Mewing is a tongue-placement-based do-it-yourself facial reshaping treatment named after Dr. Mike Mew, a British orthodontist.
While the workouts appear to have taken up on YouTube and other platforms, mewing isn’t a new concept. In fact, some orthodontists and other medical specialists urge optimal tongue alignment as a technique to define the jaw, address speech impairments, and potentially relieve discomfort from jaw-related disorders.
Mewing – Meaning, Works, How to Mew & Takeaway
Despite its popularity, mewing has a number of limitations and may not operate as well as it appears in YouTube videos. If you have medical concerns about your mouth or jaw, you should seek diagnosis and treatment from a doctor.
Is it true that mewing works?
Learning to adjust your tongue to a new resting location is at the heart of mewing. Supporters of the method claim that changing your tongue position over time may alter your overall facial features, particularly your jawline.
It’s also thought to aid with jaw pain and snoring, according to some. Mewing is claimed to help contour your face and possibly make it appear thinner by making your jawline more defined.
Despite the fact that Dr. Mew is credited with popularising the approach on the internet, these exercises were not devised by him. A fast search on YouTube will turn up videos of people who have tried the procedure and claimed to have had success. (There are also a few videos that disprove the fad.)
Mewing proponents also claim that it is the lack of mewing, rather than the exercise, that causes your jawline to alter for the worst. According to one study, it could even provide correction strategies for youngsters with tongue position abnormalities that could lead to irregular bites and speech issues.
Experts, on the other hand, are concerned that people who need surgery or orthodontic work may incorrectly try mewing to help them repair their problems on their own.
Images of mewing before and after are questionable.
Mew videos on YouTube, together with several before and after photos, can occasionally persuade viewers that it works. It’s crucial to realize, too, that such sources aren’t necessarily trustworthy.
Rather than the requisite years, many of these online seminars frequently contain several weeks or months of practice mewing. Additionally, due to shadows and lighting, photographs might be misleading. The angle at which the persons in the images hold their heads can also help identify the jaw.
To evaluate the efficacy of mewing, more clinical study is required.
How do you meow?
The act of flattening your tongue against the roof of your mouth is known as mewing. The movement is claimed to straighten your teeth and define your jawline over time.
To mew properly, you must relax your tongue and make sure it is completely against the roof of your mouth, including the back.
Because you’re probably used to relaxing your tongue away from the roof of your mouth without thinking about it, this will most likely take some time to master. Your muscles will remember how to insert your tongue in the proper mewing position with time, and it will become second nature to you. In fact, mewing is encouraged at all times, even when drinking liquids.
Like any other DIY approach that looks too wonderful to be true, has a catch: it could take years to see effects. Maxillofacial abnormalities are usually treated with surgery or orthodontics, so don’t expect to be able to fix any problems on your own by mewing here and there.
One study looked at tongue resting positions to determine if any muscle groups were engaged as a predictor of long-term memory, according to a reliable source. In this example, researchers discovered that none of the 33 participants in the study showed any symptoms of changed muscle activation.
Takeaway
While the mewing mania for shaping your jawline isn’t inherently hazardous, there isn’t enough research to back it up. If you have any problems or worries about your appearance in the jaw area, consult your doctor about treatment options.
You can still attempt mewing, but expect to get very little in return. There’s no certainty that mewing will work as an orthodontic remedy unless it’s thoroughly explored.
