DANCING WITH THE FACE:
How stress manifests in the
jaw, teeth, tongue, throat, face and skull.
All our lives we live under stress. That stress takes a tole, especially if it's never addressed. One of the places that stress thrives is in the face and head, especially in the jaw joints, tongue and throat. We are often not aware of the tension because in some cases stress builds up our entire life to never be released. That chronic tension affects us in unconscious ways.
The 3 sections of this article deal with reducing stress in these areas:
1)The jaw and tongue, 2) The throat, 3) The face and skull.
1)The jaw and tongue, 2) The throat, 3) The face and skull.
The main culprit: the Jaw Joint.
The jaw joint deserves special mention. Jaw tension is so prevalent in modern society. Often evidenced by teeth grinding, it is penetrating enough to directly affect health significantly, not to mention its effect on the condition of the teeth.
The TMJ (Temporomandibular) joint, aka the jaw joint, is located in front of the ear and is composed of the temporalis bone and the mandible (the jaw bone). Jaw joint disorders can encompass the head, eyes, mouth, neck, teeth, jaw, ears and/or throat. You can see how profoundly tension in this joint affects health. TMJ tension can actually destroy your teeth.
The TMJ (Temporomandibular) joint, aka the jaw joint, is located in front of the ear and is composed of the temporalis bone and the mandible (the jaw bone). Jaw joint disorders can encompass the head, eyes, mouth, neck, teeth, jaw, ears and/or throat. You can see how profoundly tension in this joint affects health. TMJ tension can actually destroy your teeth.
Teeth Grinding:
Stress often causes us to grind our teeth particularly when times are tough. We grimace, we grip our teeth together and we grind our teeth in our sleep. Not only does it destroy the teeth but it tenses the entire body chronically, internalizing anxiety you can ill afford. Check with your dentist regarding grinding and follow their recommendations. That will mitigate damage to the teeth. It is up to us however to 1) find healthier ways to handle stress and 2) change our chronic stress reactions when we are in the midst.
- Use a night guard: This is the most important action to take to limit tooth damage from grinding. It is a device molded to your teeth which you wear during the night. It protects the teeth by keeping them from gripping together. Attention should be paid to soft versus hard guards. The latter apparently are better for grinding but you should talk to your dentist.
- Determine why you are under so much stress. There may well be multiple reasons. Try to alleviate each stress other ways. See Stressful Times for ideas.
- Release tension in the jaw joint using the Mandible Release. Stretch the mouth wide. Excellent to practice just before you go to sleep.
- During the day become aware of when your teeth are touching and/or gripping. Stop and deliberately relax your tooth grip, keeping your teeth slightly apart.
With stress reduction, dealing with jaw tension is central. Clenching the teeth or even just having them touch harms the teeth. Releasing the jaw tension in a healthier manner is paramount. The Mandible Release is one way.
To reduce tension in the jaw joint:
- The mandible is the jaw bone: The tension that connects the jaw bone to the head is ever-present and very difficult to release. Like many of our joints, the jaw joint is capable of moving in lots of directions. However, we usually use it only one way, to open and close the mouth. This habit plus stress makes the joint very tight.
- The Mandible Release: Use your hand to move the jaw bone without moving the head: Take your jaw in your right hand with your thumb underneath and the side of your index finger on top of the chin. Keep the head stationary as you use your hand to open and close the jaw. Try to let the hand control the movement. It is difficult to do but essential in releasing jaw tension. Manipulate the jaw open and closed until it moves freely and smoothly. You can also move the jaw bone side to side with your hand. And your hand can make small circles with the jaw bone in each direction. As noted above, this is a great thing to do right before going to sleep at night, especially for those who grind their teeth.
The interesting role of the tongue:
The tongue plays a special role in tension in the mouth. It will dart around, obsessively rubbing the teeth. It will press against the top teeth. It often gets into the act when we are focusing, apparently thinking that tongue tension is necessary in order to get something done.
Relaxed environment for the mouth: In a perfect world, when the mouth is relaxed: the teeth never touch each other, the lips gently touch, the tongue is suspended in a spacious mouth cavity. Become aware of your own habits when you concentrate, when you watch something scary on TV, when you write on Facebook, when you drive. Notice what your tongue feels like when you wake in the morning. Notice the position of your teeth and notice your tongue movement. Try to consciously create a relaxed environment for your mouth.
The ideal resting position for the tongue: There are several positions that are good for the tongue. The ideal is to place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind the top front teeth, not touching them. I also like just resting the tongue within the bed of the lower teeth or suspending the tongue within the mouth cavity, without it touching anything. See what feels best to you.
Relaxed environment for the mouth: In a perfect world, when the mouth is relaxed: the teeth never touch each other, the lips gently touch, the tongue is suspended in a spacious mouth cavity. Become aware of your own habits when you concentrate, when you watch something scary on TV, when you write on Facebook, when you drive. Notice what your tongue feels like when you wake in the morning. Notice the position of your teeth and notice your tongue movement. Try to consciously create a relaxed environment for your mouth.
The ideal resting position for the tongue: There are several positions that are good for the tongue. The ideal is to place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind the top front teeth, not touching them. I also like just resting the tongue within the bed of the lower teeth or suspending the tongue within the mouth cavity, without it touching anything. See what feels best to you.
To reduce tension in the tongue and mouth:
- Do not touch your teeth: Either with your fingers or your tongue. Catch when your tongue is doing it and change the habit. The teeth are sensitive and full of nerve endings. They actually start to hurt when they are touched. If your teeth start to ache, notice what your tongue is doing.
- Do not let the teeth touch each other: It is easy to rest with your back teeth together, especially if you rest your head on your hand. And sometimes you will find yourself with your teeth unconsciously gripping. The teeth should never touch. Never. Break yourself of the habit whether you are resting or concentrating or doing something.
- If you notice tongue activity, then relax your tongue in a resting position and return to what you were doing but this time keep the tongue relaxed. Practice concentrating while keeping the tongue relaxed.
- Stretch the tongue: Sticking your tongue out is wonderful. In all different directions. So is yawning. A great but odd exercise is to take a handkerchief and use it to grab onto the end of your tongue. Relax the tongue and very gently pull it outward.
- The "cooling breath" is an excellent way to increase the capacity of your lungs while providing a healthy environment for the tongue and mouth. The exercise automatically deepens the breath. Inhale through a slightly pursed mouth and a tongue curled lengthwise. Exhale gently through an open mouth and relax everything. For more see How to Breathe.
My own tooth health is my physical Achilles Heel. I have tried everything to change the tension patterns I have lived with most of my life to little effect. That is until I discovered the role the tongue plays. Taking the steps recommended here has reduced my own jaw tension substantially in a surprisingly short period of time (3 months). Of particular help to me is the advice to not let your tongue touch your teeth. Just this simple piece of advice alone has reduced the stress in my mouth dramatically. Amazingly, grinding has lessened substantially.
TMJ (jaw joint) tension is notoriously difficult to address because of the depth of habit. Approaching it through correcting the behavior of the tongue presents a novel, intriguing and effective solution that ultimately reduces the TMJ problem itself.
The Throat:
One of the immediate things that stress induced tension does is to make breathing more shallow. When stressed out we hike our shoulders to our ears, our necks tighten, our chest caves in tightening and our breathing becomes more rapid and superficial. We receive less oxygen which means less oxygen is absorbed into the cells of the body. With less oxygen feeding our body, our health is compromised. As we feel tension in the breathing process, the throat also tightens in an effort to inhale into lungs that are tense.
In general, stress reduction is based on relaxing the breathing process. For more on that please refer to How to Breathe and When Breathing is Difficult. One element of the breathing process is throat tension. We need a relaxed and expansive trachea to breathe well. Jaw tension tightens that channel. A feeling of chocking or trouble swallowing is sometimes experienced.
Often throat relief comes with breath improvement and deep breathing exercises should be the staple of any stress reduction program. But specific local tension reduction comes with a number of different methods. We actually are rich with choices:
In general, stress reduction is based on relaxing the breathing process. For more on that please refer to How to Breathe and When Breathing is Difficult. One element of the breathing process is throat tension. We need a relaxed and expansive trachea to breathe well. Jaw tension tightens that channel. A feeling of chocking or trouble swallowing is sometimes experienced.
Often throat relief comes with breath improvement and deep breathing exercises should be the staple of any stress reduction program. But specific local tension reduction comes with a number of different methods. We actually are rich with choices:
To reduce tension in the throat:
- Vocal exercise: One of the best ways to resolve throat tension is to sing. Try inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth making a gently sound as you breathe out. Practice the scales. Include deep breathing to avoid straining your voice. Do not do this with others in an enclosed space. Best done on your own outdoors if possible.
- Yawning is one of the all time great exercises! You can make yourself yawn. It stretches the muscles directly around the throat.
- Neck Stretches: Stretching the muscles on the outside of the neck helps too. Tilt the head over to the side and breathe.
- Carotid Maneuver: This is a great stress reduction technique that works quickly to reduce the heart rate and therefore stress. It comes with some cautions so you should read Panic Attacks for specific directions.
The Face and Scalp: Massage is the answer.
Face Massage: Muscles get tight all over the face. We often wear our feelings on our face. You can see it in and around the eyes especially. And the sides of the mouth get grim on many. Facial massage is not only good for improving the health and vitality of your skin, it is also good for reducing stress. There are a number of excellent facial massage videos on the Internet. This is one very short one that I like.
Scalp Massage: While you're at it, include some scalp massage too. Use your fingers to make small circling motions throughout your scalp. Grab hairfulls of hair near the root and gently pull away from the scalp. Start at the nape of the neck and pull gently upward.
A brief facial stress reduction plan:
- Tongue: Stop touching your teeth with your tongue.
- Teeth: Use a nightguard if you grind your teeth.
- Jaw Release: Do the Mandible Release before bedtime.
- Throat Relief: Exhale sound, singing (outdoors, alone)
- Face Massage: Massage under and around the eyes, the temple, the forehead. In general, massage upward.
- Skull Massage: Grab your hair near the roots and gently move the skin around on the skull. Massage the skull while washing your hair. Use small finger circles throughout.
No matter what else you do, make sure you get 30 minutes of exercise a day. It relieves stress like nothing else. It prevent's illness and improves health more effectively than anything. If you have issues with your balance or having falls then balance exercise is recommended for those 30 minutes or more. Building Better Balance is a terrific choice. It brings wonderful exercise and talk into your living room where you can learn as well as have fun.
Published October 28, 2020