Hi everyone, I’m Priya Mistry the TMJ doc and today I’m going to talk to you about
TMJ relief from the comfort of your own home! There are multiple things that you can do
- or NOT do - easily at home that can help to bring relief from pain and even reduce
jaw joint noises! That being said, if you’re looking for more information on TMJ Disorders
for yourself or for a loved one, then this is the YouTube channel for you. Be sure to
hit that Subscribe button as I post a new video every Friday made for people who are
suffering from TMJ Disorders!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a general dentist with a practice in Portland,
Oregon where we are dedicated to taking care of patients with TMJ disorders. I work there
with my mentor, Dr. Arthur L Parker. Please be sure to check out the links in the description
box below if you want to hang out with me on my other social media platforms, particularly
Instagram! I like to post lots of useful information tips, trivia, tidbits for those of you who
like to nerd out on TMJ info like I do!
So let’s get right into it! What can YOU do from the comfort of your own home to help
relieve TMJ symptoms?
Let’s start with Jaw Joint Noises. For more information on those noises, and exactly what
they mean, and exactly what’s happening in the joint,, please be sure to check out
my video “Jaw Joint Noises - Snap, Crackle, Pop!”, which I've linked above. If you have
those noises, there ARE things that you can do at home that if done consistently, can
help to reduce those noises.
One exercise that helps reduce the pops and the clicks within the jaw joint is called
"the 6 by6 Exercise". Quick side note: pops and clicks are literally the same thing in
terms of what’s happening inside the jaw joint. For "the 6x6 Exercise", you want to
start with your teeth edge to edge as if you're biting off a thread. This position can be
kind of hard to tell just by feel if you're in the right position, so standing in front
of a mirror to actually verify that your teeth are edge to edge is a good idea. Once you
get to that edge to edge position, you want to open wide and then go back to that edge
to edge position, 6 times, 6 times a day. That's why it's called "the 6x6"; it's easy
to remember. Definitely don't do it 7, 8, 9 times a day.
You can over do it and irritate the joint. And remember to keep your teeth edge to edge;
that's a very vital part of this exercise. Another think to keep in mind is that this
exercise does not work quickly! It can take several months or even years to help reduce
or eliminate joint noises with the this method.
The next thing you can do to help reduce joint noises is take a supplement called Ligaplex.
This supplement maintains connective tissue health and helps to tighten up loose ligaments
within the jaw joints. Some jaw joint noises are present due to loose ligaments within
the temporomandibular joints. Ligaplex I and II can help tighten up those loose ligaments!
Ligaplex I is largely recommended for people whose jaw joint noises are more acute - meaning
they’ve come on more recently. Ligaplex II is for people whose joint noises are more
chronic - meaning they’ve been present for a year or longer. I’ve linked Ligaplex I
and II in the description box below. That's it for jaw joint noises.
For myofascial pain - headaches, jaw pain, ear pain, neck pain - there are also things
you can do at home that will help to bring relief.
First and foremost, you can do muscle releases - or myofascial release - on yourself from
the comfort of your own home! Myofascial release, this technique, involves applying sustained
pressure to tissue in order to increase range of motion and eliminate or decrease pain.
I’ve made several videos on myofascial release that you can find in my YouTube playlist called
“TMJ Exercises/Muscle Releases”. For this video, I will be reviewing the myofascial
releases that have proven most effective for my patients - releasing the lateral pterygoid,
releasing the masseter, and releasing the temporalis.
Let’s start with releasing the lateral pterygoid. This is a muscle that I call “the Troublemaker”
because it can refer pain to the head, to the jaw, into the ear, behind the eye, and
even into specific teeth! The lateral pterygoid is also a key player in clenching/bruxing
activity.
To release this muscle on the left side, you will use your right pinky and vice versa.
So you'll take your pinky finger and you'll actually twist your hand so that the nail
of this finger faces inside, faces towards your teeth, and the pad of the finger is towards
your cheek, once you get inside the mouth. You then take your finger, you open your mouth
and you go as far back and up as you can. Once you're inside, close your mouth about
halfway and you'll notice this increases how far back and how far up you can go; it increases
access to the lateral pterygoid muscle. Once you're back there and you've reached the right
spot, apply sustained pressure for 10-15 seconds. You’ll know you've reached the right spot
because this typically does not feel great. This does hurt. So apply as much pressure
as you can stand. It doesn't feel good and often people will say "it hurts" or "it hurts
so good" because they can feel a release. Once you've applied pressure in once spot
for 10-15 seconds, change the angle of your pinky and go for it again. So you can do this,
changing the angle 2-3 times, and I wouldn't recommend doing this lateral pterygoid release
more than 1-2 times per day. So I'm going to get my gloves on and go ahead and demonstrate
that.
Even though it hurts, there’s a very good reason to do this - this sustained pressure
increases blood flow and brings fresh oxygen to this angry muscle and the fascia surrounding
it. It also promotes lymphatic drainage of toxins that have built up - proteins, kinases,
and lactic acid. This release alone can increase range of motion - I’ve seen it time and
again in my practice. You can do this 1-2 times a day. I’m going to get my glove on
and go ahead and demonstrate that.. Ready! So you take your pinky, again you twist your
hand so that the nail is facing towards the teeth once you're inside your mouth and the
pad [of the finger] is towards your cheek. And then I'm just going to go as far back
and up as I can. You'll see that I'll open wide to begin with and then I'll close about
halfway to increase access way back there. So here we go...uh-huh, I hit the spot...Change
the angle. OK.. and that's really it. So you can do that on both sides and I've had multiple
people message me saying that has really helped even though it hurts in the moment, it leads
to relief later on. Even though it hurts, there's a very good reason to do this. The
sustained pressure on that angry muscle and the fascia surrounding it promotes flesh blood
flow, fresh oxygen to that area of angry tissue. It promotes lymphatic drainage of proteins,
kinases, lactic acid that builds up in angry muscles. This lateral pterygoid release alone
can increase the range of motion of the jaw. I've seen it time and time again daily in
my practice.
Let’s move on to releasing the masseter muscle. The masseter is the largest and most
powerful chewing muscle. To release this muscle effectively, there's one technique that we
do from outside the mouth and then there's one that we do inside the mouth. Basically
what you do is you just take your middle knuckles - which are these guys- and you place them
right underneath your cheekbone. And then you run your fingers with inward pressure
all the way down to the angle of the mandible. Use as much pressure as you can handle. This
muscle is big, it's often overworked especially if you're watching this video - you're watching
it for a reason. You can do this one multiple times a day - 3 or 4 times each time you do
it and it really helps to relieve any tense or fibrotic areas that build up in the masseter
muscle. If you don’t want to use your fingers, you can also use this handy dandy jade roller
which I have linked below. This jade roller is great because it does the exact same thing
- you can apply pressure inwards as you support the other side of your head, and then go all
the way down to the angle of the mandible. The beauty of this jade roller is that it
can also help prevent sagging skin and wrinkles and so you can look up other videos on how
to do that aspect of it, but it's a handy dandy little instrument to have at your disposal.
Now let’s go inside the mouth to release the masseter by running perpendicular to the
fibers of this muscle. For this release, you will need your pointer finger and your thumb
finger - same hand, same side. So I'll walk you through it before I demonstrate it. Basically
you're going to put a glove on or wash your hands - whatever you'd like to do - and take
your pointer finger and go as far back inside as you can. So run along your inner check
until you hit bone. Once you hit bone, then use your thumb to grab the outside.
Then give it a little pinch. Once you've got a good grasp on that deep masseter, then sustaining
that pinch, come slowly forward. Then you go back in and grab everything lower at a
different level, give it a little pinch and go all the way forward. And you can do that
as many times as you need to as long as you run the entire length of the masseter, which
goes from the cheekbone all the way to the angle of the jaw - right here. So let me put
my glove on and demonstrate that. Basically you're going to take your pointer finger and
your thumb, go back... Ahhh.. Feels good. So again, the masseter release - the outside
and the inside one - you can do multiple times a day more than I would recommend doing the
lateral pterygoid release.
The next muscle release we are going to release is the temporalis muscle, which is a large
fan shaped muscle and is a key player in clenching/bruxing activity - just like the masseter and the
lateral pterygoid. To release this muscle, you can use your middle knuckles, you can
use your fingertips, or you can use that jade roller. So basically what you're going to
do is take your fingertips, and start right at the base of that muscle where it starts
and go all the way up and back with pressure inwards. And you can do that a few times,
it feels really good. And another way to release the anterior (or forward) fibers of this muscle,
is to find the little indentation behind your orbital bone and your cheek bone. So kind
of feel your cheekbone, feel your orbital bone and go just right behind - and same thing
on the other side - and just apply inward pressure for 10-15 seconds at a time. This
is where many of us hold a lot of stress and tension and this is typically where tension
headaches are or begin. So releasing that temporalis muscle can help quite a bit with
those tension headaches.
Please be sure to watch ALL my muscle release videos. They're in my YouTube Playlist “TMJ
Exercises/Muscle Releases”. I have literally received feedback from people around the world
saying hoe much these these helped them with headaches, jaw pain, and more. So please check
them out when you have some time.
Let’s move on to other things you can do for TMJ relief at home. Keep in mind that
the neck and the jaw are intimately related! If you can release tension in the neck, it
can really feed up and affect the jaw. Please be sure to check out my video called “Releasing
the Sternocleidomastoid”. The sternocleidomastoid is a large neck muscle. The sternocleidomastoid
is a large neck muscle that, when dysfunctional, can really limit the range of motion of the
neck and cause a lot of neck pain which can feed up and then affect the jaw in a negative
way.
Another thing that you can do at home is use this massager or the Theragun. I've linked
both below. You can use them on your trapezius muscles or gently on the back of your neck.
For the Theragun, I would recommend the Mini size because it’s small enough for these
small neck muscles. I want to say very clearly - Do NOT use either of these directly on your
jaw or your head! These are for the big muscles - the traps - and then the smaller neck muscles
if you use them gently. Both can help a lot in loosening up knots or tense areas in the
neck which then feeds up and affects the jaw in a very positive way.
Another thing you can try is this amazing microwavable neck pillow. This thing has been
my savior, especially when I suffered a really bad whiplash in August of 2020. So its this
guy right here. Basically, I just pop it in the microwave for a minute and half and then
I place it on my neck and it stays warm for quite some time.. and it really really helps
loosen things up. I've linked this microwavable neck pillow below, and I think it's one of
my best purchases of all time because it's helped me so much. What I do at home, is I
do the releasing the Sternocleidomastoid - so you can find that process in my video on my
YouTube channel - then I do the massager or the Theragun, and THEN I top it all off with
this microwavable neck pillow and it brings so much neck and jaw relief. I don't have
to do it as much anymore as I did when I suffered my whiplash, but it really got me through
several weeks of pain and limited range of motion in my neck.
Oftentimes, TMJ Disorders are caused by overworked, dysfunctional muscles that get trapped in
a chronic pain/spasm cycle. In addition to everything I’ve already talked about in
this video, a good Calcium-Magnesium supplement can help snap the muscles out of this pain/spasm
cycle. Magnesium is amazing for muscles and it should be taken in a 2 to 1 ratio - 2 Calcium
to 1 Magnesium. The reason is - if Magnesium is taken long-term, over time it can start
to leech the Calcium from our bodies so we have to replace that. Taking this supplement
has really been the turning point for many of my patients who have had difficulty resolving
the pain caused by dysfunctional muscles. My mentor, Dr. Arthur L. Parker, studied clinical
nutrition and I’ve linked his favorite Calcium-Magnesium supplement below, so be sure to check that
out. We recommend at least 300 milligrams of Magnesium per day and you can go up to
600 milligrams of Magnesium as long as 1) soften your stools and as long as you are
2) taking double the amount of Calcium with it. Be sure to take any supplement on a full
stomach as well.
For more relief, be sure to kick bad habits - NO gum chewing, no pencil or pen chewing,
don't rest your hand against your jaw when you're awake or when you're sleeping, and
try to limit your caffeine intake. Try to limit it to 1-2 cups of coffee per day or
1-2 cups of tea per day. Also be sure to increase good habits - stay hydrated - drink 8 cups
of water a day. Meditate. Exercise. I’m a huge proponent of yoga.
Lastly, if you’re having a TMJD flare-up, avoid tough or chewy foods. Watch my video
- “TMJD - to Eat or Not to Eat” to find which foods are TMJD friendly and which ones
are not.
So that’s really it it my friends! I hope you find this video helpful. I truly hope
it brings you relief at home. If you like what you heard or you learned something new,
be sure to click "Like" below, Subscribe to my channel, do all the things. As always,
questions and comments are welcome in the comment box below and remember. And remember,
my friends, you can never have TMI about TMJ! Thank you!