Pain in your jaw can be annoying at best and unbearable at its worst. Millions of Americans are affected each year with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) which can cause pain in the jaw and surrounding area. It’s important to seek treatment for chronic jaw pain as it can take its toll both psychologically and physically. Physical Therapy is a great option to treat and overcome chronic jaw pain that you’re experiencing and is far less invasive than surgical procedures.
Chronic jaw pain can come in several different shapes and sizes. First, it can come in the form of TMJ-related pain, where the pain you feel is focused at the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ). This is the joint in front of your ear where your jaw connects to the skull. When it comes to TMJ-related pain, some of the most common TMJ-related pain symptoms include pain when chewing, clicking sounds when you open or close your mouth, and locking of the jaw.
Chronic jaw pain isn’t just relegated to the Temporomandibular Joint, as individuals can experience pain in other areas including the ear, head, neck, and face. Our jaws and the supporting structures (ligaments, muscles, and bones). It can be difficult to pinpoint what’s going wrong by yourself, which is why you may need a comprehensive assessment by a Physical Therapist.
A comprehensive assessment with a Physical Therapist will help to identify where you’re feeling pain, evaluate your range of motion, determine if there are any contributing factors that could be making your chronic jaw pain worse, and work with you to come up with a comprehensive treatment program to alleviate your jaw pain.
There are several actions that can make your chronic jaw pain worse, which is why it can be a tricky thing to overcome if you’re not seeking treatment.
Some of the most common things that can aggravate your chronic jaw pain and flare up those painful symptoms include stress, chewing on hard-to-eat foods, and overuse.
Physical Therapy is a great option for individuals who are looking to alleviate their symptoms and overcome the chronic jaw pain they experience. In addition to Physical Therapy, there are several other home remedies that you can use to alleviate your chronic jaw pain symptoms when they flare-up. These at-home remedies can be beneficial when supplemented with prescribed exercises and stretches from a licensed Physical Therapist.
One of the biggest things that can flare up your jaw pain is when you chew on hard-to-eat foods. This large group of foods includes hard pretzels, candy (taffy, gum, and candy bars), ice, apples, and other foods that make a loud crunch when you bite into them. In addition, try to avoid foods that cause you to open your mouth wide to properly chew on the food, like sandwiches.
Try to avoid these foods as they can put added strain on those muscles and joints which need time to recover. Instead of eating those crunchy foods, try replacing them with softer foods where your jaw doesn’t need to work so hard. Some of the soft foods you should add to your diet include mashed potatoes, beans, steamed vegetables, yogurt, smoothies, and soup.
Applying heat and cold to an area can help alleviate some of the tenderness and spur on the recovery process. Applying cold and hot packs to the tender spot can help you alleviate some of those painful symptoms, relax the tense muscles, and spur on the recovery process.
Your Physical Therapist will work with you to develop and implement a comprehensive treatment program that will include Physical Therapy homework. This PT homework often includes exercises that are designed to help you stretch, strengthen, and improve the range of motion for your jaw muscles.
In addition, your Physical Therapist will educate you on some manual therapy massage techniques. These massage techniques will typically involve you gently massaging your neck and jaw muscles which you can do throughout the day to alleviate some of the tension you’re experiencing and create passive movements in the soft tissue and joints.
Physical Therapy homework is an important part of treating and dealing with your chronic jaw pain, so you need to make sure that you’re following the recommendations set forth by your Physical Therapist.
Oftentimes, bad habits can play a role in developing chronic jaw pain. Bad habits which could include grinding your teeth throughout the night, tensing your jaw, and the posture you have when you’re working throughout the day.
If you’ve ever woken up with a sore jaw or neck in the morning, there is a significant chance that you are grinding your teeth or tensing up your jaw while you sleep. Chances are you’ve been grinding your teeth for quite some time and the stress finally added up into noticeable symptoms. Teeth grinding and clenching, or more commonly referred to as Sleep Bruxism, affects nearly 13% of all adults.
One of the common ways to alleviate teeth grinding and clenching throughout the night is by using a mouthguard. Depending on the type of mouthguard you use, you can alleviate the grinding, reduce the clenching, and ensure that your jaw is appropriately aligned while you sleep. Using a mouthguard could be a beneficial tool to ensure that you’re allowing your body to focus on the recovery process while you sleep.
In addition, make sure that you’re practicing good posture. While there is no perfect posture, spending too long in one sustained position could lead to the development of TMJ pain. Don’t be afraid to take frequent breaks throughout the day to get a moment’s rest and realign your posture for the work ahead.
Overuse is a leading contributor when it comes to chronic jaw pain, which is why you need to prioritize giving your jaw a break. As with any treatment program, rest and recovery is an essential part to making sure that you can heal properly. Even though we use our jaws for dozens of things throughout the day, try to alleviate some of the use you’re placing on your jaw and give it time to heal properly.
This includes trying to talk less, limiting the amount of hard-to-eat foods we’ve outlined above, and reducing the amount of movement in your jaw. Giving your jaw time to heal properly when it’s not in use is essential to making sure that you can alleviate the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Stress can build up throughout the day, both mentally and physically, which is why it’s important to find ways to alleviate the stress you’re under so that it doesn’t add additional tension and strain on your jaw throughout the day. Try to find a way to periodically alleviate stress throughout the day through relaxation techniques which can include breathing exercises, low-impact fitness routines between your breaks, and/or calming background music while you work.
Physical Therapy is a great option for individuals who are looking to treat their chronic jaw pain. You don’t have to live in pain and our licensed Physical Therapists at Results Physiotherapy are here to help you get on the pathway to a successful recovery.
Results Physiotherapy has hundreds of clinics across the country, and we’d be happy to connect with you to help alleviate your chronic jaw pain through Physical Therapy, either in-person or virtually. With Direct Access in certain states, you can even visit one of our clinics without a doctor’s referral so you can begin getting treatment for your chronic jaw pain faster!
Schedule an Appointment Today to treat your chronic jaw pain!
