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Exercises to Aid With Jaw Problems

Like pain in any other part of the body, jaw pain may require physical therapy to repair the damage. Although you do not hear too much about disorders of the jaw, millions of people suffer from pain associated with such disorders. DocShop reports that TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder is one of the most common causes of jaw pain, and most physical therapy exercises for the jaw are aimed at treating this condition.

  1. Jaw Pain and Conditions

    • For millions of people, the letters TMJ are associated with chronic pain due to a condition known as TMJ syndrome. DocShop suggests that most physical therapy exercises for jaw pain are targeted toward treating pain caused by the temporomandibular joint, which is the joint that attaches the jaw to your skull. This is the joint that also keeps the jaw aligned and movable. TMJ syndrome causes pain for those whose jaws are either misaligned in some way or stressed. The syndrome not only causes pain in the jaw, but it can also cause chronic ear pain, headaches, pain in the face, and also pain in the neck and shoulders in severe cases.

      Fortunately for those who suffer from this common syndrome, there are many treatment options available. The primary issue is to relieve the immediate pain, so your treating physician may apply mouth guards or dental splints to realign the jaw or alleviate the stress on the joint. Another common treatment for TMJ is jaw exercises once the primary pain has been relieved. These exercises help in realigning the jaw permanently in order to remove the dental splints.

    Assisted Opening

    • Assisted opening is one of the recommended jaw exercises for TMJ. Assisted opening is an exercise that requires you to place two fingers on your bottom front teeth. Once the two fingers are in place, gently pull your mouth open as wide as you are able to. Close your mouth and then repeat the exercise 10 times. Resisted opening is a related exercise that is good for TMJ sufferers. To perform the resisted opening exercise, place your hand palm up under your chin and cup your chin. Begin to open your mouth slowly, providing a little resistance from the hand under your chin as you do so.

    Mid-line Exercise

    • Mid-line exercise is another good exercise for those with jaw pain. While looking in a mirror, clench your teeth together and look at the position of your central front teeth. Make sure they are in the center. Slowly open your mouth, trying to keep these teeth in alignment with the center of your mouth while doing so. Perform 10 repetitions of this exercise.

    Opening and Stretching

    • Opening and stretching the jaw is an exercise to alleviate jaw pain. This can be done by opening your mouth slowly to the widest point you feel comfortable with. Close your mouth and repeat the opening and stretching exercise 10 times.

    Lateral Movement Exercise

    • The lateral movement exercise requires that you make a clenched bite and then open your jaw to about a half an inch. From this opened position, without opening your jaw any wider, attempt to move your lower jaw to the right as far as possible until it becomes too uncomfortable. Return your jaw line to the center and repeat the process nine more times for a total of 10 repetitions. Once you have completed exercises on the right side, do the same procedure on the left.

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