‘Have you seen Zoe Ball lately? She looks like she’s had a facelift!’ This was the conversation not long ago in the GH office, and it’s one we hope that Zoe takes as the greatest of compliments. It’s undeniable that she’s looking beautifully refreshed right now, and yes, it IS down to a facial intervention and not just the benefits of giving up her early starts for the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.
However, the idea that the presenter would ever go under the knife is one that tickles the professional behind her skin glow. ‘Zoe came to see me because she was suffering from TMJ and bruxism [jaw clenching] and wanted a natural remedy for the pain,’ says Zoe’s facialist Helen Marie, aka The Sculptress.
‘She didn’t want to go down the Botox route, which treats jaw pain by relaxing the muscle, so she would laugh her head off at the idea she’d had a facelift. Obviously, looking good is important for her and her job, but the invasive route is absolutely not for her.’
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Instead, Zoe’s lustre is all down to buccal massage. As Helen explains: ‘This is a specialist technique to massage the face, neck, jaw and then finally, directly inside the mouth itself. This releases the tension, relieves TMJ pain and also boosts skin glow and sculpts the face.’ It’s a soothing and smoothing, all-in-one treatment that Zoe calls ‘magic’.
What is TMJ and how does buccal massage help?
Zoe is one of the millions of people suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ for short. This joint is essentially a sliding hinge that connects the jawbone to the skull, and can become painful for a number of reasons, including jaw clenching and/or tooth grinding, stress, injury, gum chewing, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis or a combination of several factors.
Whatever the cause, it can be extremely debilitating, as it leads to the sort of deep, sore aching that doesn’t respond well to conventional painkillers. It’s especially common in midlife women, and something that adds to the general exhaustion of menopausal life.
The usual recommended treatments can include stress management (easier said than done), switching to a soft diet, wearing a mouthguard at night and self-massage. Toxin injections, such as Botox, can also be used to relax the jaw muscle temporarily, but should only be done by an experienced, fully licensed medical professional. Surgery is considered to be a last resort.
Buccal [inner cheek] massage is an option for those seeking a non-invasive route, and one that’s growing in popularity thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations, including the one shared by Zoe herself.
She recently wrote on her Instagram: ‘I have TMJ and wake most days with awful headaches from tension & jaw clenching. So grateful to Helen @thesculptresslondon for her magic. this is my face after i've seen her, check out my face before - yikes.’
As Zoe’s photos show, the benefits of buccal massage are ones you can really see and feel. Pictured post-massage, she has the face of a woman whose stresses have been literally smoothed away, with radiant skin and a more lifted look.
‘When Zoe first started coming to me, her work meant she was going against her circadian rhythm, and that has a huge impact,’ says Helen, who has Zoe’s blessing to talk about her treatment. ‘Her tissue was tired, she was tired, and that was causing tension and pain throughout her face. So we worked on releasing all that with buccal massage.’
How does buccal massage soothe facial pain?
Buccal massage involves performing ‘the same movements over and over again, so the masseter muscle and skin go from being solid as a rock to where it all rolls through the fingers like butter,’ says Helen, who offers the treatment at her central London clinic, as well as residencies in New York and the Middle East.
‘The masseter is a very powerful muscle which does an awful lot for us, but it’s in a tiny area of the body, so the impact of pain there can end up being quite catastrophic.’
To soothe TMJ, Helen works first on the neck and jaw with warm wet flannels and stones to gently soften stiff, aching tissue and muscles, then eventually places her fingers inside the mouth to soothe internal sources of facial pain. ‘You can’t just release the fascia from outside, you have to go in and manipulate specific points in the mouth. That brings so much relief to facial soreness.’
She adds: ‘The technique has been huge in places like Asia and Eastern Europe for a long time, but we’re only really cottoning on to it here now. It’s so important for our wellbeing. If we have back pain, everyone knows that massage can help it. But we get pain in our jaw too, and it can benefit from buccal massage in just the same way.’
In terms of the physical benefits experienced by Zoe, Helen tells us: ‘She’s found something that makes her relax, and in return, her muscles stay relaxed afterwards. It’s not just an instant result. It’s something that she’s able to feel for weeks afterwards. For most people, I say that coming every four to six weeks is enough to maintain the benefits.’
How does buccal massage make you look younger?
Facial soreness can make you look aged, and not just from having a pained expression, says Helen. ‘When your jaw and neck are tight, you don’t have the healthy blood flow that makes you look youthful and vibrant. Buccal massage gets everything flowing again.’
For Zoe, it’s about easing TMJ pain, but also ‘not looking in the mirror and going, “Oh god, I look tired.” It's allowed her skin to glow from within,’ says Helen.
The face-sculpting effect of buccal massage is another benefit of releasing facial tension, adds Helen. ‘Women will say, “I’m getting old, I’ve got jowls.” But actually they haven’t, it’s all down to the tension they’re holding in their face.’
‘You have a network of lymph nodes in the neck, at the sides of the mouth and all along the jawline, so when that lymphatic drainage system isn’t working properly, you’re building up fluid there, and that ends up looking like you’re jowl-y. When you roll that out and drain it, it’s like clearing a clogged sewage system. It’s absolutely amazing for sculpting.’
As Helen explains: ‘There’s a reason someone might think Zoe’s had a facelift. She’s not. She’s had very, very careful lymphatic drainage throughout the face, she’s had her skin rolled out, and that’s what’s making everything tighter in the very best way.’ Magic, as Zoe puts it.
Buccal massage: tried and tested
GH beauty director Lynne gives the massage a try on her sore jaw
I was diagnosed with TMJ in 2023 after developing a constant, dull ache in my jaw, but I can’t say that getting a label has helped me find any relief. I was waved off from hospital with a leaflet of (for me) largely ineffective advice, and a general ‘suck it up, it won’t kill you’ attitude.
I’m no stranger to forehead Botox and I know plenty of great doctors, so I did consider the injectable route for my jaw. However, I’m reluctant because doctors and dentists alike have concluded I’m a clencher not a grinder. A lifetime of gritting my teeth, I fear! So I’m not convinced that paralysing the muscle will help, since I’m not actually grinding away in my sleep.
Helen urged me to pay her a visit, and having looked at her Instagram of glowy before and afters, I would have turned up just for the aesthetic benefits. But honestly, a session with her turned out to be far more than any regular facial I’ve ever had, with benefits that took me aback.
The first, and main, bit of the treatment is absolutely delightful, as tight, sore muscles are gently coaxed into a happier state of being. However, you do need to make it through the short, sharp shock of the inside-mouth buccal probing, which is uncomfortable although not unbearable. It’s the moment that all the softly-softly loosening of tight facial muscles is leading up to, and it’s only a few minutes in an otherwise blissful treatment, so take a few deep breaths and go with it.
For me, buccal massage has been a real ‘no pain, no gain’ treatment. I was very pleased by how immediately soft and radiant my complexion was, but the real benefits lasted longer than any transient glow. My jaw felt eased straight away, and that continued to improve over the following days. I was half-expecting the soothing to fade overnight, like your average post-facial boost, but to my surprise my jaw actually felt a little lighter, day by day. I slept better as a result, too.
As with any massage therapy, you should always choose a buccal massage practitioner who’s experienced in the technique, and fully qualified and insured. I’d strongly recommend taking personal recommendations as well.
It’s been a couple of months now since I saw Helen and the jaw ache has crept back, although not quite as bad as before. She did explain on the day that clients get the best benefits with ongoing treatments, just as you’d expect with any therapeutic massage. I, for one, will definitely be back.
Buccal massage with Helen starts from £95. Her new London clinic is at 4 Manchester Square, Marylebone
