Exercises You Can Try to Help with Pain from TMJ

If you’ve never experienced temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder before, you’ve probably never really given much thought to that part of your face. Despite that, it’s something you use all day, every day. Talking, chewing, and swallowing all require the use of this joint. Because of that, once you find yourself dealing with TMJ disorders, you’ll never stop thinking about it. Fortunately, there are some exercises you can try to help relieve some of the pain those disorders cause.

Resisted Opening and Closing of the Mouth

For these exercises, use your hand and fingers to provide gentle resistance for your jaw to work against. 

To do a resisted opening exercise, place your thumb under your chin and slowly open your mouth, resisting the movement with your thumb. Hold that position for 3-6 seconds before slowly closing your mouth.

To do a resisted closing exercise, open your mouth and place your chin between the index finger and thumb of one hand and squeeze gently. Slowly close your mouth, using your fingers to gently resist the movement.

Forward and Side-to-Side Jaw Movement

For these exercises, you’ll need an object that is about ¼-inch thick that can be placed between your teeth.

To do a forward jaw movement exercise, place the object between your teeth and slowly move your jaw from side to side. You may be able to increase the thickness of the object as the exercise becomes easier.

To do a side-to-side jaw movement exercise, place the object between your teeth and move your bottom jaw forward so that the bottom teeth move in front of the top teeth. Again, the thickness of the object may be increased as the exercise becomes easier.

Tongue Up and Relaxed Jaw Exercises

All you need for these exercises is your tongue.

To do a tongue up exercise, simply touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth and slowly open and close your mouth.

To do a relaxed jaw exercise, gently rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your upper front teeth and allow your teeth to come apart while relaxing your jaw muscles.

Gentle exercises can help relieve some of the pain you may be experiencing as a result of TMJ disorders. It’s a lot like how physical therapy can help you recover from other injuries. In this case, it’s an injury to your face, specifically the joint where your jawbone connects to your cheekbone. Talk to your dentist about trying some of these simple exercises to help relieve your TMJ symptoms at your next appointment.

Some people find that getting a mouthguard to use at night helps with TMJ disorders. Click here to learn more about what a night mouthguard can do for you from South Temple Dental today.