Do Faces Get Wider With Age?
Although we often identify children with broad, round features, you could find that as you grow older, your face becomes bigger.
As you age, your face may get broader. As we age, our bones continue to develop and change.
While the jaw may widen as we age, the cheekbones often lose bulk.
The face might also get wider due to weight increase, excessive eating, and hyperthyroidism.
If you're interested in a comprehensive study of your general face structure, look at one of our unique facial reports.
Whether or if your face is too narrow, we'll tell you.
Your Bones Are Changing All the Time
Even after we have passed puberty, we continue to develop.
Our skeleton becomes around 10% bigger (Garn et al., 1967).
As a result, your whole face skeleton will likewise develop as you age.
The lower jaw is one area of our face that enlarges with age, giving the appearance of a broader face.
Here is a brief explanation of why it is.
The Lower Jaw
People's jaws enlarge, expand, and finally "drop" as they age.
Age considerably increases the mandibular angle in both men and women (Shaw et al., 2010).
The face does not always expand evenly or proportionately, however.
The jaw remodels more quickly than other facial skeletal structures.
As we age, the jaw "drops," protrudes forward, and enlarges, giving you a broader face.
As a result, your lower jaw will make your face seem broader rather than just larger.
Other Causes For Your Face Getting Wider
People's faces do not simply become broader with age, however.
Your face is becoming bigger for a variety of different causes or contributing factors, such as:
- Hypothyroidism
- Constantly Chewing
- Square Jaw Shape
- Wide and Low Cheekbones
- Weight Gain
When you have hypothyroidism, your thyroid does not produce enough important hormones.
Weight gain and a puffy face are typical signs of hypothyroidism.
Your face could seem considerably larger than it ever did as a result of both weight increase and facial puffiness.
Your doctor will choose the best course of action for hypothyroidism.
The typical course of therapy is for the daily administration of the synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine.
The drug may be able to stop weight growth, which might give you a smaller face.
Constantly Chewing
Any muscle in your body will become bigger and stronger the more you use it.
Because your jaw contains muscles, the more you use it, the bigger the muscles become.
A person who chews gum continuously often has a wider jawline.
If you chew it too much, the appearance will be unpleasant.
However, if you believe you would look better with a broader jaw, you may also utilise this to your advantage.
Some people may have Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ), which causes them to clench or grind their teeth.
This condition makes your jaw muscles stronger.
The jawline seems broader and squarer as the muscles develop bigger and stronger.
Your doctor could suggest Botox injections if your jaw muscles make your face seem broader.
Muscle size may be decreased with the use of Botox injections.
It may be used to reduce the size of the swollen jaw muscle to give you a thinner look.
Botox prevents muscular contraction by blocking impulses from your muscle's nerves.
Avoiding muscular contractions will cause it to cease growing and begin to atrophy.
Your jaw will seem less prominent as a result.
Most patients do not notice a significant change when they chew or bite food, despite their jaw muscles having lessened.
Remember that you cannot have Botox injections if your jaw bone is square
Bone is not affected by Botox; only muscles are.
Square Jaw
You may want to consider undergoing jaw reduction surgery, sometimes called jaw shaving if your square jaw causes your face to seem broad.
This surgery makes your face seem smaller, which helps you achieve a smaller, more symmetrical jawline.
To execute the operation, your surgeon will make an incision in your mouth close to your gums.
Your preferred jaw shape will be carved out by your surgeon using a laser saw or micro-saw.
The surgeon will use dissolvable stitches to close the sutures.
1-2 days following the surgery, most patients are released from the hospital.
You must see your surgeon for follow-up appointments to ensure you are recovering correctly.
Your cheekbones may sometimes give the impression that your face is broad; the jaw is not always to blame.
Wide and Low Cheekbones
Particularly if you have a broad jaw or big cheeks, some people's cheekbones protrude to the sides, making your face larger.
To achieve a more slender face shape, you might have cheek reduction surgery to reduce the size of your cheekbones.
For broad cheeks, your surgeon could use the malar rotation procedure.
Your cheekbones will stick out more in the front than the sides.
Your look will become smaller and more defined due to this operation, enhancing bone contact.
You may need to spend two days in the hospital.
After 7–10 days, most patients may have their sutures removed.
People with sensitive skin, however, may have to wait longer.
Weight Gain
Some individuals might seem gaunt because they don't have enough fat on their faces.
But having a lot of extra weight might give the appearance of a broader face.
Gaining weight causes fatter, which may be transferred to your face.
Genetic predispositions, age, inactivity, a poor diet, and other factors are often cited as causes of increased face fat.
However, sometimes, persons may develop varying face bloating.
Depending on the underlying reason, face bloating might vary in consistency.
For instance, eating a lot of salt and sugar might make your face bloat.
You could attempt decreasing weight if you want your face's breadth and fullness to naturally shrink.
Because they have little body fat, most models you see have cheekbones and powerful jaws that give their faces the appearance of being leaner.
The obvious remedy is to decrease weight if you have a broader face due to too much facial fat.
But you shouldn't make use of a BMI calculator.
It's an overly simplistic equation, and whether you're short or tall, your height divides your weight by excessive or inadequacy.
Additionally, the BMI calculation does not take into account your muscle mass.
It could thus indicate that you are overweight if you are a bodybuilder.
Similar problems arise when calculating body fat percentage; at 10% body fat, you may be tiny and have no muscles, or you could be quite muscular and yet have a lot of fat.
Instead, I would advise you to reduce weight till you have distinct abs, then do it again.
Even after losing weight, if your face still appears broad due to extra facial fat, you may consider a buccal fat reduction.
Simple buccal fat pad removal is all that your surgeon does.
You have a thinner, more defined face as a result.
Depending on your situation and the outcomes you want, the surgeon will decide how much tissue to remove.
The fact that the face gradually loses fat as you age causes some individuals to be hesitant to have this.
The assumption is that it will hasten the ageing process.
Surgery professionals leave some cheek fat since they are aware of this.
You won't have to wait another 10–20 years to have a thinner face.
The benefits of removing buccal fat are immediate.
Being attractive is crucial in your 20s and 30s.
🍀 GOOD LUCK 🍀
Matt Phelps