Dr. Sam Lam Plastic Surgery Forum

Hi Dr. Lam,
Just wanted to let you know I appreciate the thoroughness of this site. You put in a lot of effort.
ANyways, I have a few questions about the masseter muscle and botox.
First, if one of my masseter muscles has grown bigger than the other because of predominant chewing on one side, can this muscle become smaller by avoiding and chewing on the opposite side?

Second, what is the process of maintenance of botox since it is not a permanent solution? I mean do you wait for the results to disappear to get another shot, or do you just schedule the shots for a more consistent result?

3rd, how many shots would be necessary for one masseter muslce, and if you don't mind me asking, what would be the cost of each shot?

The question whether your masseter would get smaller without chewing on that side, I believe the answer is yes. However, I really can't say with certainty, as I do not recall any patients of mine who have mentioned that to me.

Botox maintenance differs for everyone. Most people hold twice as long as normal botox, i.e., your jaw botox most of the times lasts between 6 months to a year. Usually, even though you may have a little fading at 6 months you will probably still be seeing a pretty good result.

As far as scheduling your shots, I would say wait until you lose about 50% or so of your result before having it redone.

I divide each masseter into 5 zones but do not charge per "shot". It is for both masseters, and the cost is $800.
Hope all of that helps.
SML