Does anyone clench their jaw?

pretext

I've noticed in the past week or so that my jaw is clenched all the time. Never had this problem before that I can recall. Is it just tension? I am a tad aggravated these days. Will it go away? I try to be conscious of it and relax, but it that lasts all of a few seconds. Huh.

oona left

I used to do this a lot as a result of a separate chronic condition. And, naturally, it only made the muscle tension worse.

You can try massaging the muscles around the jaw itself, as well as the areas of the skull above and around the ears. This helps relieve a little of the discomfort.

A warm compress also feels nice.

Claireack

You could also try, pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth as hard as you can then releasing it. Its like that clench and release that you can do on other muscles in your body when you're feeling tense. I would also recommend relaxation tapes, just to keep reminding your body how to relax.

Hope it helps.

Lizard

Yes. And I sometimes have a jaw that is "locked" so gotta see a doc about that...

FinsburyParkCarrots

I did recently, after a serious illness. What I did to cure it was to buy a rugby players' mouthguard: the sort you place in boiling water for six seconds and then stick on your top row of teeth to set around their natural shape. I then started wearing the guard in bed at night and, lo and behold, the clenching (and the occasional tooth-grinding that would wake me up with a clatter) stopped. Soon, I wouldn't even notice if I was relaxing with my jaw opened or closed.

spat

pretext wrote:

I've noticed in the past week or so that my jaw is clenched all the time. Never had this problem before that I can recall. Is it just tension? I am a tad aggravated these days. Will it go away? I try to be conscious of it and relax, but it that lasts all of a few seconds. Huh.

thats weird i've been doing that too lately, never have before. i chalk it up to stress...been out of work a while, now starting a new job this week. whenever i find myself doing it i just stop it and take a deep breath.

pearljgirl2010

I definitely do it...especially in my sleep. Stress is my trigger and it sucks big time...it kills my TMJ, and I have to consciously tell myself NOT to do it...I went to a specialist a few years ago and he told me to adjust my diet and not eat very chewy foods or steak...i told him he was crazy if he thought I'd give up steak ;-)

I also do exercises with my jaw to help relax it and release tension (like, put your left hand on the left side of your jaw and push your jaw to the left against your hand, then same for the right..even though it looks silly :-) )

pretext

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! And I don't think I'm giving up steak either.

Ms. Haiku

OMG! Do I! It totally ruins any benefit I had from wearing braces in high school. There was a time I was so stressed out, and clenched my jaw so much, when I tried to drink some water, it fell down my shirt because I couldn't open my mouth. That was the worst it's ever been. If I'm in a stressful situation for a couple days, when I'm away from it my face HURTS! It really sucks.