Mewing is the most argued-about free thing on every looksmaxxing forum, and almost nobody counts it. So I did: 89,316 public posts, each turned into a structured claim â what was done, what it supposedly did, over what timeframe, and how good the evidence was â then every claim about tongue posture pulled out and graded.
496 claims. 132 reach tier 3+ (consistent human reports), and only 4 reach tier 4-5. Cost £0, risk low, reversible. The defensible part is posture, breathing and habit â the part people actually want, adult skeletal change, has essentially no evidence behind it in this corpus.
0 = folklore · 1 = one anecdote · 2 = mechanism story with no result · 3 = consistent human reports · 4 = controlled evidence · 5 = review or trial. Anyone can claim tier 5. Hundreds of strangers independently reporting the same thing is the part that's hard to fake â which is why tier 3 is where a claim starts being worth something.
Same corpus, same grading, ranked by the share of claims reaching tier 3+. Interventions with fewer than 40 claims are left out so one enthusiastic thread can't move the number.
| intervention | claims | tier 3+ | cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaw surgery | 262 | 71.4% | £0 NHS / £8k-30k |
| Braces & palate expansion | 335 | 51.6% | £2,000-£5,500 |
| Buccal fat removal | 93 | 48.4% | £1,500-£3,500 |
| Anabolic steroids & TRT | 1,003 | 41.6% | £40-£150/mo |
| Rhinoplasty | 57 | 40.4% | £4,000-£9,000 |
| Dermal fillers | 236 | 36.0% | £150-£600/area |
| Sleep & circadian | 722 | 34.3% | £0 |
| Growth hormone & bone stacks | 1,125 | 33.4% | £100-£400/mo |
| Mewing / tongue posture | 496 | 26.6% | £0 |
| Bonesmashing | 130 | 20.0% | £0 |
"before thumbpulling i could barely fit my 2 thumbs, and now i could place another one if i had"forum thread: help w fixing EXTREMELY recessed chin â labelled tier 3
"i was only a mouth breather when i was super young now i sleep open my back and only breathe through my nose n im mewing like 247"forum thread: help w fixing EXTREMELY recessed chin â labelled tier 3
Both are self-reported over months, with no before/after anyone else can check. That is exactly what tier 3 is for â and exactly why 4 claims out of 496 getting to tier 4-5 matters.
If you're still growing, the thing with evidence is orthodontics and, where a clinician says it's indicated, palate expansion â 51.6% of 335 claims at tier 3+, and 35 at tier 4-5. If you're an adult who's already mewing out of habit, it's free and harmless; just don't pay anybody for it, and don't expect your bone structure to move.
The full report â 32 interventions, £9.99 â19 pages · every intervention costed · money-pits table · method appendix · 14-day refund