Jaw Pains

As a massage therapist, I wonder if people who have a hard time sitting at a computer automatically have jaw tension problems. It seems so, at least when I go looking, that I find a consistent correlation between neck and jaw tension.

It’s gotten so that when folks come in with neck tension I ask them if they grind, or if they suspect they might grind their teeth at night, or if they have trouble opening their mouths and yawning.

I suspect that it is not news to many therapists that jaw tension is present along with cervical tension, but I wonder how many of us take it seriously and treat jaw tension in a massage.

Massaging muscles around the jaw takes some patience and finesse, and I must admit I had some horrible experiences with therapists who massaged this area with too much pressure. The massage felt invasive, and later my face, sinuses and connective tissue felt inflamed and compressed.

Taking my own experience to heart, I’ve learned to contact, but not push, muscles such as the masseter and pterygoids. I quickly abandoned the more invasive glove “pincer” work I learned in school in favor of lighter, more persuasive strokes that invite these muscles to relax. I like a combination of tiny circular motions to separate fibers and improve their lymph flow, followed by downward sweeping strokes that encourage spindle lengthening.

As the jaw massage and neck massage knit together, just as the muscles and fascia do, I find that linking the two areas with light, circular massage of the occipital and temporalis can reduce tension in the head and neck. It seems to be a case of less is more.

For home care, I encourage warm compresses on the area in front of the ears and to the jawline, along with yawning that emphasizes inhaling before opening the mouth, followed by a long soft sigh as the mouth stretches. Perhaps if people could sigh a bit more like that at work, all our jaws would be a little less tight.