Home care for jaw pain and headaches

Surprisingly a very common condition I treat is jaw related pain. For many of you this may not be the first thing that comes to mind of when thinking of Massage Therapy. But experiencing jaw pain and jaw related pain is actually something a lot of people deal with.

A condition that is fairly known is TMJ or Temporomandibular joint dysfunction. With TMJ the joint in your jaw is affected and may not be functioning properly.

You might hear clicking sounds when opening your mouth and chewing on food. It might be difficult to chew. You might also be experiencing facial pain, pain in your ear and around your ear as well as headaches. 

Just because you have jaw pain and jaw related pain, does not necessarily mean that you have TMJ. You might just be dealing with chronic muscle tension. It’s best to check with your doctor and dentist.

The following article has a good visual diagram of the jaw and some good information.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tmj/symptoms-causes/syc-20350941

From my experience, clients who live stressful lives can have more tension in their jaw muscles. We often just think of our neck and shoulders carrying stress. Our jaws actually can carry a lot of it. Observe it for yourself next time you stress about something.

If you are dealing with chronic jaw pain you might also be grinding your teeth and a bite plate could help you. It is good to talk to your dentist about this and see what he can recommend.

Most people wear bite plates when sleeping. But it is actually good to wear them when working if possible. This poses a problem when you need to communicate while working, because it is difficult to speak clearly. For someone that works at a computer for prolonged periods of time and can go some time without needing to talk, it is a good idea to wear a bite plate.

Prolonged focus causes us to clench. We often don’t notice this, but it happens. So long hours in front of the computer can strain our jaw muscles because we focus intensely. 

The same goes for driving, especially long distance driving or winter driving. The focus we need when driving causes us to clench our teeth, even if it is subtle.

Most Massage Therapists will probably agree that Trigger Points in muscles that are related to the jaw (Masseter, Medial Pterygoid, Lateral Pterygoid and Temporalis) can cause headache like symptoms. Common referral patterns of Trigger Points in the jaw muscles are pain behind the eyeball, above the eye, ear pain and pain in the sinus area below your eye.

I have very good results with treating jaw related problems through Massage Therapy and Acupuncture. A lot of the treatments focus on releasing myofascial tension and treating Trigger Points.

Here are some excellent home care stretches you can try, if you are dealing with jaw related problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsFSqDafOA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM18snVgV_c

Be well,

Roman