How Physical Therapy Can Be a Solution for Jaw Pain

The jaw is an area of the body that most people don’t really think about until they have a problem with it. But once you do have a problem with jaw pain, it’s hard to think about anything else. Hi, my name is Luke VanderZouwen, and I’m a physical therapist at Full Potential Physical Therapy. I’m here today to talk a little bit about jaw pain. It’s an area I have a special interest in, and I see people almost every day for a jaw-related issue. 

The Function and Uses of the Jaw in Daily Life

The jaw is used for a lot of different activities. It’s obviously used for chewing. It’s used as we’re talking. There are certain other movements that we use it for just going through our day, and we lay on it when we sleep at night. So, there are a lot of things that the jaw can affect when it’s not working well. 

The jaw is a joint, like any other joint in our body. It’s controlled through the nervous system. It has muscles that cross over top of it. It just so happens it has to hinge open and close. But it also has other movements like moving side to side, or moving forward and back to manipulate food within our mouth. When it’s not working very well, the jaw can really limit one’s function. 

What Can Cause Jaw Pain or Discomfort?

There are a variety of reasons for jaw pain. It can be trauma related if you experienced an accident of some sort, a whiplash type of an injury, or a direct impact to the jaw, like a fall. 

There can also be more chronic strain related issues. If you pick up a new habit of chewing gum when you’re not used to that, it can cause strain to the jaw. Or it can be something as simple as biting awkwardly and straining the jaw, the same way you can step awkwardly and strain or sprain an ankle.  

Jaw pain can also be caused by dental issues. You might experience jaw pain if you recently had a dental procedure where you had to have your mouth in an open position for a long time. It can be related to things like nighttime clenching, which is an extra strain to the jaw that can agitate and irritate the jaw to the point where day-to-day tasks become difficult. 

How to Alleviate Jaw Pain

There are a lot of different reasons why the jaw can hurt. Oftentimes, physical therapy can be part of the solution. If it’s dental-related jaw pain, then your dentist can also provide bite splints and other solutions to help prevent it. But in this case, as a physical therapist, I’m going to cover how physical therapy can help alleviate your jaw pain. 

When I work with patients who have jaw pain, I like to separate treatment into calm down strategies and build up strategies. 

Calm Down Strategies for Jaw Pain

There are different activities we can do for calm down strategies. Oftentimes things like hands-on work or stretching can be helpful. Heat or ice can be helpful to the area, as well. Then we’ll work on modifying day-to-day activities and knowing when to push and when to back off when things are sore. Working with a physical therapist can help a lot with calming down your symptoms. 

Build Up Strategies for Jaw Pain

Another thing that is often done is more of a build up strategy to strengthen the jaw and improve its function. One way we can do that is by addressing posture, which can play a role in jaw function. A good example of that is if you slouch forward and then try to open your mouth, then sit back and try to open your mouth. If you do that, you’re likely going to feel that opening your jaw in each position works the jaw a little bit differently. That’s why working on posture can help build up the jaw’s function to reduce pain. 

Occasionally, we’ll do strengthening exercises for the jaw or work on learning to control the jaw in other ways. You can essentially build up the jaw’s ability to handle day-to-day activities like chewing or speaking. Oftentimes, we have to strip down some of the things that are aggravating the jaw, but under the guidance of a physical therapist, we know when to build those activities back up. 

Call Full Potential for a Consultation

If you’re struggling with jaw pain, difficulty opening your mouth, or stiffness or soreness in your mouth, you might be an excellent candidate for physical therapy. You can talk to your doctor or dentist, or you can come directly to a physical therapist. We offer consultations for these types of issues and can get you some help. Give us a call at (616) 537-2837 to get started and find some relief.