If you are constantly clenching your jaw then you don’t need me to tell you how frustrating and even painful it can be. You feel like it should be something that you can control, but inexplicably your jaw gets tense and clenches before you notice it even happening. In this article I’m going to list a few ways that you can combat a clenched jaw and get back to living with a healthy, relaxed jaw.

Before we start anything, it’s very important that you go and see your doctor or dentist. They will of course give you the best advice. If you don’t think it warrants a trip to the doctor but you still want to do something about it, then read on. So, The reason your jaw is clenching is usually because of either stress, bad posture, past trauma or genetic make up. Most of the time it is stress and I’ll tell you a few ways to deal with that now. When you stress often, you build up tension in your body. If this continues consistently, then your jaw will eventually be effected and the muscles in your jaw will become tight and rigid. This can continue until eventually in some cases, lock jaw can happen.

So you need to stress as little as possible. To do this you need to practice awareness. Take a look at your thoughts and environment, what causes you to stress, where are you when  your jaw starts clenching? Is your jaw clenching at night?Whenever you start to feel clenching or stress, take a few minutes out if you can; close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes. This might not seem like it will do anything, but it is a fantastic help to your jaw and body overall. As well as this, always try to sit and stand with correct posture. When you slouch, your back is put under too much stress and other parts of your body are left to pick up the work. This can again lead to tension build up in your jaw and even more restriction in movement. So sit with your back straight and your shoulders back. If you’re sitting in your chair now, sit properly and notice how if affects the rest of your body.

Ok so there are two very simple ways to help stop your clenching jaw. If these things aren’t doing it for you, then you may want to consider TMJ exercises or TMJ mouth guards. These have both been designed to help people with jaw pain and can be very beneficial for you, especially the exercises. So remember, eat right, do exercise, stay relaxed and keep correct posture; your jaw will love you for it.