3 Key Takeaways
- Chewing gum and tech neck exercises offer minimal muscle activation and do not reduce stubborn fat or tighten skin.
- Double chins are often caused by fat, genetics, or skin laxity, none of which can be reversed through neck exercises alone.
- Clinically proven, non-invasive treatments like fat freezing and Ultherapy are more effective at sculpting and tightening the chin area.
Although a double chin rarely poses serious medical concerns, it often affects how people feel about their appearance. For some, it can create the impression of looking older, while for others, it may make them appear heavier than they actually are.
As a result, many turn to at-home solutions like chewing gum or “tech neck” exercises. While these methods may offer slight muscle activation, their effectiveness is limited and cannot be relied on for double chin reduction.
Continue reading as our aesthetic clinic in Singapore dives deeper into these approaches and explores more effective, clinically backed treatments to eliminate <stubborn fat and tighten skin.
Why chewing gum doesn’t work for double chins
Chewing gum, particularly with xylitol, can be beneficial in preventing cavities and improving chewing performance. It can also give your facial muscles a slight workout, but you cannot rely on it for jawline slimming.
This approach cannot address the underlying causes of a double chin, which are excess fat, genetics, and skin elasticity. Therefore, it creates little to no major impact on reducing a double chin or slimming a jawline. Here’s why:
You cannot spot reduce fat
Spot reduction, or the concept that you can selectively burn fat from specific areas of the body, is a myth. Chewing gum, furthermore, burns a very small amount of calories and does not significantly reduce body fat. To visibly reduce the appearance of a double chin, you will need to reduce overall body fat.
Facial shape is genetic
Your genetics and bone structure largely determine the shape of your chin and jawline structure. Chewing gum cannot alter this. It may temporarily strengthen your masseter muscles, but it cannot reshape your jawline. It is also important to know that overworking your jaw muscles can lead to jaw pain, digestive issues, and a bulky jaw.
Chewing works the wrong muscles
While chewing exercises the masseter muscles in your cheeks, these are not the muscles that contribute to the appearance of a double chin. Moreover, the resistance offered by chewing gum is too insignificant to cause fat loss or muscle toning in the chin and neck area.
Risk of jaw widening
Excessive gum chewing can lead to masseter hypertrophy or an enlargement of the jaw muscles. The repetitive use of the masseter muscles due to prolonged chewing can cause them to grow bigger. This may then result in a wider, bulkier lower face, which is the opposite of a slimmer jawline.
Why “tech neck” exercises don’t work for double chins
“Tech neck” refers to any form of pain or stiffness in the neck, shoulder, and upper back due to poor posture from looking down at screens. It is also associated with horizontal neck wrinkles or creases that form due to repetitive motion and forward-head posture from constant phone usage.
While neck stretches and exercises are good for posture or improving head support, they’re not an effective solution for double chin reduction. Just like chewing gum, neck exercises cannot address the underlying causes. Here’s why:
Neck exercises don’t burn fat
As previously mentioned, chin fat is primarily caused by excess body fat. Exercises like neck rolls and chin tucks may strengthen muscles, but they don’t eliminate fat. If fat is the main issue for a double chin, overall body fat reduction is the way to go
They don’t tighten skin
As we age, our body produces less collagen and elastin, leading to a lack of skin support and sagging. Exercises cannot fix this, as they focus on muscle tone, not skin elasticity. If loss of collagen and elasticity is to blame for your double chin, muscle exercises won’t do anything to improve it.
Posture helps slightly
Poor posture from constantly looking down at a phone weakens neck muscles and can exacerbate the appearance of a double chin. Correcting this can offer a subtle improvement by making the neck look more elongated, but it cannot reverse fat buildup or sagging skin.
What actually works for reducing a double chin?
If your double chin is making you self-conscious, there are lifestyle changes and aesthetic treatments that can help improve its appearance, depending on the cause.
Healthy lifestyle
If excess body fat is the main cause of your double chin, a combination of a balanced diet, regular exercise, and overall body fat reduction is the sustainable solution. This means adding more fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins to your diet and reducing intake of processed foods while increasing physical activity.
Non-surgical aesthetic treatments
At Cutis Medical Laser Clinics in Singapore, we have several non-surgical options that can address double chin and treat mild to moderate skin laxity.
Fat freezing – This involves cooling fat cells to destroy them and slim the area of concern. We have:
- ZLipo – has 360° applicators that treat the entire skin surface of the targeted area. It has a mini handpiece specifically designed for smaller areas like the submental fat. The body’s lymphatic system naturally breaks down and removes the fat cells, resulting in a more contoured chin area.
- CoolSculpting Elite – also has a mini applicator that can target stubborn fat under the chin. This results in a slimmer jawline with changes appearing over several weeks to months.
Ultherapy PRIME – uses micro focused ultrasound energy with visualization (MFU-V) to heat the deeper layers and stimulate collagen. It is US FDA-cleared for non-surgical face lifting and focuses on collagen stimulation to build supportive structure for the skin. Know, however, that Ultherapy in Singapore is more about tissue lifting and skin tightening and not a replacement for fillers or surgery.
Exilis Ultra 360 – combines radiofrequency and ultrasound energy to gently heat the deeper layers. It stimulates new collagen to tighten the skin and break down fat cells to reduce fat in the submental area. Exilis Ultra 360 can sculpt the jawline and tighten the skin after multiple sessions with no downtime required.
Botulinum toxin – is mainly for wrinkle reduction, but it can help slim the jawline by targeting the masseter muscles (muscles used for chewing). It relaxes the muscles, which causes them to reduce in size and volume, resulting in a softer facial contour. It can also relax the platysma muscle in the neck, creating a more lifted look.
Note: Botulinum toxin is not the first choice for double chin reduction. It is mostly for slimming and defining the jawline rather than dissolving fat. It is also often used with fat-freezing or fat dissolving treatments to address muscle tone and fat.
For further reading:Debunking 5 Myths About Double Chin Removal
Interested in treating your double chin non-invasively?
Chewing gum and tech neck exercises may seem harmless, but they cannot target the real issues behind a double chin. If you’re looking for noticeable, lasting results, aesthetic treatments, combined with a healthy lifestyle, offer more effective solutions.
Book a consultation with one of our aesthetic doctors in Singapore to explore safe, science-backed options like fat freezing, Ultherapy PRIME, combination treatments, and more.
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