Today I woke up with the worst ache in my jaw. At first, I thought that dream I had about duking it out with my ex was really not a dream at all! But, once I thought about it, I have been under a tremendous amount of stress lately and it was causing me to clench and grind my teeth at night.
Reasearch shows that humans are hardwired to respond to stress by clenching the jaw, and the first place our body registers stress is in the jaw.
Prolonged stress can lead to chronic jaw clenching and, ultimately, temporomadndibular Joint (TMJ) disorder. If left untreated, you may develop neck pain, headaches, or oher TMJ-related problems.
Here are some steps to break the cycle:
- Awareness - Realize what’s causing you to stress out and clench
- Release - Open your mouth slightly and consciously relax your jaw. Feel it get heavy. Assist this relaxation by placing your fingers on the sides of your jaw and massage and draw down the jaw.
- Change or avoid whatever it is that’s causing your stress (like I did with my ex! I couldn’t change him…so now I avoid him! LOL)
- Seek treatment from a skilled CranioSacral Therapist.
What makes your jaw clench? We may not have a solution but we’ll lend a thoughtful ear.;)
Tags: craniosacral, Massage, relaxation, stress management, TMJ
