18 Months of Progress

definitely looks like some action on the front lip but hard to tell because of the classic facial hair dilemma 

how did you do that? can you give us your routine. would really appreciate it

for example what exactly are you doing with your tongue and how much do you emphasise chewing vs mewing vs swallowing etc 

I also need to make space for my wisdom otherwise I'll have to get them removed 🙁

Hi,

It would interesting to take a look to a frontal comparison, given that your cheaks looks Better now

According to these pictures, you definitely made progress. Congratulations! I am also interested in hearing about your routine, and I agree with @Kytes comment as well. By the way, the look in your second photo really fits you much better!

Do you hardmew or softmew ? Do you take any supplement ? Do you mew at night ? Frontal comparison would be great ! Btw, cheekbones seem way more pronounced, very encouraging !

@achilles1

For the next period of 6 months, do you think that you could take a new "before" picture? If you're taking these photos with a phone, you could set a timer on the camera app, place the phone on a piece of furniture, and allow it to capture you several steps away (the distance helps). After half a year, you'd repeat the procedure by placing the phone in the exact same spot and standing in the exact same spot. Lighting could be accounted for partially by taking the picture either during the same time of day and weather, or under an artificial light.

I understand that your focus is on "self-realized" evidence, but if you truly are making progress, then a slightly more accurate form of documenting this progress would be a great contribution to this forum.

In any case, I've got a couple questions: have you observed (in the mirror) any structural changes around the bridge or dorsal area of your nose? Furthermore, has you IMW increased?

Posted by: @20_year_old_mewing

how did you do that? can you give us your routine. would really appreciate it

for example what exactly are you doing with your tongue and how much do you emphasise chewing vs mewing vs swallowing etc 

I also need to make space for my wisdom otherwise I'll have to get them removed 🙁

I can't say I did anything special, but there are a few things I rely on:

- Falim gum

- The "Clench Swallow". I am not implying a true clench, but it's where the clenching force has to be necessarily opposed by the strength of the tongue. Be careful if you have tmj issues. Remember, the tongue should always be the greater of the two forces. 

- The "Extreme Suction Hold". This is a combination of hard mewing and the suction hold where I gather all the spit, mount the tip of the tongue FLAT behind the front incisors, Clench Swallow, and push hard on the NG (from the word "sing") spot. This method has been a guarantee for achieving strong sensations in the cheekbones and behind the eyes. Be aware, your palate may not be wide enough to do this yet. 

- Chin tuck

- Core and glute exercises (to fix anterior pelvic tilt)

Great stuff Achilles, your cheeks appear to have come forward a lot.

@achilles1

Great man, I hope you've measured your intermolar width and mew indicator line? Any changes in those?

Posted by: @progress

Great stuff Achilles, your cheeks appear to have come forward a lot.

Thanks @Progress. Also as I'm sure you know, a photo is one thing, but the actual observable difference IRL is much greater. 

Posted by: @halti-h

@achilles1

Great man, I hope you've measured your intermolar width and mew indicator line? Any changes in those?

Nah, I don't have a way to measure IMW right now. Personally, I'm for qualitative measurement over quantitative. I know my palate is a lot wider because the cheekbones, eye area, and hollows are directly correlated to IMW. I'm probably going to measure my IMW and Mew Indicator Line when my upper wisdom teeth erupt in a year or two. My best indicator of forward growth is the fact that I have all 32 teeth and they are straight. 

Any chance of getting some pictures from the front? Your jaw looks way better now.

Posted by: @ohwhatthehell

Any chance of getting some pictures from the front? Your jaw looks way better now.

It sucks because I don't have any good before frontal shots, but here's a quick snap of what I currently look like:

Just a bit of nice shadowing on the cheeks. Jaws definitely starting to get a chiseled look.

@achilles1

Thanks for detailing out you routine! A couple more questions, if you don’t mind:

1. Do you mean that the tip of the tongue touches the actual incisors, or is it above on the incisive papilla?

2. Since I don’t quite get it, could you elaborate on the “clench swallow”? My guess is that you swallow really hard which in turn engages the masseter muscles automatically. Right or wrong?

3. Furthermore, do you do the clench swallow consciously every time you swallow, or in seasons?

4. What is your age?

Thanks again for sharing your progress. Looks promising and is thus encouraging as well!

Nice, thank you!

Even if I think you took It too near to your face 

Zero bone changes....congratulations

Did you push outwards with your tongue against your molars to widen the palate?

Posted by: @loliboly

@achilles1

Thanks for detailing out you routine! A couple more questions, if you don’t mind:

1. Do you mean that the tip of the tongue touches the actual incisors, or is it above on the incisive papilla?

2. Since I don’t quite get it, could you elaborate on the “clench swallow”? My guess is that you swallow really hard which in turn engages the masseter muscles automatically. Right or wrong?

3. Furthermore, do you do the clench swallow consciously every time you swallow, or in seasons?

4. What is your age?

Thanks again for sharing your progress. Looks promising and is thus encouraging as well!

1. tongue goes on incisive papilla. Never push on the incisors. 

2. In a perfect world, the tongue initiates the swallow, forcing the masseter contraction. The "Clench Swallow" (or maybe more appropriately-named "Faux Clench Swallow") can be a workaround. For me, increasing the load on the masseters right before swallowing forces my tongue to work harder and lay more flush with the palate. This is because the tongue must make a greater surface area in order to create a better distribution of force, much like the need for widening your stance as you lift a heavy object above your head.

This is not recommended for those with smaller palates, maybe >40mm. Otherwise, the tongue may not be strong enough to enact a sufficient amount of reciprocation. If you are doing it wrong, it will hurt your jaw and/or potentially damage your teeth, so be careful. I'm gonna have to list this one as an advanced technique...

3. I try to do it consciously every time because it is the way to initiate the "Extreme Suction Hold", but it creates such a strong force on the maxilla and the masseters that I have to stop and rest frequently. 

4. I'm almost 28

@achilles1

Interesting. You have a similar thing going on to me, though I obviously can't tell if this is new or not for you. You have lines in your skin around your mouth/ mustache area that are very deep. Almost like wrinkles, but in very specific regions around the maxilla. I went from having a totally smooth face, with basically no lines, to very distinct lines in that same area around my mouth. I count it as both a positive and a negative personally. It simultaneously makes the maxilla/jaw stand out and look more masculine and makes me look older than I used to look. I'm also around your age. Any thoughts on this? Did you always have it? Have you noticed what I'm talking about?

@achilles1,

Well done man!, keep it up.

@ohwhatthehell

I didn't really have them before either, but they were much worse than this a few months ago. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what causes them and it definitely has to do with the width of the upper dental arch. Especially when the font of the arch (by the incisors) is expanded at a quicker rate than the back, which causes the tissues around the mouth to be pushed forward. It becomes really clear when you realize which teeth fall below the wrinkle, because that is the most narrow part of my palate. 

They are a positive and a negative sign for sure. I mean, yes it is expansion, but it's uneven expansion. I've been spending concerted effort trying to get rid of them, and it's slowly working. 

These last days I have been developing my mewing technique. It then struck me how similar it is to the one you described here in this thread. The sensations I get from mewing this way feels very promising, and your results certainly spoke for them self. Thus, it would be great to hear from you again and see if you made any further progress! I mean, it been 6 months now 😉

I also have to address the strange fact that none of us(other than yourself) pointed out the obvious improvement in your eye area! It seems like they nearly became hooded to the same degree that @helmutstrebl himself experienced.

Posted by: @loliboly

I also have to address the strange fact that none of us(other than yourself) pointed out the obvious improvement in your eye area! It seems like they nearly became hooded to the same degree that @helmutstrebl himself experienced.

His orbital support seems to have increased but the hooding is probably because he is looking downwards in the before pic and straight ahead in the after pic.

Besides, helmut is on a completely different level:

His starting point (when it comes to eye hooding) was worse than OP's.

Posted by: @azrael

Posted by: @loliboly

I also have to address the strange fact that none of us(other than yourself) pointed out the obvious improvement in your eye area! It seems like they nearly became hooded to the same degree that @helmutstrebl himself experienced.

His orbital support seems to have increased but the hooding is probably because he is looking downwards in the before pic and straight ahead in the after pic

I actually don’t think so. The first picture is taken from a lower angle, but he is more or less looking in the same direction as in the second one. Besides, the eyelids don’t become more visible from underneath, rather the opposite. The sceptical assumption would maybe be that his eyes already where hooded. However, I am inclined to think that his eyes actually did become more hooded.

Besides, helmut is on a completely different level.

His starting point (when it comes to eye hooding) was worse than OP’s.

I agree with this. Helmut had more change. I meant to say that Achilles eyes now seem to be hooded to the same degree that Helmuts is.

Achilles did you notice any change on your nose?

Thanks

M.

@achilles1 How are things going?