Levator anguli oris

Looks like

A small strap muscle beneath the cheek, running from the upper jaw just below the eye socket down to the corner of the mouth.

What it does

Lifts the corner of the mouth, helping make a smile and deepening the fold between nose and mouth.

Keeping it well

Powered by the facial nerve. Sudden weakness of one side of the smile needs urgent medical review.

Related conditions

• Bell's palsy
• Botulism
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscular dystrophy
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Tension-type headache
• Tetanus