Does botulinum toxin damage or stretch the skin?
No. The molecule acts at the junction between nerve and muscle, and it has no mechanism for changing collagen, elastin or the ligaments that hold facial tissue in place. Loosening of skin comes from ageing, sun exposure, weight change and genetics. What an injection can alter is how hard a muscle underneath is pulling, which is a different thing and a temporary one.
Can masseter treatment make my cheeks look flat?
It can, when the muscle is reduced further than that particular face had to give. A chewing muscle adds fullness along the lower cheek as well as width at the angle, so on a lean face a heavy dose can read as flatness. That is why the first session here is dosed low and reviewed, and why we sometimes recommend leaving a modest masseter alone.
Is the change permanent if it happens?
No. The nerve signal recovers, the muscle returns to its former strength and bulk rebuilds under normal chewing. Weakness in a misplaced muscle fades on the same kind of timeline. What does not reverse on its own is true laxity, which is why separating the two at the examination matters more than any reassurance about the product.
Why does my jawline look less defined after a session?
Three possibilities, and your director can tell them apart by hand. Reduced muscle volume changes the shape under the skin; a point that reached a neighbouring muscle changes how a corner sits; and tissue that was already loose becomes more visible once the muscle under it softens. The first two settle with time, the third is assessed as a lifting question.
Can wrinkle treatment cause sagging higher up the face?
Sagging, no. A heavy or badly placed dose near the brow can leave a lid or brow feeling heavy for a few weeks, which is often described as drooping. It comes from relaxing a muscle that was lifting, and it wears off. One expression area is listed at ₩30,000 (≈ $20) on the Korean tier, and a first plan there is deliberately light for exactly this reason.
I already have some jowling. Should I avoid masseter treatment?
Not necessarily, but it changes the conversation. Where the width is genuinely muscular and the laxity is mild, a lighter dose can still suit you. Where the jawline is losing its hold, reducing the muscle under it makes the looseness easier to see, so we do not recommend the injection and the assessment moves to the lifting category instead.
Does having toxin regularly over years cause sagging later?
There is no established mechanism by which a temporary relaxant loosens skin, and the references below describe the molecule's action and product properties without reporting that outcome. What long-term masseter dosing does influence is muscle bulk, since a muscle kept working at reduced force stays smaller. Your director tracks that across sessions and adjusts or pauses a plan accordingly.
What does a dose that is too high actually look like?
On the lower face, flatness along the cheek and an outline that has lost some of its structure. Around the mouth, a smile that pulls unevenly or a corner sitting lower than the other. At the brow, a heavy lid. All three are visible within the first weeks, all three wear off, and all three are less likely when units are added at a review instead of guessed at the first visit.
Would you tell me if you thought the injection was a bad idea?
Yes, and it is a normal outcome of the diagnosis here. Width held in bone, fullness that is glandular, hollowing from volume loss and tissue that has lost its snap are all findings a relaxant cannot help. In each case we do not recommend the injection, you are shown the finding on your own scan, and the treatment that would reach it is named.
How soon can I be seen if something looks wrong?
Quickly. A review appointment is written into the plan when the injections are booked, and Dear Clinic is open 365 days a year including weekends and public holidays, so an earlier visit can usually be arranged. Bring the photographs you have. Nothing further is injected until the cause of what you are seeing has been named.
What is treated at Dear when the finding is laxity instead of muscle?
The lifting category, chosen on the examination: focused ultrasound, radiofrequency tightening, threads, or a combination planned across sessions. Published rates for each sit on the price list, and the choice is made from depth and tissue quality on your own reading. Square jaw treatment remains listed at ₩40,000 (≈ $30) per session for the cases where the muscle genuinely is the cause.
