3 reasons why you need to stop clenching your jaw

I’m sure you are guilty of this.

You have deadlines to meet, busy work/life schedules and feel like that you have no time on your hands. Your stress levels start to creep up and you begin to clench your jaw. I mean really clench your jaw. Soon enough you may begin to develop headaches, neck pain and that annoying click in your jaw. On the other side of the coin, you notice that you are favouring one side of your body more than the other and 6 months down the track you develop low back pain that has been diagnosed as a disc issue.  

What’s the go? Your jaw (temporamandibular joint TMJ) is one of the most sensory innervated structures in your body. In plain English, it tells your body where it is in space. ‘Where the head goes the body will follow’. With his in mind, if your jaw dysfunction due to over clenching/grinding causes you to stick out your jaw more, it will shift your body forward switching off the chain of muscles in your back. Conversely if you jaw deviates to one side it will make you favour more that side you are deviating to, switching off the other side of your body.

It is not your jaws fault, it just think it is giving you the best chance in stabilising your body. Doing endless amount of  activation for your glutes or ‘core’ will be an absolute waste of time if your jaw is trying to do all the work.

Know where your jaw is positioned.

Think your jaw is the culprit to your body woes?

Book Online below and finally get your body issues sorted. 

Poor Breathing Patterns And Your Pain: The Missing Link

Lets start with a little test. Standing upright and take a big breath in, as much as possible, do it with a group of people to see what everyone else is doing. Did you notice peoples shoulders elevating to the ceiling, there neck muscles straining and not much movement in their stomachs?

Dysfunctional breathing patterns are unfortunately more common due to our sedentary sitting lifestyle and other factors as well. Introducing to you the diaphragm.

This dome shaped muscles sits just above your liver and is responsible for breathing. However due to our poor postures, time poor lifestyle and less than optimum stress control mechanisms, our breathing patterns have taken a hit. It is no wonder then why people now-days are suffering from chronic neck, low back and even jaw pain. No amount of stretching, releasing, prodding or poking your painful areas will fix it. 

Diaphragmatic breathing is advantageous as it is more energy efficient, which means that you will feel less tired and more energized. It will also help regulate your nervous system from a sympathetic state (think of fighting off a saber toothed tiger) to a parasympathetic state (laying on a beach getting your tan on). If you have pain this will also help reduce your pain and control it more effectively.  For the athletes reading this, utilising diaphragmatic breathing will improve your performance by up to 30%.

So now you know the importance of diaphragm breathing, the key is implanting it. A simple and effective way is to lay on your back and place a kettlebell(12 – 16 kg) on your belly. Whilst breathing in through your nose, try to lift the kettle with your belly. The weight will act as a cue to your brain to help use your diaphragm more effectively.

If you have had previous long standing injuries that have not resolved with traditional treatments, diaphragmatic retraining and other rehab-focused exercises used at Kinetic Healthcare may be a solution.

Book online below to get your issues sorted.