Rub Out Jaw Pain
TMJ is the name of the jaw joint. TMJ is also the name of a painful jaw condition. TMJ symptoms include jaws that pop or lock while opening, and constant or intermittent pain.
The primary cause of TMJ is a misalignment of the jaw. This can be related to clenching or grinding of the teeth during sleep or while awake. Nighttime clenching is often related to stress and Lord knows we live in a stressful age! TMJ seems to be more common than it used to be and more women than men suffer from it.
Non-drug interventions can help, such as wearing mouthguard at night. The guards can prevent some of the harm of nighttime clenching and grinding, a process that also wears down tooth enamel. But these specialized mouth guards can be expensive, especially without dental insurance.
Another option for TMJ is chiropractic adjustment. TMJ is sometimes related to neck misalignment. Tight neck muscles can pull the bottom of your neck backwards which causes your body to overcompensate by pulling the top of your neck forward. This causes muscle tightness in the front neck muscles, which pulls the jaw out of alignment. A visit to the chiropractor might offer some relief.
Massage is also something to consider. The misalignment that causes TMJ pain is often due to tight, mismatched muscles. Massage therapists can loosen some of the muscle tension. Some massage therapists are specially trained in TMJ massage. A TMJ massage includes massaging and relaxing not only the muscles on the outside of the jaw, but also the ones inside. A trained massage therapist will put on rubber gloves and massage the inner jaw muscles to relax and release the tension from within.
We don’t usually think of the jaw muscle in the same way as arm and leg muscles than can get sore and need a massage to relax, but jaw muscles respond to massage. I know it works because it’s worked on me!
