches, mention it, or keep it for the room.
See a doctor from the start
A GP takes your history, feels the jaw muscle as you clench and relax, and looks at fat, skin and bone structure before giving you a written treatment plan with clear pricing.
Your treatment
A prescription-only treatment, if it is in your plan, is prescribed only after that in-person assessment and once you have had time to consider it. If your plan points elsewhere, to a dentist, to skin tightening or to shaping the chin and jawline, we explain why.
We follow you up
Written aftercare goes home with you, along with a named contact. Because muscle changes slowly, we review you at four weeks and again at around three months, against your starting photographs.
Why a Doctor Plans Your Facial Slimming
Facial slimming at Aarva is planned by Dr Shivani Malhotra, GP, who leads skin and regenerative medicine. Nothing prescription-only is given without a prescriber seeing you in person first. Every treatment is planned and overseen by a doctor.
A wide jaw is not always muscle. We check whether the muscle bulges when you clench, and look at fat, skin firmness and the shape of the jaw bone, because each needs something different. Because we are GPs as well as skin doctors, we also ask why you are clenching. Stress, poor sleep, some medicines and sleep problems can all play a part, and grinding is worth a dentist’s opinion too, as a night guard may protect your teeth. Treating the muscle without asking these questions misses half the picture.
When the lower face has more than one thing going on, facial slimming can sit alongside AI Endolaser for fullness under the chin and early jowls, Sectum Radiofrequency to firm the skin, or dermal fillers to define the chin and jawline once the width has settled. Some people also discuss treatment for lines and wrinkles at the same consultation.
Why Patients Choose Aarva
Questions Patients Ask About Facial Slimming
Cannot see your question? Our doctors are happy to talk it through at your consultation.
Facial slimming looks at the masseter, the chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw. When it is overactive from clenching or grinding, it can grow larger, and a muscle that works less can gradually become smaller, which can soften a square lower face. The treatment for this uses a prescription-only medicine, which can only be prescribed after a face-to-face consultation with a prescriber.
No. It works on muscle, not fat. If your lower face looks full because of fat, or because the skin has loosened, facial slimming will not change it, and we will tell you so. Options such as AI Endolaser or radiofrequency may help instead.
A wide or square lower face from an enlarged jaw muscle, and for some people the tightness and ache that can come with clenching or grinding. It does not replace dental care. We recommend a dentist’s view for grinding, because a night guard may protect your teeth.
It can suit adults whose lower face is wide because of muscle, often people who clench or grind. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, infection over the jaw and some nerve and muscle disorders rule it out. Jaw joint pain, clicking or locking needs assessing first. Your consultation confirms what is right for you.
Tenderness, redness and bruising where the needle goes in are common and settle quickly. Some people notice chewing tough food feels weaker for a few weeks. Less commonly, the smile can look uneven for a while, or the cheek can look slightly hollow or bulge when clenching. These are usually temporary. You will not be asked to consent until the prescriber has been through the risks with you in person.
We take your medical history, including medicines, sleep and any dental treatment. The doctor examines your jaw at rest and while you clench, looks at your face from the front and side, and takes photographs. You take away a written treatment plan with clear pricing to consider at home.
It involves a small number of injections into the muscle on each side of the jaw, using a fine needle. People usually describe a sharp scratch and a brief ache, and numbing is not normally used.
Most people go back to work the same day. The jaw may feel a little tender, and for the rest of the day we ask you not to massage it or exercise hard. Your written aftercare covers the rest.
That depends on how you respond, and it is not a one-off, because any effect fades over time. The prescriber discusses whether and when to repeat it at your review, and nothing is rebooked unless you ask.
Muscle takes time to change size, so any difference is gradual rather than quick. We compare with your starting photographs at around three months to see how you have responded.
They treat different causes. Facial slimming works on an enlarged jaw muscle. AI Endolaser works beneath the skin to tighten it and reduce small pockets of fat under the chin and along the jawline. If your jaw is wide from muscle and soft from skin or fat, a plan may include both, at different stages.
Consultations for a wide jaw and jaw tension take place at our practice on Midland Drive in Royal Sutton Coldfield, within easy reach of Four Oaks, Walmley, Erdington, Lichfield, Tamworth and north Birmingham. Parking is available nearby.
The price of facial slimming and jaw tension treatment at Aarva is set at your consultation. It depends on what your plan includes, and you receive it in writing before you agree to anything.
Come With the Problem, Not the Treatment
You do not need to know whether facial slimming is the answer. Tell a doctor what has changed in your jaw, and you will leave knowing whether it is muscle, fat, skin or bone, and what will actually help.
Conditions we treat with Facial Slimming: Jowls, jawline and double chin
Related treatments: AI Endolaser · Dermal fillers · Sectum Radiofrequency · Anti-wrinkle injections