By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-29 21:21:15 | Updated at 2026-08-10 18:47:50
1 week ago
Women from all across the world are peeling off the latest beauty treatment – jawline contouring masks and straps.
These face straps and masks have taken social media by storm, as both influencers and companies promise buyers that the products will lift, tighten and de-puff the chin and neck area.
Some are disposable, while others are reusable, and able to be adjusted with a Velcro strap around your head.
Online, the straps are sold for less than $10 on places like TikTok Shop, as internet users gush that the product can take away your double chin, literally overnight.
But while these slimming masks may seem harmless enough, doctors are sounding the alarm on the hidden dangers behind the trend.
According to Texas-based plastic surgeon Dr Frank Agullo, leaving these jawline shapers on for too long can pose some real risks.
'It is not dangerous in the same way an injectable incorrectly put is dangerous, but these are still not harmless,' Dr Agullo told the Daily Mail.
'A jaw shaper is literally a band made of stretchy material that holds the chin and upper neck tissue taut up and into the jaw bone and the jaw joints,' he explained.
Jawline contouring masks and straps promise buyers that the products will lift, tighten, and de-puff the chin and neck area (stock image)
Dr Agullo said that it's okay to wear these jaw shapers and masks anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, but anything beyond that, like an eight-hour sleep window, can have side effects, including skin issues.
He said that breakouts and folliculitis are common in the spots along the band, as the synthetic material has a 'tight grip' over the lower jaw and chin.
'Another popular complaint, you feel a soreness inside your jaw and ear the next morning, since the chin strap holds the jaw closed and slightly back for hours,' Dr Agullo said.
'This causes aggravation and clenching during sleep and makes the morning jaw soreness worse,' he continued.
'There is really no chance I would endorse sleeping in one for anybody with a history of jaw pain, clicking, or bruxism.'
Dr Carol Eisenstat, founder of Line Eraser MD in New Jersey, is also concerned about any product that can compress your jaw or neck.
'From my perspective as an anesthesiologist, I'm also cautious about anything that compresses the jaw or neck in someone who snores or has any degree of sleep-disordered breathing,' Dr Eisenstat told the Daily Mail.
'That's not something I'd recommend,' she said.
Some are disposable, while others are reusable, and able to be adjusted with a Velcro strap around your head
The physician also told the Daily Mail that these products have yet to be properly studied in the same way that other medical devices are.
She especially advised against taking medical advice from those on social media.
'They're marketed with big promises, but there really isn't any good clinical evidence suggesting they're effective or even establishing how safe they are with long-term use,' Dr Eisenstat said of these jaw-slimming straps.
'If you're relying on social media instead of actual data, you're just experimenting on yourself,' she said.
And the product won't work in the way that most are intending it to.
According to Dr Agullo, someone with a soft jawline, which includes loose skin, cannot be helped just by using a jaw strap.
'A band outside does not redistribute fat tissue, does not tighten a muscle, does not reconfigure any loose skin, nor does it realign bones,' Dr Agullo said.
'What it does is just push the fluid out between the tissue,' he said.
'It has that real effect, which is why the mirror looks good to you for maybe an hour, in the morning when the fluids have settled, but after about 1-2 hours, it will just go back to how your jaw always is.'
The plastic surgeon insisted that the quick effects of shifting fluid can be 'misleading' for patients.
'It is misleading for people not yet familiar with such things,' Dr Agullo explained.
'The first 60 minutes reading to them as confirmation the device functions as promised, when what they are seeing is transient swelling,' he said.
Instead of using a product that barely works, there are other alternatives that can actually make a difference, according to the doctors.
'If it's fullness under the chin that's related to weight, improving overall body composition is going to make much more of a difference than wearing a compression mask,' Dr Eisenstat said.
'If it's excess fat that's out of proportion to the rest of the face, treatments like deoxycholic acid injections or liposuction may be appropriate for the right candidate,' she said.
However, skin laxity around the neck and chin is a 'completely different conversation.'
For that, Dr Eisenstat recommends an energy-based device that will stimulate collagen, microneedling with radiofrequency, or even a surgical option.
'The main thing here is matching the treatment to the underlying problem,' Dr Eisenstat told the Daily Mail.
'A single product that's marketed as a solution for everyone usually isn't addressing the actual cause or creating a real benefit,' she said.
'That's why these masks tend to disappoint real people. A proper medical evaluation will almost always get you a better result than trying to compress the area and hoping it gets reshaped.'
