I’ve ground my teeth at night for my entire life. I’ve seen a physical therapist for my TMJ and it barely helped, despite doing the exercises for years. I’ve also done exercises and massages from TH-cam that provided some relief, but the pain and tightness always comes back. I just did this simple exercise and my jaw is the most relaxed it’s ever been. Thank you so so much! I’ll be binging the videos on your channel for my other pain issues. You’re a life saver!
During Covid ALL my friends and me too we found we started clenching our jaws all the time, even asleep! When we were all locked down for classes and everything else. Now a lot of us have those painful clicky jaws. I tried this and I could feel the change - I really never realised you can feel a muscle releasing tension, but I could really feel it. I will show my friends - thank you very very much. I am really loving these videos they are so helpful🙏🏾🙏🏾
It happened to me during Covid lockdown. My jaw was so tight I could hardly open my mouth after sleeping. Once I was aware, I made an effort to notice the space between my teeth. However my clenching happens while I’m sleeping.
Wow! Amazing! I noticed something better immediately. Thank you for sharing. Once I released the clinching of my jaw my upper teeth began to actually feel like they were floating upward. Wow!
I found myself almost completely unable to unclench my jaw after several years of pandemic stress. This is the first things that's really helped - in 6 minutes! Thank you Taro!
miraculous!!! the muscles in my jaw actually felt so soft after doing this and i have no discomfort. i’m a singer and my TMJ has become so frustrating when I sing, I’m going to do this before bed and before singing thank you so much!!!
I hold a lot of tension in my jaw and sometimes it hurts just to lightly massage it but after trying this it feels so much better! I was SO surprised at how effective it is considering it's so simple. I will definitely incorporate this into my stretching routine!
I had surgery due to quincy. I cannot open my mouth and they had to inject me steroids to open my mouth. After the surgery, I can open my mouth for only 10% for 2 weeks. Eating and talking was super hard. I'm loosing hope and i found this video and gave it a try. In just a few hours I can open my mouth til 50 %. I will continue this and I hope i can open my mouth til 100%. Thank you so much!
my right side showed a remarkable difference-- not as lumpy. That is the side that TMJ is jammed, and the pain is felt on the left side. Interesting!! Thank you for your fascinating and fun vids.
Wow! Thank you so much for this video. I’ve had TMJ issues since high school. It was so bad I cracked my tooth/filling while sleeping. After one session, I can feel the difference and how much tension I was putting on my teeth. 😮
you are welcome! we often make things more complicated than they need to. We try to come up with theories that fit our desires and make us understand about our body cerebrally rather than helping us learn kinesthetically in our own body. Changes happen inside our body. Changes are not made to your body from outside. You connect with your body and pay attention to your body, that is giving your nervous system sensory information, then it reorganizes your movement patterns.
It's interesting hearing of peoples experiences with jaw tension and clenching during lockdown. I've been in my own lockdown for 8 years due to being housebound with chronic illness. No wonder my jaw is a mess. Thanks for the help
I found this video very helpful. I am one diagnosed with and managing many inflammatory conditions; TMJ dysfunction made sense when recently, while chewing soft food, I encountered my first flare. The awareness practiced in this video will help me manage the pain without medications until I can get in to see a specialist to confirm there is nothing more than TMJ going on in my jaw. Thank you, Taro Iwamoto!
Amazed @ my teeth space just after 1st time trying this. Incredible. I have TMJ & clench my whole jaw (broke a molar from it) ... this is going to help Both conditions! Thxs much !!
If you clench and grind your teeth at night and wake up with a sore jaw, you might also find breathing awareness lesson before going to bed helpful. Here's one of my breathing videos: th-cam.com/video/uXFfxxbd5zU/w-d-xo.html
This is a wonderful exercise! Instead of trying to stretch it out, you're having us bite down instead - which works wonders. I wonder if there's someone or something we want to bite into subconsciously? Or something we need to "chew over." Another practice I found helpful that stopped me grinding or clenching in my sleep was doing a short self-hypnosis (visualizing walking down a beautiful path or stairway as I count to 10) , then repeating, "As I sleep, my lips stay together, my teeth stay apart. My jaw is relaxed all night." I'd repeat that 3 times and within a short time my tooth-grinding stopped.
So happy to find this channel. Neck, shoulder, jaw pain is constant. I am contemplating muscle relaxers but would rather use a natural remedy. Will be ‘studying’ the videos. Thank you.
Thank you….I read all the other comments and I agree with them….however, What I would like ….is after you have gone through the lesson, before signing off, Please review just the simple 10 second exercise, once more for better retention… Also, maybe even talking a little slower…. Enjoyed your video very much. 🙏❤️👍
Thank you so much !! 😊 I'll add this exercice in my daily Jaw's care routine. (I currently have lingual physiotherapy. And I'm going to have orthodontic treatment). So it will be so usefull particulary in my case. 👌 You are so great to share all these videos 😊
Thank you, Taro! As you'll be posting more videos on TJM , my bruxism has reduced in a 95% but I go on biting my cheeks, usually my left one, and usually when I'm working. Just in case it's a common issue with jaws.
I did this yesterday for the first time, and since then i've caught myself about to clench my teeth about 50 times! Had no idea I had been doing it unconsciously all this time.
I have good space between my teeth. However, I could really feel my whole jaw tighten when I clenched my teeth in the exercise. Now I know what to feel for. I will check my jaws tonight when I wake up from pain to see if I am clenching them. I don't have TMJ pain but I wonder what I do in my sleep. Thank you Taro
Very good 👍. This will help to be aware of tension in the jaw during activities. I still remember my dad clinching his jaws when we kids made him mad. The vessels in his temple would pop out!😅
I wear a night guard when sleeping but still clench my teeth all night and wake up every morning with a sore jaw that clicks and is very uncomfortable. I’m looking forward to more of your videos on this topic.
Adopt the mantra “my teeth should only touch when I’m eating” and remind yourself of that a thousand times a day, until it’s in your subconscious. It’ll help. Learned that from my old orthodontist.
Thank you for all of your precious videos. I wonder if there are feldenkrais techniques for motor tics, like tongue clicking? It causes alot of jaw pain.
you are welcome. I dont have anything specific for the condition you described, but if it is related to the disorganized nervous system, i would think any mindful movement lessons would be helpful
Thank you. I’d love to see a combination of what to do in a video to help relax and deprogram those muscles. Could you please do a before bedtime set of jaw exercises, gentle stretches and breathing ?
have you checked my breathing playlist as well as reducing stress and anxiety playlist? i think breathing awareness video and body scan would be great for that
This is so helpful thank you. Im wondering though after releasing the clench when slowly lowering or increasing the space between lower and upper teeth, there is a feeling of soreness in that muscle. Is this progress or am i doing something wrong? Really like your channel, am a new subscriber
Thank you for your enlightening videos. Do you have advice re. trigger thumb? Extremely debilitating, cannot for example hold a glass of water, use scissors. Triggerpoint releases help, but very painful. ? 4:01
I started to have tinnitus about 3 weeks ago. I got a hearing test and was fine . The dr pressed against my jaw and it hurt on my right side. The tinnitus got louder. She said that might have something to do with it including stress 🤷♂️
Wow that is amazing the warm sensation and increased space of my TMJ. Again thank you. Any tips for eye strain?[edit ] Ah! I see you all ready have a video on eyes strain perfect! :)
Hi Sir, I have autoimmune problems including fibromyalgia and authritis.. I often wake up from pain in my neck (almost the base of my skull on the hairline), my jaw locked in the mornings (even though I wear a bite plate) and generally in pain. Currently I'm going through a spasm that's lasted a week on my left shoulder. Can you suggest any stretches or videos you have made discussing what I could do to relieve/prevent this from happening especially on I could do before bed? I'm only 22 and it's just getting worse, feeling very hopeless at this point.
Have you checked your sleeping position? One of my videos under Improve Posture Playlist where i talk about sleeping positions and posture might be helpful for you.
I had this exact same pain when I was 18 until I was 25. It would make me vomit I was in so much pain. I saw 6 physical therapist (one that kinda helped but after going 4 times a week for 6 weeks and not much improvement the insurance stopped paying). I tried gabapentin (Nearly made me an amnesiac), steroid injections, acupuncture.. nothing worked. I hope you can find a source of relief. Lidocaine cream higher than 4% might help, so might solonpas. temporarily. Ask your dr for a muscle relaxer if you haven’t already.
@@Silver-zc1tb Only saw your comment now! Have you found any relief? I've tried all the drugs. The muscle relaxers that actually work have addictive qualities so I stay away form them. My mother is a doctor so she helps in thatt respect. I've done all of the above also. One thing that helps is tramacet patches (I'm not sure what they're called in your side of the world. I'm in south Africa, it's cortisone basically). Dismal
S K I’m so sorry you haven’t round relief yet. Don’t give up, you will find a solution. I think what helped me was a combination of radio frequency ablation (which was very painful the first few months after the procedure while the healing took place) and stem cells I received in Mexico. I did the ablation first and about 1.5 years later the stem cells. My grandfather has spinal stenosis and radio frequency ablation has worked well for him.
I had fibromyalgia and locked jaw neck in the morning. Breathing exercise is helpful 5 times daily. Slowly inhale for 6 s and exhale slow for 6 s until neck is loose.
when you do this simple awareness exercise, you can think more like "un-closing or un-clenching" and letting go of muscles, which will open your jaw and mouth slightly, rather than making your jaw and mouth open. See if that helps.
i started clenching my jaw when i started wearing invisilign. Now my jaw is always hurting and clicking. i saw a video showing how to press on the jaw bone and click it back into place and then its not as tight. This video also helps but my jaw still clicks.
Unfortunately I no longer offer individual sessions. I have several paid video courses that can be purchasd on my website, and am working on building an online comprehensive movement program, which hopefully will be launched next year.
How to help if I have the opposite problem? I have a good gap in between my teeth, if anything the gap is too big. When I try to do exercises to help strengthen it just results in more tension & pain!
Dear Taro, I have suffered TMJ for years one question that not even a dentist can confirm: can TMJ cause tooth pain on the molar tooth? I am suffering pain after a root canal treatment on a molar now there’s lots of pain but dentist say it’s my TMJ not my tooth. Please can you help me on this. Many thanks
I'm sorry your daughter is suffering from jaw issue. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not able to give medical advice. I would defer that question to a medical doctor.
Hi there I am really at my wits end. I have sever TMJ. It's extremely painful and my doctor has prescribed me toradol. I don't find it works and I worry about the affects to my stomach. I wear a night guard but I still clench and grind. I also have a top denture that may or may not be contributing. I've tried years of massage, chiropractic care, and many more all out of pocket so it's very expensive. It has gotten progressively worse to the point that simply eating hurts. Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks so much.
what i often recommend is mindful breathing lessons to bring the nervous system into balance which is often overly excited for people with TMJ issues and chronic tension. If you havent tried already, you can check my breathing exercises.
When we are stressed, we often clench teeth. Jaw and neck are closely related to stress. And muscular tension in those areas can often become habitual. It does take some muscular effort from jaw muscles to keep upper teeth and lower teeth together.
My life is stress fuck my life fuck my jaw fuck my face fuck my pain fuck my mind fuck internet fuck people but thank you doc it helped a little bit and probably im clenching all the time
Thanks for answering, I did mean in general, could you please also answer if any of your methods can help with neck instability and or occipital neuralgia, I’m practically incapacitated due to neck pain with, chronic headaches, eye pain, TMJ, ear pain and electrical type shooting pain every so often with a slight turn of the neck. When I saw my X-rays of my neck it looked a mess, definitely not straight lots of degeneration probably due to whiplash type injuries due to jet skiing any comment. I actually had a psychic tell me years ago that felkenkraise (sorry about spelling) exercises would be good for me wish I’d listened to him.
I see. I am an advocate for floor sitting as I talk often in my videos and you see there isnt much furniture in our house. The main reason is to creat more movement options so we dont get stuck in the same habitual pattern, but if you are not used to sitting on the floor, then gradually adapt to it over time. It is true that most of us do a fair amount of sitting daily, and prolonged sitting can be detrimental to our body due to decreased movement in general. There is a way to create more movement while sitting in a chair, which can help reduce stress to our body. In regards to neck instability, occipital neuralgia, yes you can retrain your movement patterns to improve mechanics and efficiency of movement and improve stability abd comfort. It is also important to recognize that the nervous system responds to the environment and influence your posture, movement, so it is important to modify any stressors that are both physical and emotional. Stress throws off autonomic nervous system, which will influence the balance of the entire system. This is why body and mind need to be retrained together through mindful movement practice.
@@TaroIwamoto thank you thank you, I really appreciate you answering me, and you nailed my problem, STRESS, my neck and shoulders are like rock, my husband and I have nothing in common and this COVID stress is killing me slowly, 47 years married and so stressful should I stay or should I go. Sorry for complaining.
Is there a reason why you use a stool, my son says people are having body pain problems because we sit on chairs, he actually does a lot of kneeling, love to have your opinion
you mean for this exercise? or in general? for this exercise, you dont have to. For filming videos and demonstrating exercises, this works better for camera angle. so this is really for technical reason
This didnt really make a difference for me, my jaw is so unbearably tight from bruxism due to stress and imbalance in my teeth clench that i dont even feel like laughing or talking during the day. Maybe i did it wrong? I just felt it get tighter but no relief at all. Your other video on neck and shoulder tension did help me out more than i thought it would though. Thanks a lot
Hello- I tried this exercise and it worked like a miracle at first! Now the TMD is worse than ever. Obviously, I'm not doing it anymore. Have you ever heard of this happening before? Thanks.
I'm sorry the TMD is worse after trying this. I have not heard people tell me that. Is it possible you clenched your teeth too hard when you did this exercise?
@@TaroIwamotoI think maybe I might have done it a little too often, and possibly clenched a bit too hard. I will be EXTRA careful now, because as I said, it really worked great at first! Thanks for your reply- I really appreciate it!
similar to jaw tension, neck tension, people tend to maintain contraction around throat. You can do a similar awareness exercise for your throat by contracting your throat and noticing how that feels, and letting that go and notice how your throat can relax and space expands.
Hello, I had noticed my tmj symptoms when my jaw started to click and pop, and recently my neck has become very tight and there is some sort of a false double chin even tho I am very skinny, what should I do?
im having a hard time understanding how clenching can help with the heavy clenching i do while i sleep. i was under the impression that the clenching is what causes the horrible pain and tension bc thats what i do while sleeping unconsciously and wake up in pain. weird 🤔🤨
This sounds very counter intuitive, doesnt it? The purpose of increasing your habitual pattern in this case clenching teeth is to inform the nervous system of such pattern, making unconscious pattern become conscious pattern first. This can influence your habitual pattern, so the hope is you will reduce unconscious clenching.
@@TaroIwamoto thank you for your reply. i unconsciously clench even during the day while awake. the pain warns me im clenching so i was told by a physical therapist to remind myself to stop when i notice im doing it
@@TaroIwamoto yes, thank you so much. looking forward to it! my tmj is horrible. makes it hard to sleep and rest at night. my heavy clenching broke, split in half all the way down to the root, a wisdom tooth! thank you so much and for replying so quickly. i wasnt expecting you would. thank you for helping so many people!
Hey, I think Taro explained it well but just my two cents, I've done Feldenkrais before, it's not the clenching that helps it's the clenching FOLLOWED BY conscious release and softening that teaches your nervous system and muscles how to get out of the clenching pattern. It's like you're telling your jaw, it's ok to release, this is how to do it, this is what it feels like.
@@TaroIwamoto Thx! I tried this once for my jaw, but the pain has been building for days - after consulting with my dentist, I will try again. I love the awareness exercises of retraining the nervous system 🙌🏽 They are so helpful, thank you 🙏🏼 I also did your neck strain exercises, and they are helping :-)
this is about making you and your nervous system become aware of habitual tension in the area, which can help reduce the tension. we carry muscle tension in various parts of our bodies without being aware of them most of the time. Bringing unconscious tension into consciousness is what this simple exercise is doing.
@@TaroIwamoto Thanks for answering, I did som exercises for pain in the base of my neck and noticed I had some jaw pain also. I’ll continue to try this exercise since I felt a bit of relief after only one time. Is there anything else I can do that helps with jaw and neck pain?
Sir, my dentist has given me a splint to wear at night on my lower teeth line. I realized that I had this habit of clenching. My TMJ hurts and mri scan shows a disc displacement. I have my symptoms improved a little but what about the day when I am not using the splint. Kindly reply
![Self-massage for TMJ/jaw pain [myofascial release]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DZ-IfNIPFXM/mqdefault.jpg)
I’ve ground my teeth at night for my entire life. I’ve seen a physical therapist for my TMJ and it barely helped, despite doing the exercises for years. I’ve also done exercises and massages from TH-cam that provided some relief, but the pain and tightness always comes back.
I just did this simple exercise and my jaw is the most relaxed it’s ever been.
Thank you so so much! I’ll be binging the videos on your channel for my other pain issues. You’re a life saver!
I tried that relaxing trick and it worked! Thank-you!
During Covid ALL my friends and me too we found we started clenching our jaws all the time, even asleep! When we were all locked down for classes and everything else. Now a lot of us have those painful clicky jaws. I tried this and I could feel the change - I really never realised you can feel a muscle releasing tension, but I could really feel it. I will show my friends - thank you very very much. I am really loving these videos they are so helpful🙏🏾🙏🏾
stress and TMJ tension are so closely related as you know. glad you're enjoying my videos!
It happened to me during Covid lockdown. My jaw was so tight I could hardly open my mouth after sleeping. Once I was aware, I made an effort to notice the space between my teeth. However my clenching happens while I’m sleeping.
it can be a symptom of ptsd, which i think more ppl hv now than we realize due to all this constant trauma
@@paulinehawkins2207 Have you found anything that works for the clenching during sleep?
@@hutton2973 my teeth don’t clench anymore. Stressful time over and much more aware. Watch video, it’s helpful.
Wow! Amazing! I noticed something better immediately. Thank you for sharing. Once I released the clinching of my jaw my upper teeth began to actually feel like they were floating upward. Wow!
I found myself almost completely unable to unclench my jaw after several years of pandemic stress. This is the first things that's really helped - in 6 minutes! Thank you Taro!
you are welcome!
miraculous!!! the muscles in my jaw actually felt so soft after doing this and i have no discomfort. i’m a singer and my TMJ has become so frustrating when I sing,
I’m going to do this before bed and before singing thank you so much!!!
More TMJ videos are coming in the near future. Stay tuned!
I hold a lot of tension in my jaw and sometimes it hurts just to lightly massage it but after trying this it feels so much better! I was SO surprised at how effective it is considering it's so simple. I will definitely incorporate this into my stretching routine!
wonderful!
Amazing! That was so good, I can’t believe how it works!!!!! Thank you
I had surgery due to quincy. I cannot open my mouth and they had to inject me steroids to open my mouth. After the surgery, I can open my mouth for only 10% for 2 weeks. Eating and talking was super hard. I'm loosing hope
and i found this video and gave it a try. In just a few hours I can open my mouth til 50 %. I will continue this and I hope i can open my mouth til 100%. Thank you so much!
wow! That's amazing! thanks for sharing your experience here!
my right side showed a remarkable difference-- not as lumpy. That is the side that TMJ is jammed, and the pain is felt on the left side. Interesting!! Thank you for your fascinating and fun vids.
Wow! Thank you so much for this video. I’ve had TMJ issues since high school. It was so bad I cracked my tooth/filling while sleeping. After one session, I can feel the difference and how much tension I was putting on my teeth. 😮
agreed with everyone, i got the floating jaw... this blew my mind
I didn't even realize I was clinching but this helped. Thank you so much
Thank you very helpful. Love feldenkrais ❤
me too:)
Thank you so much! Ive been trying all kinds of complicsted excersises which have only helped a little bit but this is so simple and its working!!
you are welcome! we often make things more complicated than they need to. We try to come up with theories that fit our desires and make us understand about our body cerebrally rather than helping us learn kinesthetically in our own body. Changes happen inside our body. Changes are not made to your body from outside. You connect with your body and pay attention to your body, that is giving your nervous system sensory information, then it reorganizes your movement patterns.
Thank you. I like how you get right to the point/exercise.
You're welcome!
It's interesting hearing of peoples experiences with jaw tension and clenching during lockdown. I've been in my own lockdown for 8 years due to being housebound with chronic illness. No wonder my jaw is a mess. Thanks for the help
yes! it shows how stress and muscular tension around jaw, neck are closely related. Body and mind are connected!
thank you.. with your simple exercise..the tension in my jaw almost gone👍
I found this video very helpful. I am one diagnosed with and managing many inflammatory conditions; TMJ dysfunction made sense when recently, while chewing soft food, I encountered my first flare. The awareness practiced in this video will help me manage the pain without medications until I can get in to see a specialist to confirm there is nothing more than TMJ going on in my jaw. Thank you, Taro Iwamoto!
I noticed a difference for sure. Will continue thank you
Wonderful!
Amazed @ my teeth space just after 1st time trying this. Incredible. I have TMJ & clench my whole jaw (broke a molar from it) ... this is going to help Both conditions! Thxs much !!
Fantastic!
I did the exercise. I was thinking man that’s it? it’s not gonna do anything. No, it actually is a game changer.
Brilliant quick fix. I have balance issues made worse when my tmj is tight and tender. Thank you.
Isn't it interesting how changes in TMJ tension affects your balance? It affects how the rest of the body moves.
If you clench and grind your teeth at night and wake up with a sore jaw, you might also find breathing awareness lesson before going to bed helpful. Here's one of my breathing videos: th-cam.com/video/uXFfxxbd5zU/w-d-xo.html
Does this work for trigeminal neuralgia ?
Stress and anxiety . I done this all through covid . Stopped watching the news , that helped a little.
Incredible. I don’t know how to thank you!
Thank you for showing light on a love based exercise ❤
You're welcome:)
This is a wonderful exercise! Instead of trying to stretch it out, you're having us bite down instead - which works wonders. I wonder if there's someone or something we want to bite into subconsciously? Or something we need to "chew over."
Another practice I found helpful that stopped me grinding or clenching in my sleep was doing a short self-hypnosis (visualizing walking down a beautiful path or stairway as I count to 10) , then repeating, "As I sleep, my lips stay together, my teeth stay apart. My jaw is relaxed all night." I'd repeat that 3 times and within a short time my tooth-grinding stopped.
Thank you very much for sharing. I'll definitely be trying that.
That’s bullshit self hypnosis to stop spasms and grinding don’t believe it. You must drool a lot now lol
That’s madness how quick that worked. Impressive
Wow! You are fixing all my tension problems
You're very welcome:)
So happy to find this channel. Neck, shoulder, jaw pain is constant. I am contemplating muscle relaxers but would rather use a natural remedy. Will be ‘studying’ the videos. Thank you.
Has your pain resolved?
Thanks for your help.
This amazing and worked instantly! Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much for this video! This is really important for a trumpet player to think about and when I did it, it really set my jaw in place
You're so welcome! Enjoy connecting with your body and discovering new ways to move!
you are the Best!🏆 Thank you!🙏
Thank you!!
Thank you….I read all the other comments and I agree with them….however,
What I would like ….is after you have gone through the lesson, before signing off,
Please review just the simple 10 second exercise, once more for better retention…
Also, maybe even talking a little slower….
Enjoyed your video very much. 🙏❤️👍
this is great ! very similar approach to my TMJ education :)
Brilliant video!
Really helpful! You are a great teacher. Thank you
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you so much !! 😊
I'll add this exercice in my daily Jaw's care routine. (I currently have lingual physiotherapy. And I'm going to have orthodontic treatment). So it will be so usefull particulary in my case. 👌
You are so great to share all these videos 😊
Does it affect your speech when you talk ?
Thank you, Taro! As you'll be posting more videos on TJM , my bruxism has reduced in a 95% but I go on biting my cheeks, usually my left one, and usually when I'm working. Just in case it's a common issue with jaws.
TMJ tension and stress are closely related
Man, you`re doing fantastic job with all your videos! Thanks a lot, God bless you!
Thank you!
Works like a charm. Thanks, Taro!
glad to hear!
Omg 😳 it actually worked!!! Thank you so much! 🙏 I totally sharing this
my pleasure!
You are a life saver!
Thanks, really needed this lately
How simple ..and so effective….thank you..🌈
again you are saving my life with these. as a dentured american we can spend days, weeks at war with this goofiness. 10 second rebuffs are ki.
I did this yesterday for the first time, and since then i've caught myself about to clench my teeth about 50 times! Had no idea I had been doing it unconsciously all this time.
now you are aware! This is the beginning of changing the old habit
Wonderful content sir thanks a lot as always
My pleasure!
It worked! Thanks!
starts 0:58
I have good space between my teeth. However, I could really feel my whole jaw tighten when I clenched my teeth in the exercise. Now I know what to feel for. I will check my jaws tonight when I wake up from pain to see if I am clenching them. I don't have TMJ pain but I wonder what I do in my sleep. Thank you Taro
You're welcome!
We recently started following your videos. Excellent ! These short exercises really work . Sharing with others now. Thank you so much!
Very good 👍. This will help to be aware of tension in the jaw during activities. I still remember my dad clinching his jaws when we kids made him mad. The vessels in his temple would pop out!😅
You are so gorgeous, thank you Taro! xo
I wear a night guard when sleeping but still clench my teeth all night and wake up every morning with a sore jaw that clicks and is very uncomfortable. I’m looking forward to more of your videos on this topic.
another TMJ video coming next week!
@@TaroIwamoto That is great! I’m really looking forward to it!
Thank you
Adopt the mantra “my teeth should only touch when I’m eating” and remind yourself of that a thousand times a day, until it’s in your subconscious. It’ll help. Learned that from my old orthodontist.
Thank you for all of your precious videos. I wonder if there are feldenkrais techniques for motor tics, like tongue clicking? It causes alot of jaw pain.
you are welcome. I dont have anything specific for the condition you described, but if it is related to the disorganized nervous system, i would think any mindful movement lessons would be helpful
Thank you. I’d love to see a combination of what to do in a video to help relax and deprogram those muscles. Could you please do a before bedtime set of jaw exercises, gentle stretches and breathing ?
have you checked my breathing playlist as well as reducing stress and anxiety playlist? i think breathing awareness video and body scan would be great for that
@@TaroIwamoto not yet but definitely will do. I’m so glad I found this channel thank you!!
I love your videos. They are very helpful with my functional movement disorder
This is so helpful thank you. Im wondering though after releasing the clench when slowly lowering or increasing the space between lower and upper teeth, there is a feeling of soreness in that muscle. Is this progress or am i doing something wrong?
Really like your channel, am a new subscriber
Thank you for your enlightening videos. Do you have advice re. trigger thumb? Extremely debilitating, cannot for example hold a glass of water, use scissors. Triggerpoint releases help, but very painful. ?
4:01
this sure is magic!
sweet!
I started to have tinnitus about 3 weeks ago. I got a hearing test and was fine . The dr pressed against my jaw and it hurt on my right side. The tinnitus got louder. She said that might have something to do with it including stress 🤷♂️
Wow that is amazing the warm sensation and increased space of my TMJ. Again thank you. Any tips for eye strain?[edit ] Ah! I see you all ready have a video on eyes strain perfect! :)
my pleasure:)
very useful !
Glad it was helpful!
I also find my self clenching my lips. Did the same thing with my lips. It helped.
awesome thanks!
I can't able to open my mouth widely, the hear the ticking sound louder and harder, I hope this exercise will helpe
I’ve had TMJ for 6 years now hope this works
let me know how this goes for you. just fyi, more TMJ/jaw videos are coming in the near future.
Dude this works jaja thanks
I was surprised that I noticed a change, but I did. It relaxed just a little. So yes, I'll do it more often. Thank you
Instant relief!
Hi Sir, I have autoimmune problems including fibromyalgia and authritis.. I often wake up from pain in my neck (almost the base of my skull on the hairline), my jaw locked in the mornings (even though I wear a bite plate) and generally in pain. Currently I'm going through a spasm that's lasted a week on my left shoulder. Can you suggest any stretches or videos you have made discussing what I could do to relieve/prevent this from happening especially on I could do before bed? I'm only 22 and it's just getting worse, feeling very hopeless at this point.
Have you checked your sleeping position? One of my videos under Improve Posture Playlist where i talk about sleeping positions and posture might be helpful for you.
I had this exact same pain when I was 18 until I was 25. It would make me vomit I was in so much pain. I saw 6 physical therapist (one that kinda helped but after going 4 times a week for 6 weeks and not much improvement the insurance stopped paying). I tried gabapentin (Nearly made me an amnesiac), steroid injections, acupuncture.. nothing worked.
I hope you can find a source of relief. Lidocaine cream higher than 4% might help, so might solonpas. temporarily. Ask your dr for a muscle relaxer if you haven’t already.
@@Silver-zc1tb Only saw your comment now! Have you found any relief? I've tried all the drugs. The muscle relaxers that actually work have addictive qualities so I stay away form them. My mother is a doctor so she helps in thatt respect. I've done all of the above also. One thing that helps is tramacet patches (I'm not sure what they're called in your side of the world. I'm in south Africa, it's cortisone basically). Dismal
S K I’m so sorry you haven’t round relief yet. Don’t give up, you will find a solution. I think what helped me was a combination of radio frequency ablation (which was very painful the first few months after the procedure while the healing took place) and stem cells I received in Mexico. I did the ablation first and about 1.5 years later the stem cells. My grandfather has spinal stenosis and radio frequency ablation has worked well for him.
I had fibromyalgia and locked jaw neck in the morning. Breathing exercise is helpful 5 times daily. Slowly inhale for 6 s and exhale slow for 6 s until neck is loose.
What do I do if when I open my mouth it feels tight and hurts??
My jaw used to pop alot and now it’s doing this and so it’s hard too open my mouth..
when you do this simple awareness exercise, you can think more like "un-closing or un-clenching" and letting go of muscles, which will open your jaw and mouth slightly, rather than making your jaw and mouth open. See if that helps.
i started clenching my jaw when i started wearing invisilign. Now my jaw is always hurting and clicking. i saw a video showing how to press on the jaw bone and click it back into place and then its not as tight. This video also helps but my jaw still clicks.
I have an overbite so my upper teeth are always touching the lower teeth unfortunately.
that's okay. But there's probably some overactivity in the jaw muscles that can let go with this mindful movement.
I would like to work with you by zoom - are you avail for that?
Unfortunately I no longer offer individual sessions. I have several paid video courses that can be purchasd on my website, and am working on building an online comprehensive movement program, which hopefully will be launched next year.
Sir my jaw moving one side please help
How to help if I have the opposite problem? I have a good gap in between my teeth, if anything the gap is too big. When I try to do exercises to help strengthen it just results in more tension & pain!
Dear Taro, I have suffered TMJ for years one question that not even a dentist can confirm: can TMJ cause tooth pain on the molar tooth? I am suffering pain after a root canal treatment on a molar now there’s lots of pain but dentist say it’s my TMJ not my tooth. Please can you help me on this.
Many thanks
because of proximity, i would guess TMJ could cause tooth pain on the molar tooth.
My daughter suffering lockjaw, her mouth getting smaller and can't eat and drink. What's the best medication for her, Tnx.
I'm sorry your daughter is suffering from jaw issue. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not able to give medical advice. I would defer that question to a medical doctor.
Hi there I am really at my wits end. I have sever TMJ. It's extremely painful and my doctor has prescribed me toradol. I don't find it works and I worry about the affects to my stomach.
I wear a night guard but I still clench and grind. I also have a top denture that may or may not be contributing.
I've tried years of massage, chiropractic care, and many more all out of pocket so it's very expensive.
It has gotten progressively worse to the point that simply eating hurts.
Do you have any other suggestions?
Thanks so much.
what i often recommend is mindful breathing lessons to bring the nervous system into balance which is often overly excited for people with TMJ issues and chronic tension. If you havent tried already, you can check my breathing exercises.
So when your TMJ are relaxed there is space between upper and lower teeth? And when is tense the upper and lower teeth meet one another? Thank you.
When we are stressed, we often clench teeth. Jaw and neck are closely related to stress. And muscular tension in those areas can often become habitual. It does take some muscular effort from jaw muscles to keep upper teeth and lower teeth together.
My life is stress fuck my life fuck my jaw fuck my face fuck my pain fuck my mind fuck internet fuck people but thank you doc it helped a little bit and probably im clenching all the time
real
if i let my lower teeth touch my upper teeth masseter muscle goes in spasm and clenches really reallly hard what do i do? this is scary
Thanks for answering, I did mean in general, could you please also answer if any of your methods can help with neck instability and or occipital neuralgia, I’m practically incapacitated due to neck pain with, chronic headaches, eye pain, TMJ, ear pain and electrical type shooting pain every so often with a slight turn of the neck. When I saw my X-rays of my neck it looked a mess, definitely not straight lots of degeneration probably due to whiplash type injuries due to jet skiing any comment. I actually had a psychic tell me years ago that felkenkraise (sorry about spelling) exercises would be good for me wish I’d listened to him.
I see. I am an advocate for floor sitting as I talk often in my videos and you see there isnt much furniture in our house. The main reason is to creat more movement options so we dont get stuck in the same habitual pattern, but if you are not used to sitting on the floor, then gradually adapt to it over time. It is true that most of us do a fair amount of sitting daily, and prolonged sitting can be detrimental to our body due to decreased movement in general. There is a way to create more movement while sitting in a chair, which can help reduce stress to our body. In regards to neck instability, occipital neuralgia, yes you can retrain your movement patterns to improve mechanics and efficiency of movement and improve stability abd comfort. It is also important to recognize that the nervous system responds to the environment and influence your posture, movement, so it is important to modify any stressors that are both physical and emotional. Stress throws off autonomic nervous system, which will influence the balance of the entire system. This is why body and mind need to be retrained together through mindful movement practice.
@@TaroIwamoto thank you thank you, I really appreciate you answering me, and you nailed my problem, STRESS, my neck and shoulders are like rock, my husband and I have nothing in common and this COVID stress is killing me slowly, 47 years married and so stressful should I stay or should I go. Sorry for complaining.
@@gailrocafort9112 no need for apology :)
Top!
Is there a reason why you use a stool, my son says people are having body pain problems because we sit on chairs, he actually does a lot of kneeling, love to have your opinion
you mean for this exercise? or in general? for this exercise, you dont have to. For filming videos and demonstrating exercises, this works better for camera angle. so this is really for technical reason
This didnt really make a difference for me, my jaw is so unbearably tight from bruxism due to stress and imbalance in my teeth clench that i dont even feel like laughing or talking during the day. Maybe i did it wrong? I just felt it get tighter but no relief at all. Your other video on neck and shoulder tension did help me out more than i thought it would though. Thanks a lot
i would try breathing lessons to reduce jaw tension
Did it go away???
Hello- I tried this exercise and it worked like a miracle at first! Now the TMD is worse than ever. Obviously, I'm not doing it anymore. Have you ever heard of this happening before? Thanks.
I'm sorry the TMD is worse after trying this. I have not heard people tell me that. Is it possible you clenched your teeth too hard when you did this exercise?
@@TaroIwamotoI think maybe I might have done it a little too often, and possibly clenched a bit too hard. I will be EXTRA careful now, because as I said, it really worked great at first! Thanks for your reply- I really appreciate it!
I have muscle pull from my back shoulder
Which exercise will help me
Do you have tips for throat and voice tension release?
similar to jaw tension, neck tension, people tend to maintain contraction around throat. You can do a similar awareness exercise for your throat by contracting your throat and noticing how that feels, and letting that go and notice how your throat can relax and space expands.
@@TaroIwamoto thank you so much!
@@hw2050 you're welcome:)
Hello, I had noticed my tmj symptoms when my jaw started to click and pop, and recently my neck has become very tight and there is some sort of a false double chin even tho I am very skinny, what should I do?
im having a hard time understanding how clenching can help with the heavy clenching i do while i sleep. i was under the impression that the clenching is what causes the horrible pain and tension bc thats what i do while sleeping unconsciously and wake up in pain. weird 🤔🤨
This sounds very counter intuitive, doesnt it? The purpose of increasing your habitual pattern in this case clenching teeth is to inform the nervous system of such pattern, making unconscious pattern become conscious pattern first. This can influence your habitual pattern, so the hope is you will reduce unconscious clenching.
@@TaroIwamoto thank you for your reply. i unconsciously clench even during the day while awake. the pain warns me im clenching so i was told by a physical therapist to remind myself to stop when i notice im doing it
@@keenah1111 More TMJ videos are coming in the near future. They might be helpful for you.
@@TaroIwamoto
yes, thank you so much. looking forward to it!
my tmj is horrible. makes it hard to sleep and rest at night. my heavy clenching broke, split in half all the way down to the root, a wisdom tooth!
thank you so much and for replying so quickly. i wasnt expecting you would. thank you for helping so many people!
Hey, I think Taro explained it well but just my two cents, I've done Feldenkrais before, it's not the clenching that helps it's the clenching FOLLOWED BY conscious release and softening that teaches your nervous system and muscles how to get out of the clenching pattern. It's like you're telling your jaw, it's ok to release, this is how to do it, this is what it feels like.
Our government has tied us all up in knots.
Does this also help if the TMJ pain is the result of a recent car collision (side impact)?
i would say try it very gently and see if this helps
@@TaroIwamoto Thx! I tried this once for my jaw, but the pain has been building for days - after consulting with my dentist, I will try again. I love the awareness exercises of retraining the nervous system 🙌🏽 They are so helpful, thank you 🙏🏼
I also did your neck strain exercises, and they are helping :-)
So just bite together for 10 seconds at 20%? That’s all?
this is about making you and your nervous system become aware of habitual tension in the area, which can help reduce the tension. we carry muscle tension in various parts of our bodies without being aware of them most of the time. Bringing unconscious tension into consciousness is what this simple exercise is doing.
@@TaroIwamoto
Thanks for answering, I did som exercises for pain in the base of my neck and noticed I had some jaw pain also.
I’ll continue to try this exercise since I felt a bit of relief after only one time.
Is there anything else I can do that helps with jaw and neck pain?
@@ronniejorgensen5631 you're welcome! Going through my Posture playlist would be highly recommended! plus my neck & shoulder playlist
Sir, my dentist has given me a splint to wear at night on my lower teeth line. I realized that I had this habit of clenching. My TMJ hurts and mri scan shows a disc displacement. I have my symptoms improved a little but what about the day when I am not using the splint. Kindly reply
You are a wizard! 😂
haha:)