The masseter muscles that power the jaw are the strongest in the human body. They can drive over 200 pounds of pressure in a single bite! These same muscles also takes the brunt of our stress throughout the day. Up to a third of the human population clenches their jaw muscles throughout the day.
Closer to 10% of people go on to clench and grind their teeth throughout the night when they sleep, too. When your muscles are conditioned to be tense, it can be difficult to naturally relax your jaw and find relief.
Muscles work on memory. The more you clench them, the tighter they become. Likewise, if you practice healthy habits that promote less stress and relaxation, your muscles will start to limber up and loosen. Learning how to relax your jaw can help alleviate headaches, facial tenderness, and joint pain. Plus, you’ll save your teeth considerable wear and tear if you’re a nighttime grinder.
Read on for a list of tips and techniques you can employ at home to relax your jaw. It can take up to 66 days for new behaviors to become automatic. So focus on a few things you can reasonably stick with and give them time to work. Unlearning years of muscle response doesn’t just happen overnight!
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How To Relax Your Jaw
Destress Through Meditation
Stress is the number one driving factor behind people clenching and grinding their jaws. Even if you don’t feel like a stressed-out person, taking time to meditate can give you an outlet for energy you’d otherwise take out on your poor teeth and joints.
Find a free app, like Insight Timer, and set a timer for 5 minutes every morning. Sit with yourself, eyes closed, and count your breaths. Scan your body for pain points, paying particular attention to the areas around your head, jaw, and neck. Allow your jaw to fall slack so that your mouth is closed but your teeth aren’t touching together. This is how you should position your mouth throughout the day.
Eat Softer Foods
If you’re wondering how to relax your jaw and get results quickly, a soft foods diet can help. Switching – even temporarily – to a softer foods diet can dramatically reduce the stress and impact on the jaw and masseter muscles. Stay away from anything hard, crunchy, tough, or chewy.
Instead opt for protein smoothies and oatmeals over cereal or protein bars, well-done potatoes or pasta over hard breads, and easy to chew proteins like tofu or flaky fish. It’s easier to relax your jaw into proper position if you aren’t over-exerting it during mealtime.
Practice Self-Massage
Luckily, unlike the back, the muscles that drive our jaw movements are largely accessible and easy to self-massage. Using a cream that soothes muscle aches, slowly massage around the masseter muscle on either side of the jaw for two minutes.
To locate your masseters, briefly clench your jaw and find the muscles that pulse from the corner of your jawline to your ears. You can insert a (clean) thumb into your mouth, locate the masseter again, and massage from both the inside and outside across the muscle fibers.
Do this massage before going to bed and again on waking up.
Use Proper Tongue Posture
Although the tongue stems from the lower jaw, it’s meant to rest on the roof of your mouth. Training yourself on proper tongue posture is a big step toward learning how to relax your jaw. Run your tongue from the back of your top front teeth to your gums, stopping just after you feel the curve leading toward the roof of your mouth.
This is where the tip of your tongue should rest. The middle and back of your tongue should gently rest alongside the remainder of your upper palate. This posture allows for a clear airway for nasal breathing, and naturally helps the teeth part so they aren’t touching throughout the day.
Try The Rubber Band Trick
If all else seems too overwhelming to address at the present moment, revert to an age-old trick. Wrap a rubberband around your wrist and give it a snap throughout the day anytime you catch yourself clenching, grinding, or even letting your teeth rest together.
Awareness is a big part of breaking bad habits, so the more you can make yourself aware of your jaw tightness in the moment, the better. At first, you might be snapping like crazy, but it’s a good way to take inventory of what triggers you to clench in the first place.
Explore Temporary Aids
If you’re a chronic clencher and have access to a trusted healthcare professional, a prescription for muscle relaxers may be beneficial for short-term use. Taking one at night before bed for a few days can provide the break your muscles need when re-learning how to relax your jaw.
If you prefer the natural route, calming supplements (like the two found on our best supplements for TMJ list) can help relax muscles and boost mood.
Ideally, if coupled with self-massage and other healthy habits, this will provide some immediate relief and also give you the opportunity to start with a blank (less-pained) slate each morning.
TMJ Health Is An Ongoing Journey
Jaw pain affects millions of people everyday – up to 12% of the population. There are a variety of reasons the jaw joints and muscles can get into a dysfunctional pattern, and they vary from person to person. However, stress, poor posture, and other habits contribute to the root of the problem to make it worse.
Regardless of why you’re in pain, these steps can help improve your symptoms when done routinely. As you learn how to relax your jaw again, you’ll find things that work for your unique situation. Lean into them. The sooner you catch the triggers that lead you to clench and grind your jaw, the less wear and tear you’ll undergo long-term. If you find something that’s working really well for you, please come back and let us know!
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Disclaimer: This content is meant to be informational and educational only and is not medical advice. This content does not substitute consulting with a medical or dental professional. Living With TMJ makes no claims to diagnose illness or injury. If you have a medical concern, you should consult with your healthcare provider or seek treatment immediately. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking treatment because of something you read in this blog, on this website, or in linked resources.