Reflecting on yesterday’s post about the plastic surgeon whose patient received buccal massage just three weeks after surgery, I want to say something very clearly. I agree with everything that surgeon said. Nobody should receive buccal massage three weeks after surgery. What surprised me, however, was how much hate and criticism buccal massage itself, and the professionals who practice it, received. I’ve been working with faces for over 30 years, and many of the most dramatic results I’ve seen have only been possible because of buccal massage. If the muscles around the jaw and the temporomandibular joint are chronically contracted, restoring healthy function to the face becomes much more difficult. We can improve the skin, and that absolutely has value, but if we’re looking for meaningful structural change, we also need to work with the deeper soft tissues and restore healthy blood flow. The key is how buccal is performed. Buccal should never be painful. It should never be aggre...