The internet is rife with beauty tricks and trends that range from cheat-plumping your lips to lengthen your legs in photos.
But who knew that tongue placement could play such an important role?
Mewing, one of the latest internet beauty crazes, focuses on just that. It’s a practice which claims to non-surgically shape the jawline and face by using a very simple method.
The practice of mewing involves keeping the tongue on the roof of the mouth, the maxilla.
Consistent tongue placement on the maxilla apparently renders it malleable, thus changing face shape.
Mewing is supposed to work by making your jawline more defined, which can help shape your face and perhaps make it look thinner, too. People also believe it may help alleviate jaw pain and provide relief from snoring.
Those who mew adhere to other habits, including a wave-swallowing technique, as well as gum-chewing to strengthen the jaw muscles.
A quick YouTube search for “mewing technique” brings up over 7,000 results.
The technique is named after Dr Mike Mew, a British orthodontist, despite Dr Mew not actually having created the exercises themselves.
A quick search on YouTube will lead you to videos of others who have tried the technique and have purportedly gotten results. (There are a few videos that debunk the craze, too).
Despite the hype, however, mewing has a lot of limitations and may not work as you might see on a YouTube video.
If you have medical concerns about your mouth and jaw, you’re better off seeing a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Main image by @haileybieber on Instagram
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