Hi Dr. Jonathan here, your chiropractor for TMJ in Sun Prairie, WI. And today we’re gonna go over three exercises you can do at home to help if you’re experiencing TMJ.
So you see, the first exercise we’re going to do is more of a foundational exercise that corrects from more of your posture. And so we know according to the Journal of Applied Oral Research, a dental research, that cervical spine disorders, so your neck, are actually perpetuating factors of TMJD.
And so what we’re going to do, one of those disorders is anterior head carriage or your head leaning forward like this. So if you think about sitting at a desk, bent over all these things that we do every day. Everybody’s putting themselves into that position with anterior head carriage. And so this first exercise you’re going to do is called Bruegger’s Postural Relief.
Chiropractic TMJ Intervention in Sun Prairie WI
And so what we’re going to do is we’re going to stand up nice and tall. We’re going to pull the shoulders open, and just let them sink down here. So you should be somewhat relaxed, but have the chest open. The palms are going to be facing up if you’re sitting or straight down, your palms facing forward in this position.
Once we’re here, you’re going to then bring your head straight back like this. If you have a double chin there, you’re doing it right. So what that looks like from the side, shoulders are going to go back and then they’re going to rest down, palms are forward, and then the head pulls straight back.
So you don’t want to head to come down when you go forward or up as you’re pulling back through there. So that’s your first exercise, Bruegger’s Postural Relief. What you want to do is work up to 20 seconds in that position. And then performing it one time an hour throughout your day.
A simple way to start is just when you feel like you kind of got to sit, sit up, shake and move a little bit. That’s your cue to do this exercise. And so slowly work your way up to 20 seconds at a time. And then one hour per day as you go.
TMJ Exercises | Chiropractic Sun Prairie, WI
The second exercise that we’re going to do here today is a jaw relaxation exercise. And so a lot of people deal with clenching, with tension in through the muscles of the jaw here. Which then perpetuate the TMJD symptoms they may be experiencing.
And so what we’re going to do is we’re just going to open the mouth about 75% of the way for you. Till you start to feel a stretch in through this jaw. And so you’re gonna feel that stretch through your masters up and through even the temporalis in through here. And you’re just going to hold that stretch with your jaw open at about 75%.
So it’s gonna look like this. Once you feel that stretch you stop there, you’re gonna hold up position for 20 seconds. When you’re done with those 20 seconds, you’re going to close the mouth, but you’re only going to close until your lips touch; not the teeth. If your teeth are touching inside, you’re clenching your teeth should never be touching at any point throughout the day, unless you’re eating.
If your teeth are touching at any other time. That means you’re clenching your jaw, you’re causing more hypertonicity of the muscles. And that’s something that we want to address. We want to balance that function to help with TMJD.
So that exercise is done. Open at 75% hold for 20 seconds, close until the lips touch. And then you’re going to repeat that five times over. And then you want to repeat that set of five, four times a day. So again, starting minimally working your way up to this. If you’re under the care of a physician, the chiropractor, your oral health care physician, they can help you guide you, how you progress through this.
Chiropractic TMJ Exercises in Sun Prairie, WI
The third exercise then is what we want to do is work on your jaw, when it juts forward. You see you have a disc in your jaw. And so when you open and close, it should be pivoting on one point. With some TMJ symptoms, you’ll experience where you open the jaw and then the bottom juts forward like this.
It’s not pivoting perfectly in the jaw like it’s supposed to. And so what we want to do is an exercise to hold the jaw in place instead of opening and going forward like this. And so, you’re going to put your tongue on the back of your mouth where you feel the soft portion of your mouth.
So if you run your tongue along the top of your mouth, you’ll hit a soft portion in the very back, your soft palate. You’re going to hold the tongue right there on that soft portion. And then you’re going to open and close your mouth and keep it as even as you can without going side to side. And without going forward. The tongue should hold it back.
So you should just be able to open the mouth and then close it. You’re going to do, you’re going to do that, it’s going to look like this. Go through this working your way up to 20 times opening and closing and then just do it in front of a mirror. If you’re having trouble noticing if your jaw’s deviating from one side to the other. You can use dental floss tape down your mirror to really get into a straight line and follow those teeth and through there.
So those are the three exercises you can do to help with TMJD at home and alleviate some of the symptoms you may be feeling. If you have any questions, give us a call. We’d love to help you out. We’re helping people every single day
