Combat TMJ (Jaw Pain) With These Simple Exercises

From good conversations to a delicious meal, your jaw is an essential part of enjoying some of the greatest pleasures in life. So when your jaw joint (or TMJ) hurts, it can put a serious kink in your lifestyle. Combine that with ‘jaw’ pain shooting up into your ear or into your face, and jaw pain can have an outsized impact on your life.

The good news is there are a variety of ways you can get rid of TMJ pain. Though exercises may not offer immediate release, they do off long-term pain cessation, lessening your dependency on pain killers.

What is TMJ pain?

TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint. It is the point where your jaw and skull connect, allowing you to talk, chew and swallow. 

Like any joint, the TMJ is a complex system of bones, ligaments and muscles. When this system is out of alignment or subjected to forces it’s not designed to deal with, it can cause significant pain.

Causes of TMJ pain

There are a lot of reasons your TMJ may cause you pain, including:

  • trauma to the jaw

  • dental surgery

  • the insertion of a breathing tube during surgery

  • autoimmune disease

  • over-use or jaw clenching

  • infections

5 easy exercises to help you get rid of TMJ pain

These are simple exercises you can do just about anywhere, anytime to help you build up the muscles in your jaw and align them to decrease jaw pain.

1. Resisted mouth closing

Start with your mouth open.

Pinch your chin between the thumbs and index fingers of each hand (placing the thumbs under your chin and the fingers just under your bottom lip) while your mouth is open.

Then, while closing it, apply gentle downward pressure with your hands.

2. Resisted mouth opening

Start with your mouth closed.

Place any two fingers under your chin.

Then, apply gentle pressure as you open your mouth. Hold your mouth open for 3-6 seconds then slowly close your mouth.

3. Side-to-side jaw movement

For this exercise, you need a long object that is approximately 7 mm (or ½ inch) thick. A pencil or a couple of tongue depressors will work.

Gently bite your front teeth down on the object then slowly move your jaw from side to side.

As the exercise becomes easier, increase the thickness of the object.

4. Tongue up

Firmly press your tongue to the top of your mouth. Then, without losing contact between them, slowly open and close your mouth, repeating the movement several times.

5. Forward jaw movement

This exercise requires an object of similar dimensions to the side-to-side exercise.

Once again, put the object between your front teeth and gently bite down. Then, move your jaw forward so that the bottom teeth are in front of the upper teeth. 

Move your jaw back and forth several times.

As this exercise becomes easier, increase the thickness of the object.

If your jaw pain persists, try jaw pain therapy.

Joel Harding