Many of us know that facial symmetry can affect our attractiveness. Typically, broader faces that are balanced with the height of the face are more attractive on men. So, you might be wondering, “How do I measure my facial width?”.
You can measure facial width with the facial-width-to-height ratio. Typically, an image-processing program determines your results for you. You can use applications or websites to calculate your FWHR.
What Is FWHR?
FWHR stands for facial-width-to-height ratio. It is a facial ratio that came from measuring the face’s width and dividing the measurement by the midface’s length (which varies on the measurement method).
How Do You Calculate FWHR?
Researchers performed a study to calculate FWHR (Yang et al., 2018). The bizygomatic width of the face will be divided by the face’s height to calculate FWHR. The bizygomatic width is the distance between the right and left zygion. The face’s height is measured from the highest points of both the upper lip to the eyelids.
Next, they used an image-processing program to rotate the photos (Kramer et al., 2012). All facial boundaries have to be visible to calculate.
The average FWHR from the study was 2.18 (SD = 0.08). The measurement ranged from 1.99 to 2.50. The participants were all male.
Other studies used a different kind of measurement. They measured FWHR as bizygomatic width divided by the distance from the nasion to the prosthion.
In some cases, you can use websites and apps to upload your photo and calculate your FWHR. However, these may not be legitimate, so you would need to take the results with a grain of salt.
How FWHR Affects Behavior
Most people care about FWHR because of how it relates to male facial aesthetics. However, many people also believe that your FWHR can affect social perceptions and your traits.
Many people believe that higher FWHR means you are more facially masculine. However, there is not enough research to prove whether that statement is true.
Studies suggest that there is a correlation between FWHR and behavioral tendencies. For instance, men with higher FWHR were more aggressive (Bird et al., 2016).
Researchers believe that the said behavioral tendencies happen because of the influence of testosterone. However, that is only a theory.
Studies also state that people who have a higher FWHR also had a greater sexual desire (Arnocky et al., 2017).
Keep in mind that an extremely high FWHR may not be attractive. People with extremely broad and flat faces can be unattractive to most people. Balance is still crucial for facial aesthetics.
How to Increase Your Facial Width to Height Ratio
What procedure you get will depend on your goals. Typically, “masculine” men have broader faces, so your goal may be to make your face wider. However, it would be best to talk to a plastic surgeon about the best options.
Surgery
For long term and quick results, plastic surgery is the best way to increase your FWHR. Some procedures that can broaden your face include:
- Cheek implants
- Chin implant
- Mandible implants
There are different materials to create implants. However, the most common one is solid silicone. Each implant is specially made for you by your surgeon.
In some cases, you may not need to get an implant. For instance, a surgeon may offer you chin augmentation surgery. To perform the surgery, they cut off a piece of your jawline and move it up and forward to make your face shorter, enhance the projection, and create a well-defined jawline.
Additionally, some people may want to decrease their face’s width instead of widening it to match the height of their face. Those people may choose surgeries like jaw reduction surgery, cheekbone reduction surgery, etc.
Of course, you will need to consult a plastic surgeon if you are a candidate for any of the surgeries above. While the recovery can take a while, it would be worth it if you want long-term results.
Dermal Fillers
For a less invasive option, you can try dermal fillers. Dermal fillers are injectable gel-like materials that can add volume to the desired areas. Dermal fillers can add volume to the cheekbones, jaw, etc.
Most materials used for fillers are naturally in your body. For instance, collagen and hyaluronic acid are both in everyone’s body. Therefore, they are safe to use, especially when injected properly by licensed doctors.
While dermal fillers are less invasive, the results do not last forever. Dermal filler ingredients are usually natural, but they will naturally disappear. Over time, your body will absorb the material, and you will need to get injections again if you want to keep your results.
Most dermal fillers will last for 6-12 months, but some people state that theirs can last for two years. It depends on how your body metabolizes the filler.
The other downside is that fillers are soft and not great for adding projection. As such, implants would net you better results but are far more invasive.
Mewing
Mewing involves having the correct posture of your tongue, neck, shoulders, back, etc. Additionally, you use correct tongue posture to add pressure to your palate.
The pressure encourages upward and forwards facial growth, which can help you get more prominent cheekbones to increase your facial width. When you stimulate your palate, you encourage your midface to move up and forward since the palate is attached to your midface. Mewing can also help you develop a stronger jaw.
Most mouth breathers do the exact opposite of mewing; they leave their mouths slightly open, they breathe through their mouths, they have poor tongue posture, etc. All of these factors can make you have a long, thin face with weak features.
Therefore, mewing can help you enhance your facial width to height ratio. It can help enhance your jawline and cheekbones, helping your face look wider while adding more facial projection.
Here is one example of a Youtuber named Astrosky who tried it for six years.
As you can see from the photo, he got fantastic results from mewing. He got much stronger cheekbones and a sharp jawline. He got more masculine features, but he still has a pleasant facial width to height ratio.
If you want to see more progress photos, click here.
However, you need to be aware that the results do not appear overnight. Children see the quickest results with mewing since they can see visible changes after several months of years.
Teenagers can often see results after 1-2 years. Their growth may be slower than children’s, but they still have somewhat malleable facial bones. Young adult results can take longer, taking around 2-3 years on average.
Some older adults feel discouraged to try mewing because they think their bones are too hard to move and mold. However, if mewing works for 21-year olds who completed their development, it should work for older adults. The problem is that it will be so slow that it will be indistinguishable from placebo. As an adult, you should consider surgery unless you’re already happy with your face.
Whether you are young or old, consistency is the key to get excellent mewing results. The idea is to slowly move your facial bones, so you need to stay consistent if you want to see obvious results. Additionally, you need to make sure you do it correctly.
For instance, you need to apply gentle and consistent pressure to your hard palate using the back third of your tongue. Your teeth should also lightly touch while your jaw is at rest, but not be clenched.
To learn more about mewing and how to do it correctly, see our guide.
