Jaw Exercises Work Jaw Exercises Work
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Posted by
Debbie on August 22, 2000 at 12:51:01:
When my Dad was diagnosed with TMJ Kaiser sent him to classes that taught him exercises for his jaw and the right way to eat, etc., rather than sending him to a doctor. I was just diagnosed with TMJ myself and with my insurance company I have to be diagnosed by both a doctor and a dentist and I will then be referred to a specialist. I'm curious what the specialist will say however I don't want surgery or braces (again!).
My Dad started doing the exercises and after 2-3 months his pain was gone. I was afraid that exercises would just relieve the pain temporarily and the problem would still exist however he says that's not true. You need to strengthen your jaw muscles so that they align right.
Here are the exercises he was told to do. I've been doing them for 2 weeks and I can't wait until they start helping.
1. While sitting up straight and with your chin aligned under your nose, open your mouth slightly and push your finger against your chin sideways while holding your chin straight (not allowing it to move sideways). Do this on one side at a time to strengthen the muscles to hold the jaw in place.
2. Keep your tongue against the roof of your mouth
and opening and closing your jaw as far as you can without it moving out of joint.
3. The simplest and most effective is make loud "clucking" noises with the tongue against the roof of the mouth as you open and close your mouth, but
not opening your mouth past where the jaw hurts or moved out of the rotating joint to become a sliding joint.
Do these as often as possible every day. Again, remember to keep the chin pulled in or straight with the nose rather than stuck out, and try to sit up straight and relaxed. A good and relaxed posture is important. Chew slowly without clamping down with the front teeth, like chomping on corn-on-the-cob or chewing off a piece of candy bar, especially hard candy. This requires the jaw to be extended and then puts very high pressure on the jaw joint and can pop it out of the joint.
