Facial Contouring: Can Square Jaw Asymmetry Be Corrected with Masseter Reduction Surgery?

Hello. I am Dr. Jo Hyun-woo, director of Iptera Plastic Surgery.

Today, I’d like to talk about correcting square jaw asymmetry.

In general, when one side of the square jaw appears larger, asymmetry can be corrected through square jaw surgery.

To create a slimmer front-view effect, cortical ostectomy or masseter reduction surgery is sometimes performed together with square jaw surgery.

First, among people who need square jaw surgery, some have a large square jaw bone, while others have well-developed square jaw muscles (the masseter muscles).

Because the masseter muscles affect the front-view volume of the square jaw, when the square jaw looks large from the front, it is often the case that these muscles are highly developed.

Masseter reduction surgery (masseter resection) is a procedure for the masseter muscle, one of the chewing muscles that function to chew food, and it is a muscle that extends from the cheekbone to the lower jawbone.

There are several ways to reduce a developed masseter in the square jaw area, but the most definitive method is masseter reduction surgery,

in which part of the enlarged masseter muscle is slightly removed.

In this case, the face can become slimmer without worrying about the volume growing again.

Then, I will explain by showing an actual patient case.

As you can see in this photo, the asymmetry of the square jaw is visible at a glance.

The surgical approach may differ depending on whether the cause is the square jaw bone or the muscles.

In this patient’s case, cheekbone reduction surgery, square jaw surgery, chin surgery, and left masseter reduction surgery were performed together.

By performing masseter reduction surgery on the left square jaw, the feeling of the square jaw muscle decreased compared to before surgery, and the asymmetry was also corrected,

resulting in an overall smoother and more feminine appearance.

If you look at the next case,

this patient had a very severe square jaw and underwent masseter reduction surgery along with square jaw surgery.

The side-view angle is clearly pronounced, but especially from the front, the square jaw appears severe. In such cases, bone development has a major influence, but

development of the square jaw muscles (the masseter muscles) often has a very large impact as well.

This is a case in which it is difficult to achieve a noticeable effect from the front with ordinary square jaw surgery alone.

This is a photo of the masseter muscle that was actually removed from the patient above.

When performing square jaw surgery, combining it with masseter reduction surgery can be a good option for improving the front-view effect, so

if you receive safe surgery from an experienced specialist after sufficient consultation before surgery, you may achieve more satisfying results.

So far, I have shown real cases of masseter reduction surgery needed for correcting square jaw asymmetry.

Thank you.