When almost everyone thinks of the benefits of chiropractic care, they think about relieving back pain, restoring their posture, or correctly aligning their spine. This focus on the back and the spine as the main outlets for chiropractic care make sense, because these are the primary areas that chiropractors deal with.
However, there are others, that can be just as beneficial to your wellbeing. One of the least recognized areas that chiropractic care covers is the jaw. Having a tight jaw can impact your body in many ways, negatively impacting your physical and mental health.
How Your Jaw Is Like Your Spine
The reason that chiropractors can help to alleviate the tightness and pain in your jaw is because of a strong similarity between your spine and jaw. Your jawbone is connected on either side by your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This gives your jaw its unique range of motion, allowing you to chew and bite. Your TMJ is supported by a disc that plays a similar role to the discs in your spine, and because of this similarity, similar problems can arise. Just like your spine, your jaw can get out of line, due to repetitive movements or straining.
What Causes A Tight Jaw
Like other chiropractic issues, TMJ disorders have many suspected causes, both acute and chronic. Blunt trauma, such as being punched, is an obvious cause of the jaw inflammation present in TMJ disorders, but most people suffering from a tight jaw have a less obvious explanation for their suffering.
Stress, which can lead to jaw clenching and teeth grinding, is a predominant precursor for TMJ disorders, and can lead to chronic jaw pain. Proper posture also plays a role here, and if you aren’t aligning your head and neck, this strain can lead to jaw tightness.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help
Regardless of what it is that’s causing your jaw to tighten inflamed, proper chiropractic jaw alignment can help you get back on the path to a soothed jaw. Chiropractic care can help to realign a tight jaw. By correcting the behaviour that is causing your jaw tightness, this will give you back pain-free range of motion.
It can also be used to reduce the stress levels that can contribute to TMJ disorders, as well as teaching you about the proper posture with which to support your head and neck. This will help to ease the chronic nature of most jaw pain, and empower you to keep your jaw stress-free.
If you are suffering from a tight jaw, give us a call! Our outstanding team at Petett Chiropractic will work with you to relieve your pain, all the while teaching you about the proper maintenance to prevent future jaw tightness.