In my practice I see many clients coming in with jaw and neck pain. A tight jaw can cause pain or discomfort in many parts of your body, including your head, ears, teeth, face, and neck. The intensity of the pain can vary. The pain may be described as achy, throbbing, tender, or severe. These feelings may become worse while chewing or yawning.
The exact location of the pain can also vary. If you have a tight jaw, you may feel discomfort on one or both sides of your face, jaw, nose, mouth, or ears.
In addition to pain, other symptoms of a tight jaw may include:
- limited range of motion when you try to open your mouth
- locking of the jaw joint
- clicking sounds
Read on for what you can do to provide relief!
This is called the ‘I’m bored jaw stretch’ . The name comes from an idea that if someone were to see you, they would think that you are bored. This is a great stretch if your jaw is feeling tight, have pain in the top of your neck, just under your skull.
- Sit with a table or desk in front of you.
- Rest your elbow on the table.
- Relax your body particularly the neck and jaw area
- Ball your fist and place the flat part of your knuckles against your lower cheek/ bottom jaw.
- Allow your jaw to relax slightly and slide to the opposite side. Allow gravity to do the work.
- Hold this for the count of 10, then move to the opposite side.
- Repeat 2x per side.
