Do you have a clicky or painful jaw? Can’t bite into an apple or eat a nice juicy steak?
Then make sure you read this incredibly important blog as I’m going to show you a really easy self release you can do to help stop the clicking and pain.
Jaw problems are a lot more common than many think. The real problem for anyone with jaw pain or clicking is that they don’t really know who to ask for help – their GP? Their dentist?
Then the problem comes down to the treatment. The jaw is just like any other part of your body – it’s influenced by everything around it. But more often than not jaw pain treatment purely focuses on the jaw so it misses all the other contributing factors that cause the jaw problems to keep coming back again and again.
Now let’s get into it.
Firstly, let’s talk about why the clicking starts in the first place. Your jaw is a fairly complicated joint able to open and close but also move side to side. It actually has a mobile disc in it that sits between the end of your jaw bone and your skull. This disc is attached to a muscle so it moves as you move your jaw to ensure it is always sitting between the point of contact.
Now this muscle that moves the disc can run into problems in several ways.
One common one is that you have a really long dental procedure with your mouth being held open. This will cause it to become fatigued, tight and potentially get shorter meaning that it won’t be able to help that disc slide back into place as you close and open your mouth.
Another common way it becomes problematic is your posture. If your head pokes forwards it changes how all the muscles around your jaw behave. Typically speaking someone with poor posture will have their muscles that close their mouths more active which will cause clenching of the teeth. This also means that since the jaw won’t be able to move as much the muscle that moves this disc will also become de-conditioned and tight causing the clicking. This is why it’s so important for anyone with jaw pain or teeth clenching issues to ensure they have the strength and endurance to maintain good posture.
Thankfully it’s really easy to do a self release of this muscle to give you some temporary relief whilst you address the true underlying cause of the issue. But as a warning it can be quite a sensitive muscle to touch. What you are going to do is put your 5th finger inside your mouth between the outside of your top teeth and your cheek. Push your finger gently up so it’s at the point where the inside of your cheek joins the top of your gums. Slowly take the finger back and you will feel there is a hollow behind your cheek bone. Gently push up into this space and either hold the pressure on the painful spot or gently massage through the area behind your cheekbone.
Like I said this is a great technique to get you out of trouble with a clicking jaw but it won’t stop the problem coming back. You need to address the real root issue which is often related to your posture.
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