TMJ Pain Relief Archives - Health Tips From The Professor

Is It TMJ Or Simply Your Digastric Muscle?

May 21, 2024 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Treating Your Digastric Muscle

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

How wonderful, it’s May! I especially love May when I’m up north and the flowers are all blooming, the air feels fresh, and people come out to enjoy the lovely weather.

Here in Florida, it’s just starting to get hot. Most of our “snowbird” friends have left, although the traffic still seems heavy. I think a lot of people have moved here, or they are just staying longer than normal. So far, the humidity isn’t too bad. I’m pretending that it will stay that way. LOL

I’m Changing My Newsletter

I’ve been writing this newsletter for around 10 years. It’s time for a change.

On Friday, April 30^th, my dear friend Sherri, a fantastic photographer and videographer, came over to the office, and along with four models (Frankie, Barbara, Rachel, and Thomas) we filmed 50 short self-treatment videos for my YouTube channel. Pat, my webmaster, will format them and put them up on YouTube, and then one by one I will add the videos to my future newsletters.

My plan is to still write the explanation of the muscle and why it causes pain, so you’ll have all the background info you want. Then there will be a link to the video so you can do the self-treatment along with the model.

You’ll also be able to subscribe to my YouTube channel and see other self-treatments, so you won’t have to wait for a newsletter on the topic if you have an ache or pain that you want to resolve.

This month is the first newsletter to be done this way. I hope you like it.

A Muscle That Mimics TMJ Pain

We’ve discussed TMJ in previous newsletters, and now that I’m switching the pictures for videos, we’ll be talking about it again in the near future. The muscle we’re looking at this month causes pain in the same area of your jaw, but it doesn’t really affect the jaw at all.

The name of the muscle is Digastric Muscle.

The posterior digastric muscle is right under your ear, as shown in this graphic to the left.

It originates from the mastoid bone which is the bone behind your ear. And it inserts into the bottom of your chin.

When the digastric muscle contracts you open your mouth to chew, speak, sing, or yawn. Obviously, this is an important muscle.

Treating Your Digastric Muscle

The self-treatment is simple. Click Here to watch how to easily eliminate this ache.

You Can Also Find All The Solutions In One Easy-To-Read Book

Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living The Comprehensive Guide to Relieving Chronic Pain

This book provides a complete introduction to the Julstro Method, along with easy-to-follow self-treatment techniques to help you live a pain-free life.

Key highlights include:

It reveals the root causes of chronic muscle and joint pain, including trigger points.

It teaches the Julstro Method, a proven approach for self-treating a wide range of pain conditions.

It is fully illustrated with step-by-step instructions to relieve pain in different areas of the body.

It offers a drug-free, cost-effective solution for pain stemming from sports, work, or other repetitive activities Whether you struggle with persistent aches, numbness, or mobility issues, this book empowers you to take control of your health and find lasting relief. Discover how to revitalize your body and reclaim your active, pain-free lifestyle.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

www.FlexibleAthlete.com

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

About The Author

Julie Donnelly has been a licensed massage therapist since 1989, specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and sports injuries. The author of several books including Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living, The Pain-Free Athlete, and The 15 Minute Back Pain Solution.

Julie has also developed a proven self-treatment program for the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

She has a therapy practice in Sarasota, Florida, and she travels around the USA to teach massage and physical therapists how to do the Julstro Method, and she also teaches self-treatment clinics to anyone interested in taking charge of their own health and flexibility.

She may be reached at her office: 919-886-1861, or through her website: www.FlexibleAthlete.com

About The Editor

Dr. Chaney has a BS in Chemistry from Duke University and a PhD in Biochemistry from UCLA. He is Professor Emeritus from the University of North Carolina where he taught biochemistry and nutrition to medical and dental students for 40 years.

Dr. Chaney won numerous teaching awards at UNC, including the Academy of Educators “Excellence in Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award”. Dr Chaney also ran an active cancer research program at UNC and published over 100 scientific articles and reviews in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition, he authored two chapters on nutrition in one of the leading biochemistry text books for medical students.

Since retiring from the University of North Carolina, he has been writing a weekly health blog called “Health Tips From the Professor”. He has also written two best-selling books, “Slaying the Food Myths” and “Slaying the Supplement Myths”. And most recently he has created an online lifestyle change course, “Create Your Personal Health Zone”. For more information visit https://chaneyhealth.com.

For the past 45 years Dr. Chaney and his wife Suzanne have been helping people improve their health holistically through a combination of good diet, exercise, weight control and appropriate supplementation.

Relief From Jaw Pain

August 17, 2021 by Dr. Steve Chaney

A TMJ Story That Has A Happy Ending

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Summer And The Living Is Easy

As the song goes: ”…Summertime and the living is e-a-s-y….” Here in Florida, we know that the living is easy because it’s so hot who wants to be doing anything except either sitting in the shade, or inside in the air conditioning. Personally, I don’t think this summer was so bad, especially the evenings, but then, I really hate the cold so maybe my opinion is biased.

To stay in alignment with “living is easy,” I’m taking the advice of a few experts who teach easy ways to stay calm, motivated, and happy. I’m taking a 30-day break from the news. It’s so much in my face lately that it’s really affecting me in a very negative way. I am going on a “news fast” for 30 days. Absolutely no negative news of any kind for a full month. I’m surrounded by news all day so it’s a challenge, but I’ve found a great substitute: www.GoodNewsNetwork.org. Their mission is to be an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the mainstream media.

This month I had several requests to explain how muscles can be a primary cause of TMJ. The initials “TMJ” stand for Temporal Mandibular Joint. Basically, it’s the hinge that enables you to open your mouth and chew. The problem is when it is pulled out of alignment you have jaw pain. You may also have some painful clicking in the area that is behind your last molars, the location of the joint.

A TMJ Story That Has A Happy Ending

About 15 years ago I was seeing clients in my office, which was located in Dr. Zev Cohen’s medical office. Frequently Dr. Cohen would ask me to look at one of his patients because he felt their problem was muscular, and each time it was being caused by tight muscles. He liked the results we were achieving, and I was happy to be a valuable part of his Internal Medicine team.

On day a young woman, around 32 YO, came in on a Sunday because she had forgotten to have her own doctor fill in a form she needed in order to have surgery performed the next day. Dr. Cohen was open on Sundays (closed on Saturday) so she came to get surgical clearance. I just happened to be there doing some work in my office, but not to see clients.

Dr. Cohen asked the woman why she needed surgery and she explained that her jaw was locked tight, and the Oral surgeon was going to sever the masseter muscle. That simple-sounding surgery has a serious side-effect….you can’t close your mouth! She would have walked around with her mouth hanging open for the rest of her life! Plus, when your mouth is open, you drool. That would have been her life if she hadn’t forgotten to get that form signed!

When Dr. Cohen looked at her masseter muscle, he found it felt like she had stuffed her cheeks with nuts. There were so many spasms that it was locking her back teeth together and she couldn’t open her mouth. She didn’t need surgery, she needed to untie the knots in her masseter muscle.

Since I was there, Dr. Cohen had me work on this muscle, and then as always, I showed her how to do it. It took only about 15 painful minutes to release all the spasms. When I was finished, I had her sit up and I showed her what to do. At the very end I had her pressing on both sides of her jaw, and slowly open her mouth. She was shocked to see that she could do it.

Then I had her take her hands away and just open her mouth. We both started to cry when she opened her mouth all the way without any pain. She was saved from a surgery that would have had a lifetime of drooling and dryness.

I don’t know why her doctor, or the oral surgeon didn’t know to tell her to do this, but it’s something I try to share with as many people as possible. I hope you will pass this newsletter along since you may save someone from the same potential surgery.

The Masseter Muscle

The masseter muscle (circled in red) connects your cheekbone to your jawbone. When it contracts you chew your food or clench your teeth.

If you put your flat fingers (fingerprints) on your cheeks and then clench, you will feel your masseter contract.

If you chew gum or clench your teeth frequently the muscle contracts and then shortens. The problem is, when it is shortened and you try to open your mouth to yawn or put food into your mouth, the muscle won’t lengthen to allow them movement.

If one side is tighter than the other side, your jaw will pull toward the tight side, “click” and hurt when you try to open your mouth. This is the common symptom of TMJ. If both sides are shortened, you won’t be able to open your mouth fully. This is what was happening to the woman I mentioned above.

Relief From Jaw Pain

Press your three fingers into the masseter muscle on both sides of your jaw, but only use pressure on one side.

Press as deeply as you can tolerate and hold the pressure for 5-10 seconds. Lighten up the pressure on that side and repeat on the opposite side.

Do this alternating press/release all over the muscle. Continue alternating, and eventually moving along the entire length of the muscle until you have covered it from your cheek bone to your jawbone.

Finally, press both sides at the same time and slowly open your mouth as wide as possible. Slowly close your mouth, and then repeat this stretch 3-4 times.

Do this as often as needed to get total relief. Since this problem happens because of a repetitive movement, it may return. Just do the treatment before it becomes a problem, and the situation will be eased.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Which Muscles Are Affected By Stress?

August 18, 2020 by Dr. Steve Chaney

It’s Time For The Beach

This is a perfect time to go to the beach – August is hot and humid, and the water feels so refreshing. Of course, we now need to socially distance ourselves from each other, but for those of us in Florida that is possible when we have so many beautiful beaches close to our homes.

Most of us are sticking close to home, and summer sure isn’t what it has been in years past. The baseball season was on – then off – and as of right now, who knows! Most of the people I know are getting through this okay, I hope you are too!

Which Muscles Are Affected By Stress?

We are living in stressful times, and chronic stress can cause your muscles to tighten. When that happens, it can lead to pain in unexpected places. When you visit your doctor, they may recommend drugs or aggressive treatments.

Unfortunately, many doctors are unaware tight muscles can be the real cause of your pain. They don’t know that there are simple treatments that can release your tight muscles and relieve the pain – without resorting to drugs.

This week I will address the top 3 muscles that are affected by chronic stress and how to treat those muscles when they cause you pain.

Levator Scapulae: This is, in my opinion, the #1 muscle that gets involved when we are under stress. The nickname for the Levator Scapulae is “the shrug muscle” because when it contracts normally you lift your shoulders up….you shrug.

The problem is, the muscle originates on your first four cervical vertebrae, and inserts into your shoulder blade. When you are under stress it is common for your shoulders to lift up. The muscle is held tightly, and a phenomenon called “muscle memory” keeps the muscle in the shortened position. Once the levator scapulae is “stuck” in a shortened position, when you either bend your neck to the side (bringing your ear closer to your shoulder), or you lift something heavy with your arm, pulling your shoulder down, it pulls on your cervical vertebrae.

This causes your cervical vertebrae to move and puts pressure on your spinal cord right at the base of your brain. The Levator Scapulae has been proven, in my clinical practice, to be the #1 reason for severe headaches. When it gets tight it will pull the insertions at your neck and pull them to the side and down. This causes the bones to press into your spinal cord, right at the base of your brain, and you get a severe headache!

Last month I shared self-treatment techniques to release the tightness in your Levator Scapulae muscles and relieve your tension headaches. If you are suffering from tension headaches, these techniques can work wonders.

Intercostals: The Intercostal muscles are between each rib. When you breath in, they expand, and when they contract, you breath out. The problem is, when you are under stress you may hold your breath longer than normal, and muscle memory sets in, and they stay in the shortened position.

As this happens you lose the ability to take a good, deep breath. This lessens the amount of oxygen that is in your blood and that goes out to your cells. This can cause problems all over your body.

The solution to this problem is deep breathing exercises. A friend of mine, Tara Clancy, is an expert on breathing and how it affects your entire body. You can check her out at http://www.o2tara.org.

Masseter: Do you clench your teeth when you are under stress? The muscle that causes you to clench your teeth is called the masseter muscle. If you put your fingertips onto your cheeks, pressing into your back teeth you are on your masseter muscle. Clench your teeth, you will feel the muscle bulge as it contracts.

The masseter muscle (circled on graphic) is the muscle that contracts to enable you to chew your food. Normally, as you chew the muscle shortens, and then lengthens as you put more food into your mouth. However, if you are under chronic stress, and your teeth stay clenched, your masseter will shorten from muscle memory and put a strain on your jaw joint. This is the cause of a condition called TMJ.

TMJ is a condition where your jawbone rubs, or “clicks,” over the bone that is just in front of your ear. It is painful, and over time it will damage the bones. When you are under stress and constantly clenching your teeth, you are shortening your masseter muscle. The now-shorter muscle prevents you from opening your jaw completely, for example, when you yawn. As you are trying to yawn your jaw flips over the bone, and it hurts.

Self-Treatment For TMJ

Several years ago, I had a client who had such tight masseter muscles that a dental surgeon was going to sever them so she could open her mouth. This is a terrible solution because it would mean her mouth would hang open for the rest of her life. Fortunately for this client she had to get medical approval before she could have the surgery. When Dr. Cohen (the doctor I worked with) felt her masseter muscles, he refused to sign the permission form. He told her that she had to see me first, and fortunately I was there at the time. It took just 30 minutes for me to release the spasms and teach her how to do the treatment. At the end of the session she was pressing into both masseter muscles and opening her mouth. She did it easily and without pain! She started to cry because she came within one day of having this unnecessary surgery. Her life was changed by just a simple self-treatment!

Place your fingers as shown in the picture to the left. Clench your teeth so you can feel the muscles bulge.

Apply deep pressure on just one side for 5 seconds. Then release that pressure and apply deep pressure to the opposite side for 5 seconds. Go back and forth until it doesn’t hurt anymore. Then find a different “hot spot,” and repeat. Continue doing this until you can’t find any more tender points on your muscle and jaw.

To stretch the masseter muscle just press deeply into the original point on the muscle and slowly open your mouth wide.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

TMJ Pain Treatment: Your Masseter Muscle

July 23, 2019 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Your Masseter Muscle Can Cause TMJ Pain

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Do you chew gum? Do you habitually clench your teeth? Do you grind your teeth while you’re sleeping? If you do, then this article is especially relevant to you! You’ll want to pay attention to learn about TMJ pain treatment.

Your masseter muscle (circled on graphic) originates on your cheekbone and inserts into your jawbone. When this short but very powerful muscle contracts, it draws your back teeth together so you can chew your food or clench your teeth.

When all is well and the muscle is functioning properly, the muscle lengthens while you put food into your mouth, and then contracts to enable you to chew the food. However, if you chew gum or clench your teeth, you are shortening the muscle without the balancing stretch of the fibers. This is a key cause of TMJ disorder, a painful condition that causes jaw pain and causes your jaw to shift to one side when you open your mouth.

[In case you were wondering, TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint. You have one on either side of your jaw connecting your jawbone to your skull. Your TMJs act as sliding hinges, allowing you to open and close your mouth and move your jaw from side to side.]

It’s Not Just a Minor Problem – It Can Be a Very Major Situation

Too often people think this is just a painful, but minor condition. However, it can become serious, especially if you chew gum or clench your teeth.

Several years ago, a medical doctor asked me to see a young patient who was in his office to get medical clearance before having her masseter muscle severed. Her jaw was locked tight and the oral surgeon was concerned that if she got sick and regurgitated that she would choke to death. As a result, he was planning on severing the muscle the following day.

If this happened, the young woman would lose the ability to shut her mouth, and she would be drooling for the rest of her life! This was a terrible situation! The doctor felt her masseter muscle and it felt like she had nuts packed in both of her cheeks. He told her he wouldn’t sign the clearance papers until she saw me to release these tight muscle spasms.

The following treatment took only 15 minutes to accomplish the task of releasing the muscles. I spent most of the time teaching her how to do this self-treatment, and when she was told to open her mouth slowly, she did it. She was so relieved that she burst out crying. Surgery was prevented and the young woman was able to open and close her mouth easily.

Just 15 minutes of this TMJ pain treatment saved her from spending the rest of her life with her mouth open and drooling. Amazing!

Why the Masseter Muscle Can Cause Arthritis in Your Jaw

It’s all about wearing down the bone. For example, if your masseter on your right side is very tight, each time you open your mouth wide enough to put food into your mouth the muscle won’t release. As a result, your left jaw is open normally, but your right jaw isn’t. As a result, your jaw gets pulled toward the right, rubbing across the jaw bones.

Eventually, just as water will wear down a rock, your jaw constantly rubbing across the joint will wear down the bone. This will cause arthritis and other pains.

TMJ Pain Treatment for Your Masseter Muscle

Put your fingers across your masseter muscle as shown in the picture to the left.

If you clench your teeth, you’ll feel the muscle bulge under your fingertips.

To make this easier to understand, we’ll start with your right fingers. Begin treatment by pressing your right fingers deeply on the right side only, just resting your left fingertips on the left masseter muscle. Hold the pressure for 15 seconds and gently release.

Next, press your left fingers deeply into your left masseter muscle and hold for 15 seconds.

Continue going back and forth and when you don’t feel pain anymore, then search the muscle for other painful points (they will feel like small peas) and repeat. You may, or may not, find multiple spasms; treat each one individually.

Continue doing this until both muscles are pain-free. Then press deeply into both sides at the same time. Slowly open your mouth as wide as you can – you are now stretching the masseter muscle.

Muscle memory is probably happening with these muscles, so I suggest you do this several times a day until you can’t find any more spasms. At that point, your masseter muscles are released and the TMJ pain treatment has been successful.

Final Thought

If you are under a stressful situation, it’s worthwhile to spend a bit of time treating these muscles, even if you aren’t feeling pain. It’s common for a person under stress to be clenching their teeth, and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Why stay in pain when it’s so easy to find the muscular source of the problem and eliminate it?

Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living is filled with over 100 pictures and descriptions proven to show you how to find and self-treat muscle spasms from head to foot!

Join the 1000’s of people worldwide who have discovered that tight muscles were the true source of pains they thought were from arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other serious conditions. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by releasing tight muscles.

Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living is your step-by-step guide to pain relief!

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

About The Author

Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. She has worked extensively with elite athletes and patients who have been unsuccessful at finding relief through the more conventional therapies.

She has been widely published, both on – and off – line, in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers around the country. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

Stress and Jaw Pain

September 19, 2017 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Get Rid Of Jaw Pain Forever

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

In this article we will show a connection between stress and jaw pain.

Stress is a part of everyone’s life, but the way you handle it makes a huge difference. People think of stress coming from challenges like divorce, bills, etc., but it can also come from happy situations. Positive life changes such as getting married or having a baby can also cause stress.

For some people, the solution to stress is to take a yoga class or practice tai chi regularly. For others, running, exercising, or listening to music eases their mind.

In my Muscular Therapy office, people frequently tell me “I hold my stress in my shoulders,” or “…in my back.” However, a common stress reaction is to clench your teeth tightly. Actually, people hold stress all over their body, from headaches and clenched jaws to foot pain. I want to discuss how clenching your jaws is a common cause of TMJ. Fortunately, it’s a condition that is easy to treat by yourself.

Stress And Jaw Pain

Jaw pain is commonly caused by a shortening of the masseter muscle. The masseter muscle (circled on graphic) is the muscle that contracts to enable you to chew your food. Normally, as you chew the muscle shortens and then lengthens as you put more food into your mouth. How can stress and jaw pain be related? If you are under stress and your teeth are clenched, you miss the lengthening movement. This imbalance causes the muscle to shorten.

Put your fingers on your cheeks so you are pressing into your back teeth. Now, clench your teeth and you’ll feel the muscle bulge. If you clench your teeth when you sleep or you tend to clench your teeth when you are upset, you are setting yourself up for TMJ.

Stress And Jaw Pain (TMJ)

TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) pain is a condition where your jaw bone rubs or “clicks” over the bone that is just in front of your ear. It is painful, and over time it will damage the bones. When you are under stress and clenching your teeth, you are shortening your masseter muscle. A phenomenon called “muscle memory” will cause the muscle to actually get stuck in the shortened position. The now-shorter muscle prevents you from opening your jaw completely. For example, when you yawn. As you are trying to yawn, your jaw flips over the bone and it hurts.

Several years ago, I had a client who had such tight masseter muscles that a dental surgeon was going to sever them so she could open her mouth. This is a terrible solution because it would mean her mouth would hang open for the rest of her life. Fortunately for this client, she had to get medical approval before she could have the surgery. When Dr. Cohen (the doctor I worked with) felt her masseter muscles, he refused to sign the permission form. He told her that she had to see me first. Fortunately, I was there at the time. It took just 30 minutes for me to release the spasms and teach her how to do the treatment. At the end of the session she was pressing into both masseter muscles and opening her mouth. She did it easily and without pain! She started to cry because she came within one day of having this unnecessary surgery.

Her life was changed by just a simple self-treatment!

Self-Treatment For TMJ Pain

Here is how to administer TMJ pain relief to yourself. Place your fingers as shown in the picture to the left. Clench your teeth so you can feel the muscles bulge.

To stretch the masseter muscle, just press deeply into the original point on the muscle and slowly open your mouth wide.

Hopefully, you can now see the connection between stress and jaw pain. Stress is a killer, and is the cause for pain all over your body. It’s also important to find the cause of stress and do all that is necessary to resolve it.

My book, “Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living,” will show you how to self-treat painful spasms throughout your body. Don’t let the pain caused by stress stop you in your tracks. You can become pain-free, and then go and enjoy a yoga class to release stress from your life.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

TMJ Pain Relief

December 13, 2016 by Dr. Steve Chaney

TMJ Treatment Can Relieve Stress & Pain

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

TMJ is the common term for a jaw condition called temporomandibular joint dysfunction. The muscle that is key to the TMJ pain relief treatment described below is the masseter muscle. The holiday season is “famous” for increasing stress as we rush around, adding more “to do’s” to our lives. Aside from the usual work and family commitments, the holiday’s mean extra shopping, parties, and therefore, stress.

TMJ Symptoms

Common symptoms of TMJ are:

Jaw Pain
Clicking when opening your mouth
Clicking while chewing
Jaw moving toward one side
Ear pain
Trouble opening mouth fully

While there are other pains that are common with TMJ, these are the most prevalent.

A Common Cause of TMJ Disorder

Do you find yourself clenching your teeth? Do you chew gum? These are two of the most common causes of TMJ.

Your masseter muscle is a small, but powerful muscle that goes from above your back teeth, to your jaw.

You can feel it if you put your flat fingers on the back of your cheek and clench your teeth.

Your masseter is used when you chew. As you hold your fingers on your masseter muscle, clench and open your jaw repeatedly. Like any other muscle in the body, it can be subject to repetitive strain injury. Normally you open your mouth wide to put in food, and then chew. This motion both contracts and lengthens the muscle.

However, if you chew gum you are contracting (shortening) the muscle, but not lengthening it. And it stays contracted if you clench your teeth when you are stressed, or at night while you sleep. Eventually the muscle will form spasms from the repetitive movement.

It is called TMJ because of the joint the masseter crosses over at the very back of your jaw. The problem is the way your movable jaw attaches to your skull. As the muscle tightens into the spasm, it prevents your jaw from opening properly. When one side is tighter than the other, your jaw will move toward the tighter side. As this happens the bones click over each other and you will feel pain.

TMJ Treatment Saved This Woman From a Lifetime of Drooling!

Several years ago a woman came to the medical office where I had my therapy practice. Both sides of her jaw were so tight that she couldn’t open her mouth at all. She had to “eat” liquefied food through a straw and her fear was if she regurgitated, she could choke. The next day her oral surgeon planned on severing both masseter muscles. This surgery meant her mouth would hang open permanently. This would result in her drooling for the rest of her life! What a nightmare!

Her masseter muscles felt like rocks had been stuffed into her cheeks. The medical doctor who owned the office understood repetitive strains and wouldn’t give her surgical clearance until she saw me. I taught her the following TMJ treatment, and in just 15 minutes she was opening and closing her mouth normally.

First, I worked on her muscles, then I taught her how to do it. The TMJ pain relief treatment starts with first pressing the muscles as described below, holding the pressure, and then releasing it. She did this several times, alternating between her right and left sides. The last part of the TMJ treatment is applying pressure to both sides at the same time. Then while still holding the pressure, I told her to just open her mouth slowly and she did. Without pain!

She started to cry because she was only one day away from a lifetime of drooling. And the best part is it only took 15 minutes to solve.

TMJ Pain Relief Treatment

To begin the TMJ pain relief treatment, place the length of your three middle fingers on both jaws. Clench your teeth so you can feel the muscle bulge under your fingers.

Press deeply on just one side, feeling for the “knot” in the muscle. Press in for the count of five, and hold it for the count of five. Then slowly release that side and repeat it on the opposite side of your jaw. Go back and forth, repeating this several times.

Feel along the muscle and find other knots and repeat the sequence. Do this to each spasm you find.

Go to the point just in front of your ear lobe and press. If it hurts, there is a spasm. Do the same treatment. This is a small area so you’ll probably only need one finger to be effective.

After you are finished treating each spasm, put your fingers on both masseter muscles at the same time. Now, slowly open your mouth to stretch the muscles.

That’s it! It’s easy to apply this TMJ pain relief treatment when you know where to go and what to do.

Treat Yourself To Pain Free Living has the TMJ treatment and also has treatments for your entire body. You don’t need to be in pain when it’s so easy to find solutions you can do yourself.

Discover the secret of why you hurt and how to stop the pain FAST!

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.