This blog post is all about TMJ pain relief.
Jaw pain is like back pain.
If you’ve never had it, you really don’t know. For such a small area of the body, it affects SO much: eating, sleeping, headaches – all of which have a huge impact on your mental health as well.
If you’ve been there, you know.
I’ve suffered with jaw pain for years and it wasn’t until recently that I got it under control with these habits that you can incorporate into your daily life.
I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me!
1. Fascial Massage for your Facial Muscles
If you read our previous article about beating the winter blues, you’ll know we’re big fans of fascial release around here. While fascial massage will benefit you anywhere on the body, this type of massage on your facial muscles can not only help relieve your jaw pain, it also has some serious aesthetic benefits as well.
I’ve linked below three creators that are incredible resources for facial massage and fascial release to help TMJ.
Anastasia of Beauty by Fascia, who transformed her face just through facial massage and teaches others how to do the same.
Other great resources are Devon Kelley and Sage Facial Tension Release.
Both of these creators talk about their journey with TMJ and how much facial massage has not only improved their pain, but also their appearance.
Sage has also released her own Gua Sha tool on her website.
2. Facial Stretches for TMJ Pain Relief
Facial Stretches – a bit different than massage – I’ve watched this video several times and when I tell these facial stretches hurt so good. A chiropractor created this video and if you need proof that it works, people in the comments often talk about these exercises fixing popping or pain that they’ve had for years.
While you’re in the comments section, you might also see people rage against whoever edited this video because they layer two songs at the same time part way through and while these exercises are good for the jaw, the soundtrack is rough on the ears. Especially for a video designed to be repeated, that part doesn’t make much sense. But please, don’t shoot the messenger, I’m including these video because these stretches are so good they’re worth it!
3. Sleeping with a Flat Mouthguard
Finally, if you’re on TikTok, you might have seen adds for a flat mouthguard. Based in biomechanics, the creator states that a flat mouthguard actually allows your face and jaw to move in ways they need to at night, instead of being locked in place.
Regardless of your thoughts on that concept, the mouthguard itself if supposed to act like a ‘doorstop’ for your jaw and, in my experience, that’s exactly what it does. It opens your mouth just enough to put less pressure and leverage on your teeth and jaw muscles. It also provides the cushion your teeth need in between your top and bottom jaw so that it protects your teeth from wear if you’re prone to grinding throughout the night.
In short, it minimizes clenching and prevents grinding.
This Flat Mouthguard acts as a doorstop for your mouth at night. preventing clenching and minimizing teeth grinding.
As someone who used to wake up with migraines from how tightly I would clench during the night, I can’t tell you how relaxed my massetter muscles feel now since I’ve started wearing this mouthguard. I have the previous version, the R2, but I have linked the next generation as the company continues to update their product lines.
It may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but since I’ve gotten used to it, it’s harder for me to fall asleep without it. It’s also recommended to customize it however you need to if you have a particular issue with part of the mouthguard.
For me, there’s a tab at the top of the mouthguard meant to encourage your tongue to rest on the roof of your mouth. My tongue already does that naturally and the tab was uncomfortable for me, so I trimmed it off along with some of the thicker edges that were bothering my gums. It still does what it’s supposed to but it’s much more comfortable now and again, my jaw muscles are consistantly more relaxed now than they’ve been in a long time.
This post was all about TMJ pain relief.