Mewing Technique: Real Results and Scientific Evidence

Understanding Mewing and Its Purported Effects

In recent years, mewing has garnered significant interest online as a DIY facial exercise technique that proponents claim can reshape and redefine facial features over time. But what exactly is mewing, and is there any validity to the before and after transformation pictures that have flooded social media?

Defining Mewing: Origins and Concept

Mewing was pioneered in the 1990s by British orthodontist Dr. John Mew. Based on his specialized training in orthotropics, Dr. Mew developed tongue and body posture techniques aimed at promoting proper craniofacial development.

The core premise of mewing is placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth while sealing the lips gently together. This proper tongue posture is said to apply light upward pressure against the maxilla bone, potentially stimulating upward and forward growth over time.

Key Goals and Purported Benefits

Proponents of mewing claim dedicating 5-10 minutes per day to performing this oral posture exercise can:

• Strengthen the jawline
• Improve facial symmetry
• Increase facial height and width
• Refine chin projection
• Reduce double chin appearance

Additionally, mewing is said to facilitate proper breathing and body posture. When performed correctly, mewing may therefore help combat issues like sleep apnea and even realign the spine over time.

Assessing Before and After Photos Critically

Scroll through any mewing-focused forum and you'll likely encounter striking before and after photos seemingly confirming the transformative power of this oral posture technique.

However, several factors make assessing these photos accurately complex.

Timespan Matters

Any legitimate case of mewing-induced bone and tissue changes would require an extended dedication to proper tongue posture. Most before and after images fail to provide concrete timespans. Without knowing if the changes occurred over 3 months or 3 years, assessing causality becomes questionable.

Angle Distortion and Perspective

The angle, focal length, lighting, and other photographic variables differ substantially between before and after photos posted online. Such changes can distort perceived facial dimensions, rendering the photos unreliable evidence.

Lifestyle and Age Considerations

Preadolescents and adolescents may achieve more profound facial changes from mewing due to natural craniofacial growth and development during puberty. Any before and after photos should note the age of the subject to contextualize the changes accordingly.

Examining the Limited Research

Currently, minimal peer-reviewed scientific research examines mewing directly. However, insights into oral posture help illuminate mewing's credibility:

Tongue Posture and Craniofacial Growth

Some studies reveal that proper resting tongue posture may facilitate horizontal and anterior facial growth if applied early and for extended periods. Such findings lend preliminary biological plausibility to select mewing claims.

Oropharyngeal Exercises

Research demonstrates that oropharyngeal exercises can strengthen muscles critical for airway support, proper swallowing, and more. Mewing requires consciously activating these same muscle groups.

Bone Remodeling Stimulation

Though disputed, a handful of trials suggest gradual mechanical stress forces - akin to those mewing aims to produce - may encourage bone deposition and remodeling over lengthy timeframes.

Incorporating Mewing: Reasonable Expectations

Current science neither outright disproves nor confirms unequivocal mewing results. However, adopting proper tongue posture aligns with muscle and airway health. When viewed as a supplementary oral exercise and part of a balanced lifestyle, attempting mewing is likely low risk.

Practicing mewing requires patience and dedication. Few individuals will achieve dramatic visible changes overnight. But consistency over months and years may facilitate postural and musculoskeletal benefits - if not the exaggerated cosmetic enhancements popularized online.

Realistic Expectations for Adults

Theoretically, mewing holds greater craniofacial change potential in growing children. For adults, benefits likely hinge primarily on muscular and postural gains yielding some enhancement of facial definition and structure.

Creating a Supportive Lifestyle

Pairing mewing with optimal sleep, diet, exercise, hydration, and stress relief supports healthier muscles, bones and physiology to work synergistically towards facial balance and symmetry over the long term.

Seeking Adjunct Treatments

In some instances, incorporating orthodontics or oral appliances into mewing may help adults achieve incremental cosmetic improvements by guiding dental alignment and jaw positioning while strengthening the tongue's influence.

Trying Mewing Safely and Effectively

Committed mewing practitioners emphasize mindful daily practice plus optimizing whole body wellness for the best outcome chances. Utilize these methods to trial basic mewing effectively:

Establish Postural Baselines

Start by assessing usual oral and body posture at rest, while sleeping, standing or sitting. Photographing your typical postures makes comparisons clearer when beginning mewing.

Stretch and Strengthen Supportive Muscles

Gently stretch the neck, jaw and facial areas. Practice some basic tongue strength exercises like pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth at varying pressure intensities. Such conditioning enhances muscular endurance for sustaining proper mewing posture.

Maintain Proper Mewing Position

With teeth lightly together, rest the entire tongue against the hard palate without strain or excessive effort. The lips should seal without clenching. Hold this posture for 5-10 minutes at a time, ideally mewing for 60+ minutes daily.

Optimize Lifestyle Factors

Ensure proper sleep position, targeted exercise, nutrient-dense whole foods diet and hydration levels. Such healthy lifestyle optimization supports muscular, skeletal, and postural balance - the foundations of mewing gains.

Over time, taking comparative photos and measurements allows assessing mewing efficacy. Tracking related factors like sleep quality, diet, stress levels etc also helps gauge the lifestyle's impact.

Seeking Professional Guidance

Consult trained orthodontists, dentists, orofacial myologists and physical therapists prior to attempting mewing - especially for individuals with current dental work, alignment issues like an overbite or underbite and other oral conditions requiring caution.

Qualified professionals can tailor supportive treatments, monitor progress, identify any negative effects early on and help set realistic expectations around mewing efficacy on a case-by-case basis.

With their expertise, mewing may promote measurable wellness and aesthetic enhancement safely. But achieving dramatic before and after transformations akin to viral internet photos likely necessitates customized medical treatments in conjunction with dedicated daily mewing practice.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.