People are freaked out by what our chin muscles look like after dimple explanation goes viral

A fascinating TikTok clip showing why some people’s chins have dimples has some users freaking out - because the facial muscles involved look like “little tentacles”.

Hank Green has more than 5.8 million views and 1.4 million likes on the video in which he showed how chin dimples are actually caused by the mentalis muscle.

“You have identified correctly a weird muscle, well done!”, he said in response to a user who asked what causes them.

Hank Green demonstrates how the chin muscles “yank” on the skin.

He went on to explain that almost every muscle in the body connects to a bone. These “yank on each other”, which is how we can move our body.

There are also muscles that “yank on themselves”, such as the sphincter, and the heart as it pumps blood around the body.

In our faces, we also have muscles that do not connect to other bones - allowing movement in our faces to talk and emote - but instead of pulling on themselves, the muscles are “yanking on skin”.

A diagram of the chin muscles

The TikTok star explained how mentalis muscles stick “all of its little muscle fibers into your skin and when it moves, it yanks onto your skin”, and this is what causes the dimpling effect on our chins.

And while it’s undoubtedly fascinating, some people were quick to point just how unsettling the layout of the chin muscles really is.

As Hank says: “It’s a little weird. We’re all made out of meat!”