Why Can a Bad Chin Botox Injection Make Your Face Look Bigger in Hongdae?

Hello. I’m Jo Won-jin, the head doctor at Chai Clinic, where I have been practicing dermatology in Hongdae for 10 years.

I heard that after chin Botox,

your face can actually look bigger.

My square jaw got smaller, but my skin sagged.

Chin Botox itself is not a dangerous procedure.

However, if the diagnosis and design are off, instead of reducing the facial volume you expected,

you may end up with a face that looks bigger or saggier.

Today, including cases where the face looks bigger,

I’ll organize the side effects of Hongdae chin Botox and explain how to receive it safely to help prevent them.

Table of contents

1. ‘Compensatory hypertrophy’ where other muscles develop instead

2. A ‘prematurely aged-looking face’ caused by hollowing and sagging

3. Facial asymmetry and awkward expressions

4. Risk of resistance

5. When the root cause is missed

6. So, what is safe chin Botox?

7. ‘Compensatory hypertrophy’ where other muscles develop instead

Hongdae chin Botox is a procedure that weakens the masseter muscle (chewing muscle).

The problem is that we do not stop chewing food.

When the masseter weakens, the brain naturally recruits other chewing muscles,

especially the temporalis muscle in the temple area, more often.

As a result, the temporalis develops and the upper side of the temples may bulge,

or the line beside the cheekbones may look thicker.

This compensatory hypertrophy appears more easily in people with strong teeth-grinding habits.

Even if the jaw clearly becomes slimmer, if the overall face looks more angular,

often it is because Botox was applied only to the jaw without considering the temporalis.

To prevent this compensatory hypertrophy, one option is to distribute the injections to the temporalis as well.

Also, rather than weakening the masseter all at once with a high dose from the start,

it is better to reduce it gradually,

so that other muscles do not suddenly take over the work and enlarge.

The green muscle in the photo above is the masseter, and the red muscle connected to it is the temporalis.

2. A ‘prematurely aged-looking face’ caused by hollowing and sagging

The masseter is not just a muscle that creates a square jaw; it is also a support structure that helps hold up the volume under the cheekbones.

If too much is injected at once, that support disappears, the cheeks can sink inward,

and the line from the corners of the mouth to the jaw (nasolabial and marionette lines) may deepen.

The jaw becomes narrower, but the face can look longer, and as a result it may look older.

These changes are more noticeable in people over their late 30s and in those with weaker skin elasticity.

If you are over 35 or have weak skin elasticity, it is safer to take a gradual approach with lower doses,

and if needed, design the treatment together with elasticity-focused procedures such as lifting or collagen boosters.

In Hongdae chin Botox, the injection position is also important, and the placement should be carefully chosen so it is not too far forward or too close to the upper area.

The yellow area in the photo above should be the target.

3. Facial asymmetry and awkward expressions

Near the masseter are facial expression muscles used when smiling, and the facial nerve that moves the lips.

If injections are given uniformly at fixed points without palpation, the following problems can occur.

• Awkward expression when smiling

• Impact on the muscles at the corners of the mouth

• Asymmetry in the smile

Especially for people who already have left-right asymmetry, the thickness and strength of the masseter on each side are different,

so if the same dose is injected, the asymmetry may become even more noticeable after the procedure.

To prevent this, the doctor should personally palpate before the procedure to trace the boundaries of the masseter,

and inject only into the deep layer within a safe zone that avoids the facial expression muscles and nerves.

If there is left-right asymmetry, the dose and injection points on each side should be designed differently,

and a manual-style procedure that gives the same amount at the same location for everyone is best avoided.

4. Risk of resistance

Some people ask for a high dose, saying, “I want it reduced clearly all at once.”

But with Hongdae chin Botox, if too much is injected from the start, the risk of hollowing mentioned earlier increases.

Also, if the treatment is repeated before 4 months have passed, antibodies against botulinum toxin can form,

and after that, even the same dose may have less effect.

Eventually, this leads to a vicious cycle of getting more and more injections more and more often,

while the risk of side effects only accumulates.

That is why the interval between repeat treatments should be at least 4 months to reduce the risk of antibody formation,

and because the muscle itself becomes thinner with repetition, the dose should also be gradually reduced.

5. When the root cause is missed

The reason the jaw looks big is not always the masseter.

• If the cause is fat under the chin → contour injections or fat-dissolving treatments are needed as well

• If the lower jaw bone itself is developed → Botox alone has limitations

• If you are prone to swelling → lymphatic circulation management should come first

• If skin elasticity is reduced → lifting procedures may be more suitable

If Botox is repeated without accurately diagnosing the cause,

the effect may be small while the possibility of side effects only accumulates.

In such cases, an accurate diagnosis should come first rather than getting more Botox.

If the cause is complex, combining contour injections, lifting, and lymphatic circulation management is

much more effective than repeating a single procedure.

If you tried it once and saw almost no effect,

it is more likely that the cause was not the masseter in the first place, rather than the dose being insufficient.

Then what is safe chin Botox?

• Check the masseter’s location and size through palpation and expression analysis before treatment

• Start the first treatment with a conservative dose

• Evaluate the temporalis and teeth-grinding pattern as well

• For people with weak skin elasticity, design the dose to prevent sagging

• Use genuine botulinum toxin products approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

If you are considering Hongdae chin Botox,

I recommend choosing a place that performs enough diagnosis before treatment

and takes a step-by-step approach, rather than one that just finishes quickly with a low dose.

The same Botox can produce completely different results depending on who injects it, where it is injected, and how much is injected.

If Botox is placed incorrectly once, you have to wait 4 to 6 months for recovery, so the first choice is the most important.

Thank you. This was Jo Won-jin.