Will Botox Injections To The Masseter Muscles Make My Skin Loose?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am wondering if getting Botox injected into the masseter muscles will cause a slack in the skin on the cheek/loose skin/jowls.  I’d like to try the Botox in that location but am hesitant because I already have some pre-nasolabial folds developing.  I am 27 years old. Thank you for your time!

A: The simple answer is no. The masseter muscles have no impact on the tone or position of the overlying soft tissues. They are rigidly fixed to the mandible, pterygoid plates of the maxilla and the zygoma and never get lax with Botox injections. They may get smaller with some muscle atrophy but will never lose their fixation points or become like a loose rubber band. Any looseness or descent of the overlying soft tissues with time and gravity is due to laxity developing in the osseo-muscular and osteocutaneous ligaments, not the masster muscle proper. Therefore, getting Botox injections into the masseter should not pose any concern in that regard.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana