Having a clenched jaw that doesn’t seem to be able to come unstuck all day is very frustrating. It can be painful and is usually the result of stress, bad posture and problems with the temporormandibular joints (TMJ). If your experiencing these trouble you may have TMJ syndrome and you should consult your doctor about it.
What can I do now to help control jaw clenching?
One of the most effective ways to stop your jaw clenching is to become extremely attentive and aware of when it happens and what sort of things cause it. Often is may seems involuntary and that you can’t control it, but if you become aware of the feeling and conditions surrounding jaw clenching then you can start to take control of it. So to start improving your jaw clenching, try to become aware of when your doing it as soon as possible and take note of what your doing. You might be at work or stressed out with the kids, take note of this and relax your jaw as much as possible immediately. If you are constantly in stressful situations, you need to find a way to relax during them or ways to avoid them completely. Focusing on your breathing and taking a few moments to close your eyes and just breathe can help alot.
Again if you can’t avoid stress, you should always try to minimize the frequency and duration of stressful situations as much as possible, your jaw will thank you for it.
Also if you are sitting, make sure you have correct posture, sitting in the correct way reduces tension in the jaw and helps your body relax. Bad posture is a major cause of TMJ syndrome.
(Img from www.necksolutions.com)
What about when I’m sleeping?
Obviously awareness doesn’t count for much when you are asleep and unfortunately your jaw can still clench and can be tender and sore in the morning. To deal with this relaxation therapy is often useful. One of the best things you can do is try to be as relaxed as possible before you go to sleep. This means, try not to take in too much stimulation from action movies for example and possibly try meditation while your lying in bed trying to go to sleep. Breathing in deeply and focusing all your thought on your breath is all you need to do, if you are relaxed when you fall asleep you have a better chance of staying relaxed during sleep and feeling better when you wake up.
There are also exercises for TMJ that help reduce the tension and stress in your jaw in general which can be very beneficial and has at times proven to eliminate TMJ symptoms completely. They don’t work overnight, but if you do the exercises regularly you should notice and improvement. We have included some exercises in our information package below, simply enter your name and email and we’ll send the exercises to you.
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If you'd like to download some free TMJ exercises, you can download our free program here: TMJ Treatment Program
