Here are some quick and easy ways to overcome TMJ tensions.
If you already suffer from TMJ tension, you’ll probably find that wearing a mask doesn’t help these issues at all. Depending on the mask we are wearing, we may slightly activate various facial muscles to assist the mask to stay in place. I don’t know about you, but until I found the mask that worked for me, I found myself holding my face in all kinds of weird ways during when I was giving treatment, to keep the damn thing in place!! After a long time of doing this, I am activating muscles in ways they’re not designed for, which can cause active pain cycles and tension, which can refer to areas such as the neck, and even cause tension headaches.
Other people, who are part of this cohort of long duration mask wearers, have told me they talk very little when they are wearing a mask because they don’t want it to move. This means they aren’t keeping everything mobile, and this can tense up their TMJ and face.
You may think it’s something you just need to put up with and that it is what is is, wearing a mask is part of our new normal and eventually your system (musculoskeletal) will adapt. Sure, it will adapt, but doesn’t mean it’s optimal or that your pain cycles will necessarily leave in their own.
Follow these tips after a long duration of mask wearing to help keep everything happy and tension free.
1. Make some crazy faces, really get serious about some silly faces. All different kinds, stretch your lips and eyes and mouth into some awesome movements. This helps to stretch all of your facial muscles; helps to mobilise them and frees up tension
2. Massage your face with little to no oil/balm, in large circles with the pads of your fingers. Rally move the skin around, you’ll want to feel the skin stretching as you do this. Do your forehead, cheeks, chin, lips etc
3. Once you feel your face is warmed up, apply pressure with your fingertips into your masseter muscles to find the trigger points (AKA the ‘aaaahhh spots’) – you will feel ‘good pain’ when doing this (this muscles is located in front of your ears, under your cheekbone and above your jawline.) Press into these points while you open and close your jaw. Doing this several times, relocating your fingertips into a different part of the muscle.
Doing regular self care such as these can assist you to keep on top of your pain cycles, however you may find that your neck and shoulders are holding their own cycles of tension and pain. This is where myotherapy and remedial massage can greatly assist. We can look at underlying biomechanics of your posture and movement to see what could be enabling these unwanted pain / tension cycles. ALong with educating you to overcome these yourself with tailored rehab exercises and stretches, having a treatment plan of hands on treatment may be just what you need to get ahead.
With 7 practitioners here at GRMM, we are open 6 days a week, so finding a time that suits you shouldn’t be too hard at all.
Still need to talk to someone? Give Nicole a call, she loves a good yack all things myotherapy.
