It is interesting how a lot of my clients experience Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) & Masseter discomfort or pain and discomfort in the chewing area. Since I am working as a Face Yoga teacher, I came to the conclusion that most of my clients have this problem. Some of them are not quite aware of it, and some of them just get used to it, and they just live with it.
Sometimes the pain can’t be ignored anymore.
Stress and stuffiness in the masseter can lead to TMJ or Temporomandibular disorder (TMD).
Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are disorders of the jaw muscles, temporomandibular joints, and nerves associated with chronic facial pain. Any problem that prevents the complex system of muscles, bones, and joints from working together in harmony may result in temporomandibular disorder.
The signs and symptoms of the TMD.
- Jaw discomfort or soreness (often most prevalent in the morning or late afternoon)
- Headaches
- Pain spreading behind the eyes, in the face, shoulder, neck, and/or back
- Earaches or ringing in the ears (not caused by an infection of the inner ear canal)
- Clicking or popping of the jaw
- Locking of the jaw
- Limited mouth motions
- Clenching or grinding of the teeth
- Dizziness
- Sensitivity of the teeth without the presence of an oral health disease
- Numbness or tingling sensation in the fingers
- A change in the way the upper and lower teeth fit together
If you recognize some of the symptoms above, you may consider taking some action and actually change some of your habits.
This is what you can change:
- Train yourself not to clench your jaws when you’re tense and under pressure.
- Give up your chewing gum
- Do not bite the food with your front teeth
- Don’t bite your nails
- Don’t chew on ice
- Don’t open things with your teeth
- Don’t rest your chin on your hand
- Avoid leaning with your hands against your jaw
Masseter muscle pain with or without the temporomandibular disorder (TMD), can affect your face.
It can cause eye bags, and shortening of the muscles during the stress, so your face may appear very stressed and angry, which can create more wrinkles.
Treatments?
- Resting the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
- Medicine or pain relievers
- Relaxation techniques and stress management- FACE YOGA
- Behavior changes (to reduce or stop teeth clenching)
- Physical therapy
- An orthopedic appliance or mouthguard is worn in the mouth (to reduce teeth grinding)
- Posture training – FACE YOGA
- Diet changes (to rest the jaw muscles)
- Ice and hot packs
- Surgery
Massage with FACE YOGA
Trigger points can be found at any place in the masseter, from the cheekbone to the bottom edge of the jaw.
Massaging the masseter from outside the mouth with supported fingers is good therapy. To work the masseter most effectively, however, it’s necessary to put your thumb inside your mouth and knead the muscle between the thumb and fingers. The masseter feels very firm, thick, and rubbery. If you’re working the right place, you’ll feel the tip of your thumb touching the coronoid process, the sharp-edged, fin-shaped piece of bone rising from near the back of the cheekbone to the bottom of the jaw. Work on them every day until squeezing the muscle no longer hurts.
Working these muscles too aggressively can leave you sore.
Some tips while massaging:
- Massage the inside of the masseter muscle by putting your thumb in your mouth and pinching it against your fingers.
- You can keep your teeth together for this technique
- Clinch your teeth together to feel the masseter contract in the mouth. Then relax again to do the massage. You can massage all around the cheek, but make sure you know where the masseter begins and ends.
- You will look a bit silly if anyone sees you doing this before you go to the dentist’s office, but you’ll be glad you did.
Trigger points in the masseter muscles cause pain in several places. The trigger point in the deep layer right in front of the ear is especially important as a cause of pain in the temporomandibular joint. Masseter trigger points can also increase muscle tension to such an extent that it restricts the opening of the jaw. This jaw tightness encourages tightness in the vocal mechanism. Singers have reported hitting their high notes with greater ease after they’ve worked on their masseter and other jaw muscles.
People who use their voices in their work will benefit from massaging the jaw, mouth, and throat muscles.
Masseter trigger points cause pain in both upper and lower teeth. They are also a common source of tooth hypersensitivity to heat, cold, and touch. Misinterpretation of these symptoms can lead to unnecessary dental work, including needless tooth extraction.
The other masseter trigger points can cause pain in the front of the face, under the eyes, and over the eyebrows, symptoms that are often mistaken for sinusitis.
Most of the time experts, or medical professionals don’t know what the real cause of the discomfort in the jaw area is.
Mostly they see it as a physical issue, and the approach to it is also with a physical solution.
Painkillers, Botox, and surgery don’t give always the right solution and it’s usually a temporary answer.
I am more for other natural solutions and options out there. Changing the diet is one of them.
Recently I came across this man Anthony William who gave a new perspective on things. And one of them is a topic on TMJ, jaw pain.
This is what he has to say on this topic, and if you would like to know more about it, I will add a link down below.
Just read and be inspired by his view.
Trigeminal Nerve Inflammation
The trigeminal nerves are cranial nerves in the face that can become inflamed by bugs such as Shingles and Herpes Simplex feeding off of toxic heavy metals or chemicals. This can cause:
- TMJ
- Jaw Pain
- Teeth Pain
- Jaw Clenching
- Jaw Stiffness
- Crooked Jaw
- Teeth Grinding
- Burning Gums
- Pain in the Head and Face
- Electrical Shocks in Head and Face
- Headaches and Migraines
- Pain Down the Arms
- Chewing Pain & Difficulty
There are many strains of shingles and herpes simplex that haven’t yet been discovered by medical research and science. Shingles strains don’t always produce rashes, which means you may have this bug causing your trigeminal nerve pain without even knowing it. This is still unknown by medical communities unless they have learned it from Medical Medium published books.
To heal these symptoms, it’s critical to focus on using the healing tools in the Medical Medium books to starve the viruses of their favorite foods, kill off the viruses, remove the toxic heavy metals and chemicals from the body, and heal and repair the nerves.
For more information on how to heal these symptoms and conditions and more, you can listen to the podcast episode Neurological Symptoms: Body Pain, Dizziness, Tingles – oh S*it!
Link to Anthony William – Medical Medium:
Medical Medium: Trigeminal Nerve Inflammation
Combining a healthy diet (which I can teach you how), FACE YOGA, including massage techniques (I do that too), posture exercises (as well), and correcting Atlas (I treat that too), will help you.
If you are looking for a solution, the things I mentioned above may be one of the ways for you to heal!
Be open to changing your perspective on things and try to find the way out!