Mewing, a technique that has created a lot of buzz in the online community, is nothing but a form of DIY myofunctional therapy. The concept is as interesting as its name sounds, mewing is primarily to avail oneself of a well-defined jawline and realign their teeth. In the process, it might also make the face look thinner, which is a huge attracting point for our generation that aspires to follow a cosmopolitan lifestyle.
Although it shouldn’t be called a literal “facelift” technique, it is safe to say that it does help with decreasing the sagginess of muscles
How to mew properly?
To practice mewing, one must get used to relaxing their tongue entirely against the roof of their mouths while closing the lips and setting your teeth, the consistent tongue placement on the maxilla slowly renders it malleable and thus slightly changes the face shape and just by making this one little lifestyle change, you can become a part of the contagious mewing community.
By gently closing your lips while having your tongue on the roof of your mouth, it enables you to breathe from your nose at all times. It is advised to hold your tongue in this position every time the mouth is closed, till it becomes a resting position. It has been shown to display great results when practiced consistently.
However, mewing might not be as easy as it sounds on paper. The natural relaxing position of the tongue for most of us would be far away from the roof and bringing a change in this habit requires a lot more patience and practice than a lot of people can commit to.
Some various components of mewing are:
- Breathing through the nose with the teeth and lips tenderly shut and it is also moderately simple to affirm that you are doing this accurately, as it is obvious.
- Resting the entirety of your tongue on the top of your mouth is of utmost importance while practicing mewing.
Plug your nose and then try to breathe through your mouth while mewing. If you’re mewing correctly, it will be impossible for you to breathe through your mouth since your posterior third is blocking your airways. - Attempt to keep up a great body posture. It is a lot harder to have great oral and facial stances while slumping, therefore sitting, standing, and strolling with your back straight is immensely useful for mewing.
- Chew your food well, engaging the two sides of your jaws, and swallow from the rear of your mouth without drawing in your cheek and tongue muscles.
Benefits of Mewing
Apart from providing an aesthetic jawline and realignment of teeth, mewing is said to have other complimentary benefits such as:
- Help manage sleep apnea
- Reduce breathing and swallowing problems
- Coping with speech disorders
- Temporomandibular disorder (TMD)
- Reducing inflammation of the sinus
- Relief from snorting
- Alleviate jaw pain
While this expanse of benefits seems attractive, it may take many years to see any change at all and the before-and-after pictures being circulated on the web may be extremely misleading as there is currently no scientific evidence to support this claim. All support for the benefits of mewing so far comes from social media sites, which have no expert regulation on the topic. But it is still safe to comment that while there may not be guaranteed positive results, there are no side effects of mewing and it does not lead to any complications with the dental form.
An even more important point to note is that although there are positive results seen from mewing, they mostly occur in infants whose bones are still developing and not too many have come from adults as they have a very strong facial form.
History behind Mewing
The term ‘mewing’ was instituted by individuals who follow the standards of Professor John Mew and his child Dr. Michael Mew, who are two progressive British orthodontists.
In 1981, after John published The Tropic Premise which observed, by the standards of Wolff’s law, that slanted teeth are not a hereditary certainty, but rather are the aftereffect of poor development in the maxilla and mandible (upper and lower jaws) and that the development of the lower face is impacted by the actual powers applied by the delicate tissues in the face. These include tongue posture, gulping patterns, and biting habits.
Dental arch development is said to start with breastfeeding and as the child slowly moves from breastfeeding to following an adult swallowing pattern. Eating soft foods can lead to slack jaw muscles and nasal congestion which can lead to craniofacial dystrophy.
Side effects of mewing
- Sore Facial Muscles
- Mild Headache
- Looseness in Teeth
- Forward Projection of Nose Bridge
- Psychological Distress & Tiredness
Mewing can hurt different body parts like: –
- Head
- Neck
- Face
Alternatives
By the end of this article, it is safe to say that while mewing may bring about positive changes in certain individuals, it should not be depended upon and if anyone wants to fix their jawline, such as people suffering from malocclusion, they should preferably opt for corrective jaw surgery.
Apart from this, if people wish to change their face shape for cosmetic reasons, they could opt for facial contouring or facial sculpting. Radiofrequency is also one such method to use for face shaping.
Mewing can be a great way to avoid any facial and dental malocclusion in infants if practiced from the beginning of their childhood.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ques. Is mewing a worthy activity?
Ans. Numerous individuals accept that this strategy is extremely compelling and numerous great outcomes are likewise seen yet at the same time this inquiry can’t be replied to with full certainty. As a rule, this procedure had given us the best outcomes. Individuals additionally propose that it prevents jaw ache and is useful in snoring issues.
A unique piece of advice to all of you is don’t give this by watching recordings on the Internet. It might result in most exceedingly awful also. Since the majority of them had checked this out however a few outcomes were not alluring.
Ques. What does mewing do?
Ans. Mewing helps you to get a defined jawline. It will help you reduce the unnecessarily fat near your cheeks and jawline area.
Ques. Does mewing help?
Ans. Yes! mewing works, it works the way it should. It helps a person to get a realign jawline and reduce the fat around one’s face and cheeks. It can help you reshape your face.
Ques. What should be mewing tongue posture?
Ans. Mewing is the posture of the tongue towards the palate (roof of the mouth). The tongue should rest on the roof of the mouth.
Ques. Is mewing real?
Ans. Yes, mewing is very much real and helpful for your face structure. Mewing has helped a lot of people. Many have seen visible results in just a month after practicing mewing techniques.
Ques. What are the benefits of mewing?
Ans. It helps you get a well-defined jawline and proper alignment of the chin, cheeks, and nose.
Ques. What are some other problems that mewing can help you resolve?
Ans. Mewing not only helps you get a well-defined jawline but it also helps you resolve problems like: –
- Sleep apnea (sleeping disorder)
- Breathing and swallowing problems
- Speech disorders
- Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (pain in face area)
- Sinusitis (inflammation of sinuses)
Ques. What could be some other face reshaping treatments?
Ans. Some other faces reshaping treatments include:
- Botox
- Plastic surgery
- Jaw surgery
- Facial contouring
- Radiofrequency
Ques. How long should someone practice the mewing technique to see evident results?
Ans. It depends, some people (especially youngsters) can see the result in just 3-6 months but for a few, it can also go up to 1-2 years. It depends on your facial structure, face fat, and how regularly you practice this technique.
Ques. Can mewing results be reversed?
Ans. Yes, it can be revered. Not only mewing but all these types of techniques can be reversed.
Ques. Is mewing a forever process?
Ans. Researchers have said that after practicing the mewing technique it becomes the second nature of a person, so you will do mewing forever without even knowing or anything inconvenience. According to doctors, one should mew even at the time of drinking water.
Ques. Who invented the technique called mewing?
Ans. Mewing was invented by an orthodontist named John Mew in the 1970s.
Ques. How someone can speed up their mewing progress for faster results?
Ans. The first biggest factor is age youngers can see faster results as compared to the adults and the second biggest factor is consistency.
There are few other factors also which will help you get faster results:
- Swallow correctly
- Add a suction hold
- Hard mewing
- Practice chin tucks
Ques. At what age mewing doesn’t work?
Ans. There is no age limit for mewing, anyone can practice this technique but results differ from youngster to adults. Youngsters can witness faster results as compared to adults.
Ques. How to know if someone is practicing correct mewing?
Ans. Holding the tongue in a mewing position for new people is a little difficult to follow, they may find it exhausting at first. Apparently, a person should feel slight pressure across the center of their face, jaw, and chin if they are mewing correctly.
Ques. Is mewing effective?
Ans. As per the research mewing are very effective, it may take some time to show results but mewing is effective. Almost everyone who has tried mewing has seen incredible results but consistency is the key. If you are consistent then only you can see faster results.
Ques. Is it okay to have my teeth not touching at the time of mewing?
Ans. No, it is not okay to not touch your teeth at the time of mewing. In mewing posture, the most important part is to close your mouth properly and keep your teeth touching each other.
Ques. What someone should do if the lower jaw hurts at the time of mewing?
Ans. Mewing can hurt in the starting and that pain could be because you are practicing it wrong or you are doing it correctly and your jaw is hurting because it has become sore by practicing mewing which is not dangerous.
Ques. Does mewing lead to gaps in teeth? I have been mewing for a month at this point and as of late saw a hole creating between my upper front teeth.
Ans. Well I don’t figure simply a month would offer that to you, but yes, mewing similar to some other type of palatal development after a point would prompt a split between the front two teeth.
Anyway, it is harmless. Also, can be switched with negligible utilization of braces.
Ques. How do I make sure I’m mewing in my sleep?
Ans. You should leave mewing in the daytime too, as it is just a waste of energy and a source of negativity too.
Do not just believe in anything that you read, making it an obsession will create problems for you. Prevent yourselves from doing so and you will slowly stop mewing in your sleep too.
So this was all about the Mewing Craze, we hope you all are now completely familiar with this unusual activity.