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Remedial jaw Exercises.
The purpose of the exercise is to
prevent clicking of the jaw and to strengthen the muscles which pull your jaw
backwards. It will relax the muscles which pull your jaw forwards or to one side
as you open your mouth and this will take the strain off your joints.
Set aside two five minutes periods
every day at a time when you are relaxed
and have nothing on your mind. One good time is just before you go to bed and
another perhaps when you get home from work. Sit upright in a chair and carry
out the following manoeuvres.
1. Close your mouth with your back
teeth together, resting the tip of your tongue on your palate just behind the
upper front teeth.
2. Run the tip of your tongue
backwards on to the soft palate as far back as it will go, keeping the teeth in
contact.
3. Force the tongue back to
maintain contact with the soft palate, and slowly open your mouth until you feel
your tongue just being pulled away from the soft palate. Do not try to open your
mouth further. Keep it in this position for five seconds and then close your
mouth. Relax for five seconds.
4. Repeat this manoeuvre slowly
over the next five minutes in a firm but relaxed fashion.
As you open your mouth you should
feel tension in the muscles at the back of your jaw and beneath your chin. For
the first few times that you do the exercise you should check in front of a
mirror that the lower teeth move vertically downwards; that is that there is no
movement from side to side as you open your mouth. If the exercise is carried
out correctly there will be no clicks or noise from the joints.
Do this exercise no more than the
recommended amount for the first week. Initially it may seem to make your pain
worse but this will be as a result of unaccustomed exercise. After the first
week do the exercise as often as you can as this will help to strengthen the
ligaments around your joints.
If this exercise is carried out
correctly and regularly over a two to three week period you will retrain your
muscles so that your jaw opens and closes smoothly without clicks and any pain
that you are experiencing will subside.
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