Pain early in the morning, the feeling of not being able to chew properly and coming home after a day of friendly smiles at work with facial muscles that feel like they've been cast in aching concrete? If this sounds familiar, then you're probably suffering from jaw pain. The good news: Acupressure helps many people enormously to get this pain under control and to loosen the often hardened tissue structures. Today, we'll show you how to do this and give you tips that you can try out to prevent long-term jaw problems.
Ouch to wake up & Co. - Where does jaw pain come from?
Roughly speaking, you can imagine the jaw as follows: It consists of a piece of bone that is firmly attached to the skull (the upper jaw), a movable piece of bone connected to the upper jaw by muscles, ligaments and connective tissue (the lower jaw) and a small cartilage disk that ensures that the lower jaw can move smoothly without rubbing against the bone of the upper jaw or tilting (the discus).
Moreover, we could not use the jaw if it were not for the strong muscles that open and close the jaw. In addition, nature has attached strong ligaments to the jaw that keep the movements of the temporomandibular joint on the right track and protect the discus from slipping out of its position between the upper and lower jaw when chewing, opening the mouth or during impacts.
Recurrent jaw pain in everyday life can have very different causes due to this structure of the jaw. Depending on which part is affected. In most cases, it manifests itself as a persistent, unpleasant pulling sensation that often causes headaches triggers headaches.
Understand the most common three causes of jaw pain and treat them with acupressure
Hardening of tissues during sleep
During sleep, our brain processes the experiences of the day. It is not uncommon for us to bite down hard at night during stressful times in life or to grind our teeth together in a grinding motion.
The problem: in order for the muscles to regenerate properly at night, they need to be relaxed. However, as soon as you bite or grind hard over a long period of time, there is constant pressure both in the muscle tissue and on the fascia. The teeth are literally pressed against each other and into the gums with force. This causes pressure points where the tissue is so hardened that tissue fluid cannot circulate properly.
This impedes the nocturnal renewal and healing effect that normally occurs because the sleeping body flushes helpful messenger substances via the tissue fluids to all damaged areas of the body and breaks down unwanted deposits.
You can imagine it like this: If you want to wash your hands, water will only get everywhere if you don't hold your hands pressed together. As soon as there is a contact point where the water does not run, the hands do not get properly clean and these areas of skin gradually develop a different texture because the dirt collects here and causes irritation to the skin.
Instead of being fit, you wake up with pain and perhaps even a restricted mouth opening. But what can you do about it at home? Using our Shakti Mat acupressure mat and applying pressure to certain body points is helpful for many people to reduce their jaw pain - we'll show you exactly how to do this further down in this article.
Tension of the musculature during the day
Even during the day, our temporomandibular joint is often the literal linchpin for stress reactions. The proverbial "biting your tongue" manifests itself in the everyday working life often manifests itself in a professional but tense smile in difficult situations. People who have to get through their daily routine, even though there is a lot of stress going on in their private, professional or physical lives, often grit their teeth.
The difference: during the day, we are more aware of the pain and pressure caused by the urge to bite into the tissue around our teeth and the muscles are under stress to bite down and protect the teeth by holding back the bite at the same time. It's a bit like being told to open and close a door in quick succession. This requirement is almost impossible to implement, overwhelming and very exhausting. The result? Severe muscle tension, which can often be felt on the side of your face as a painful hardening.
The good news? Becoming aware of what is happening in the body and combining this with acupressure helps many sufferers to achieve significantly more relaxed muscles and less pain after just a few weeks.
Shocks and other extreme situations
If your jaw suffers a violent impact due to an accident, the cartilage disc that lies between the upper and lower jaw bones can be torn out of its natural position by sudden high pressure. It can then become wedged in such a way that the mouth can no longer be opened or closed properly. As a complement to treatment of this problem by a doctor, acupressure acts as an accompanying therapy for many patients and can improve the body's healing progress after such a trauma.
In the following section, we have put together specific exercises for acupressure for jaw pain. You can easily try them out at home:
Adé jaw pain: acupressure instruction
Many of our customers swear by the acupressure mat to relieve hardened and painful tissue on the back. back or legs - and you can do exactly the same for your face! When doing the exercises, always keep an eye on how you are feeling and don't overstrain your body. The muscles and tissue around your jaw are often very sensitive to pressure and you will notice that you should be more careful here than with other parts of the body.
Find pain points on the jaw by self palpation
Before we give you specific points that are used in acupressure to relieve jaw pain, it is helpful to learn how to find pain points on the jaw yourself. These can really be anywhere - depending on where your tension is located.
Take a few minutes in the evening before going to bed. Wash your hands and face thoroughly and brush your teeth so that the gums are supplied with blood. Now sit upright but relaxed. It's best if you can lean against something. Using pointed index fingers, feel your entire jaw area from the outside to the inside, starting at ear level, by moving your finger to a point and applying a little firm pressure. If you find a spot that hurts, hold it down. Concentrate on letting go and take 10 deep breaths. It is important that you do not clench your teeth.
If you are very tense or regularly grind your teeth, it may be that almost every spot in the jaw area seems like an intense point of pain. This is not a bad thing, it just indicates that you are very tense. For most people, this can be resolved or at least greatly improved over time. Simply start at ear level and work your way forward evening by evening.
Acupressure points for jaw pain
In addition to the pain points that you feel yourself, there are also fixed points from classical acupressure that have proven helpful in treating jaw pain in many people. Here, too, the following applies: Strong but tolerable pressure with the pointed finger is just right.
Ma 6 the jaw car
Firmly press the area that lies on the chewing muscle between the upper and lower jaw. You can easily find it by biting lightly. The muscle will then protrude and can be felt under your finger. As you apply pressure, leave the muscle as loose as possible and make sure that your teeth are not clenched. Take 3 deep breaths as you press, then pause for 3 breaths and repeat this approx. 5-6 times.
DW 17 the windbreak
You will find this point in the palpable indentation on the bone, directly below your earlobe. Place your middle finger here instead of your index finger and make a wiggling or vibrating movement on the point for 5 breaths. Then hold the pressure without moving your finger for another 5 breaths.
Dü 19 Place of listening combined with DW 21 and GB 2
This point is particularly effective, but also particularly difficult to reach. Give your body time here if your mouth opening is restricted. Place your middle finger in front of your ear, right where the ear canal ends. Place your ring finger and index finger one centimeter above and below your middle finger.
When you now open your mouth, the middle finger automatically slides into a depression, this is where the point is. Now press all three fingers into your tissue. Caution: Only apply light pressure to the middle point Dü 19 at first, as it can be very painful and unfamiliar for the tissue.
Muscle relief with Shakti Mat & neck pillow
The tips of the acupressure mat work in the same way as we practiced above with the finger - except that there are lots of tips instead of just one. The mat gives you the opportunity to work with large areas of pressure that you can't apply with your hands in the same way. You can imagine it like this: The alternation of tip and free space ensures that the fluid can spread better in your tissue.
If you only apply pressure to one area, this creates a minimal injury to the painful area in your tissue, which fills with fluid - this enables your body to send messenger substances to this area for healing with the help of tissue fluids. The tissue next to the area also benefits from the increased blood flow and hydration.
With the Shakti Mat or Shakti Pillow , you can multiply this effect and treat a larger area of your tissue. This is the ideal way to prepare and accompany the treatment with your finger. This is because the finger penetrates into deeper layers of tissue than the tips of the acupressure mat.
To give you a better idea of how to use the mat or Pillow , we have recorded two examples:
Shakti Pillow or the rolled mat meets GB 20
Roll your mat tightly or use your Shakti Pillow and let the top of your neck sink onto the tips while lying on your back. As well as stimulating the blood flow to the tissue, this also stimulates the GB 20 acupressure points, also known as the gates of consciousness. They are located about 3-4 finger-widths apart in the hollows between the two large neck muscle cords that run parallel to your spine.
Place the acupressure cushion from Shakti in the neck and feel the relief for the jaw
Lateral face position on the mat
Place the mat on a Pillow that is high enough to fill the space between the mattress or floor and your head. So that your shoulders are not uncomfortably strained. Place the mat on the Pillow and find a piece of fabric (e.g. a washed sock) for the place where your ear will be. If you are very sensitive to pain, also place a thin cloth over the mat.
Now lie down and breathe deeply while the tips of the mat do their work. If you find it very difficult to rest in this position, it's best to listen to some music or an audio book. When you feel you are ready, get out of the position and change sides. A few minutes may be enough to start with.
Lay your head sideways on the Shakti Mat to relax your jaw
A conclusion for painless jaws
The frequency with which people complain of jaw pain in everyday life is often closely linked to their stress levels. In addition to exercises to regenerate the jaw muscles and fascia in the jaw area, you should therefore find a method to uncover the actual source of the problem.
Rest breaks between work and private commitments are important to give the body the opportunity to return to a relaxed basic state - even if it seems impossible to set up such breaks: It's worth at least trying. Because if you don't grit your teeth and push through every free minute of the day, but find a few moments to relax, you will benefit from the relaxation the jaw muscles in the long term.