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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What to do for Jaw Pain?!


Today I am all full of information. Maybe it is the spirit of St. Patrick's Day...who knows. I had 2 patients come to me in the past few days with Jaw Pain. Interestingly both are right handed and both had right side pain. One patient had an accident many years ago and the Jaw has Locked open at times ever since. This happened while he was in my chair. The thing to do was and is: remain calm, massage the side of the jaw muscles. Right around the area of the bull's eye in the photo above. After a little time of gentle (GENTLE) effort it closed. Another patient had a stressful week at work and it has been hurting. Her entire masseter muscle was tense to the touch and almost rock hard. With a little massaging we broke the spasm it has been fine since. Stress causes tension, tension and constant clenching of the muscle can result in "Little Charlie Horses" in the joint and masseter muscles of the jaw. A warm towel will help to bring blood to the area and warmth to RELAX that muscle. As some of my prior posts have said, rest (in the form of sleep, muscle rest, etc) is so important.
Hopefully everyone will enjoy. The DAY today.

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