Did you know that most people have asymmetrical faces? That means that if you drew a line down the middle of their face, each side would be slightly different. It’s usually not noticeable. We don’t often intentionally study the symmetry of other peoples faces; but many of us do to ourselves.
Facial asymmetry can be genetic, or caused by lifestyle habits like how you sleep. If you are aware of your own facial asymmetry and want to improve this, non-invasive aesthetic treatments like botox and dermal fillers can help.
We’re going to take a deep dive into facial balance. What is facial balance? Are faces ever symmetrical? How can we fix facial asymmetry?
Most Faces are Asymmetrical
Let’s start with an important realization: most faces are asymmetrical. This isn’t our opinion, it’s a fact. Studies that have looked into facial symmetry have found the majority of people have some facial asymmetry. It’s not easily picked up on when you just glance at someone, it’s only usually visible when you carefully study their face and compare each side. Why is My Face Asymmetrical?
There are a few reasons as to why your face might be asymmetrical.
1. Genetics
Facial asymmetry can be due to genetic components. For example, certain inherited disorders can influence facial symmetry. Take a look at your parents or siblings faces and assess how symmetrical they are to see whether it runs in the family.
2. Aging
As we age, facial asymmetry increases. This is because skin laxity increases as collagen breaks down, causing our skin to sag at different rates across each half of the face. It’s usually a tiny difference, but it can add to a general look of asymmetry.
3. Sun exposure
Take a look at this picture of a truck driver to see how sun exposure can cause facial asymmetry. This truck driver spent his life driving, with the left side of his face exposed to the sun, while the right side was shielded inside the car.
4. Lifestyle Habits
Do you smoke cigarettes? Do you sleep mainly on one side? Do you often rest your face on your hands while working? If so, you likely have some asymmetry. A study found that people who sleep on their stomach on one side of their face have greater facial asymmetry.
How to Tell if Your Face is Asymmetrical
The easiest way to tell if your face is asymmetrical is to take a picture of your face, front on. Open that picture up on an image editor program - there are plenty of apps for this that you can do on your smartphone! Simply flip the photo horizontally a few times, switching back and forth. This will highlight any asymmetry.
Another way is to print the picture and draw a line down the middle of the face and compare each side using a ruler. However, many people will find this time consuming.
Ultimately, we all have some facial asymmetry and if you do, it doesn’t make you any less beautiful.
If your facial asymmetry is drastic and makes you feel self-conscious or bothered, there are things you can do to improve your facial symmetry. This, in aesthetics, is known as facial balancing.
What is Facial Balance?
Facial balancing is a concept in aesthetics that refers to applying injectables into certain regions of the face to enhance facial symmetry and overall balance in the features.
What is applied specifically depends person-to-person; we all have unique features and facial structures, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. During an initial consultation with your Sisu Clinic provider, your doctor will assess you and make recommendations on how you can achieve optimal facial harmony.
Why is Facial Balance Important?
We are inherently designed to find facial symmetry important. Studies have shown that the more symmetrical a face is, the more attractive we find it. In fact, researchers have concluded that facial symmetry is associated with health and resilience, acting as a subconscious indicator of how well an individual can handle environmental or genetic challenges. This is known as the ‘good genes’ hypothesis.
While this isn’t one hundred percent accurate - symmetrical faces are not indicative of health - it’s something our brains are designed to naturally pick up on, even if we’re not consciously thinking about it. That’s why, in research, when a symmetrical version of someone’s face is compared with an asymmetrical version of their face, people prefer the symmetrical version.
How to Improve Facial Symmetry
To some extent, you can’t change your facial anatomy. For example, if one eye is bigger than the other, there’s nothing you can do about it. However, asymmetry is most commonly reported in the:
- Nose
- Cheeks
- Chin
- Eyebrows
And these are all areas that can be improved upon using facial balancing techniques. Here’s how.
Dermal Fillers
Depending on your initial consultation and assessment by a Sisu Clinic doctor, your doctor may choose to improve your facial harmony by adding in dermal filler. This can help to enhance symmetry by matching the size and shape of certain areas in your face.
Dermal fillers are injections that add natural volume into the skin. They’re made from an innovative hyaluronic acid compound. They can be used to restore lost volume that happens with age, or to add dimension to your facial contours. Dermal fillers are highly versatile; you can use them in many different areas of the face to enhance facial symmetry and fix asymmetry.
1. Nose filler
Your nose is in the center of the face, so if your goal is improving facial symmetry, paying attention to the nose is key! Many of us have noses with bumps and slopes in the nose which can throw off facial harmony. You can have nose surgery for facial asymmetry, but this is expensive, painful, and has a long recovery time.
Alternatively, using filler in the nose can help to smooth bumps and enhance symmetry. Learn more here.
In the before and after below, a Sisu Doctor used dermal filler to smooth out bumps in the nose, to make it straighter and more symmetrical.
2. Cheek filler
If one cheek is more sunken due to years of sleeping on that side, dermal filler in the cheek can help to even out both sides so they become more symmetrical.
Check out this transformation: before and after facial balancing treatment.
3. Jawline and chin sculpting
The overall shape structure of the face is one of the most important indicators of facial symmetry. You can add dermal filler to the jaw and chin to improve the contours of the face and to make it more even and symmetrical.
Dermal fillers can last from six to 12 months, but the duration depends on where the fillers are placed. In areas such as your jawline, under-eye, or nose, dermal fillers can last anywhere from nine to 12 months.
Click here to learn more about dermal filler for fixing facial asymmetry.
Botox
Sleeping on one side, smoking, and sun exposure, all accelerate aging on one side of the face. This means more fine lines, wrinkles and sagging skin. While dermal filler can effectively restore lost volume in these areas, botox is more effective at combating wrinkles.
BOTOX® is a type of neurotoxin used to temporarily paralyze muscle to smooth out the skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Other types of neurotoxins used at Sisu Clinic also include Dysport®, Xeomin®, and Jeuveau®.
Smoothing out wrinkles is just one use for botox. Here are a few other ways botox can be used to fix facial asymmetry.
1. Reduce the size of masseter muscles
Botox can also help to reduce the size of enlarged masseter muscles in the jaw which can contribute to facial asymmetry if you grind your teeth or chew out of one side of the mouth more than the other.
2. Improve gummy smile
Injecting botox into the upper lip and between the nose and upper lip area to relax the muscles in your lip so that it no longer sits too high on your gum line. A gummy smile can cause facial asymmetry, so improving this can have a transformative effect on the smile.
3. Even out eyebrows
You may have heard the phrase ‘eyebrows are sisters not twins’, because it’s extremely common to have eyebrows that are slightly different. However, noticeably uneven eyebrows can be one of the main causes of facial asymmetry. Using botox in the brows can have a subtle lifting effect, this is why we call it a ‘botox brow lift’! If you have uneven arches, or your brows are lower on one side than the other, this treatment can work wonders to improve your overall facial harmony. Click here to learn more about botox treatments for facial balancing.
Key Takeaways
- Facial asymmetry is completely normal.
- If you do want to improve your facial symmetry, there are things you can do!
- Sisu Clinic is a doctor-led, global aesthetic clinic that specializes in non-invasive treatments for facial balance.