Have you ever suddenly noticed that you’re clenching your jaw?
Maybe you’re sitting at your laptop, driving, concentrating on something or lying in bed trying to fall asleep, and you realise your teeth are pressed together and your jaw has been tense without you even noticing.
Or perhaps your dentist has told you that you have bruxism, the term used for involuntary or habitual clenching and grinding of the teeth, often during sleep.
Maybe you don’t grind at all. You simply notice that you clench, holding your teeth or jaw tightly together, particularly when you’re concentrating or stressed.
For some people, it happens mostly during stressful periods. For others, jaw tension has become such a familiar holding pattern that they barely notice it anymore.
Until it starts to hurt.
You may experience aching around the jaw, clicking or popping when you open your mouth, tension around your temples, headaches, tightness through your face or neck, or the feeling that you simply cannot get your jaw to properly relax.
And sometimes, the jaw is only one part of a much bigger pattern.
This is one of the reasons I find the jaw so interesting to work with in CranioSacral Therapy.
Rather than treating it as an isolated joint, we can look at the relationship between the jaw, cranium, neck, fascia, breathing and nervous system, as well as what might be happening in the rest of your body.
What Is the TMJ?
TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint.
You have one on either side of your face, connecting your lower jaw, or mandible, to the temporal bones of your skull.
You can feel them yourself.
Place your fingers just in front of your ears and slowly open and close your mouth. The movement you feel underneath your fingers is happening at your temporomandibular joints.
These joints are involved every time you speak, chew, swallow, yawn or open your mouth.
Between the bones of each joint is a small articular disc that helps the jaw move smoothly. A number of muscles, ligaments and fascial structures also contribute to the movement and stability of the jaw.
Because we use our jaws constantly, changes in this area can become very noticeable.
What Does TMJ Dysfunction Feel Like?
TMJ dysfunction, sometimes referred to as TMD or temporomandibular disorder, can show up in different ways.
You might experience:
- jaw pain or aching
- jaw clenching
- grinding your teeth, particularly at night
- clicking or popping when opening your mouth
- difficulty opening the mouth comfortably
- tension through the cheeks or temples
- headaches
- pain around the ear
- tension through the neck and shoulders
- a feeling that your bite is uncomfortable or different
- facial tension that becomes worse during stressful periods
Some people have significant jaw tension without much pain.
Others first become aware of the problem because their dentist notices signs of grinding or wear on their teeth.
And sometimes what feels like a jaw problem is connected to a wider pattern through the head, neck and body.
Why Do We Clench Our Jaws?
There is no single reason.
Jaw clenching and teeth grinding can be influenced by many things, including sleep-related bruxism, stress, bite and dental factors, certain medications and other physical or neurological influences.
But the nervous system can also play an important role.
Think about what your body naturally does when you are concentrating intensely, frustrated, angry or under pressure.
You may hold your breath.
Your shoulders rise.
Your stomach tightens.
And your jaw clenches.
You probably don’t consciously decide to do any of those things.
They happen automatically.
If that response occurs repeatedly, it can gradually become a familiar holding pattern.
You may no longer need to be particularly stressed in that moment for your jaw to tighten. Your body has simply become very practised at holding itself that way.
This is where working with the nervous system as well as the physical structures can become particularly interesting.
For a deeper look at this, you can read CranioSacral Therapy for Vagus Nerve & Nervous System Regulation.
[LINK → /craniosacral-therapy-for-nervous-system-regulation/]
The Jaw Doesn’t Exist in Isolation
If your jaw hurts, it makes sense to focus on the jaw.
But anatomically, the TMJ is connected to a much larger system.
The jaw interacts with the bones of the cranium, muscles of the face and neck, the tongue, throat, cervical spine and surrounding fascia.
Your posture can influence how your head sits above your spine, which can affect muscular relationships around the jaw and neck.
Breathing patterns can matter too.
And then there is fascia.
Fascia and TMJ Tension
Fascia is a continuous network of connective tissue throughout the body.
It surrounds and connects muscles, bones, nerves, organs, blood vessels and other structures.
Rather than imagining each muscle as an independent piece, it can be more useful to think of the body as an interconnected network.
The fascia around the jaw does not suddenly stop at the edge of your face.
It has relationships with structures through the cranium, neck, throat, shoulders and further into the body.
This means the place where you feel tension is not necessarily the only place involved in the pattern.
Someone may come to me with jaw tension, for example, but during the session I may notice restrictions or holding through the neck, base of the skull, shoulders, ribcage or elsewhere.
That does not mean the jaw is irrelevant.
It means we do not have to treat it as though it exists by itself.
How Does CranioSacral Therapy Work With the Jaw?
CranioSacral Therapy uses light physical contact to work with the body’s tissues, fascia and craniosacral system.
During a session, you remain fully clothed while lying comfortably on a treatment table.
If jaw tension is one of the reasons you have come to see me, I may work around the cranium, temporal bones, jaw, neck and base of the skull.
But I may also work elsewhere.
The sacrum, spine, shoulders, ribcage, diaphragm or other areas may become relevant depending on the pattern I am noticing through your body.
When appropriate, we can also work with some of the structures from inside the mouth.
With your permission, and only if you are completely comfortable with it, I can use a gloved hand to make light contact with specific structures inside the mouth that relate to the jaw, palate and surrounding tissues.
This is always discussed with you beforehand. It is completely optional, and you can change your mind or ask me to stop at any point.
For some people, intraoral work gives us another way of working with areas of tension that are difficult to access externally.
We do not necessarily need to do this because you have TMJ tension. It is simply one of the options available to us depending on what your body is presenting and what you feel comfortable with.
Whether we are working inside or outside the mouth, the principle remains the same.
Rather than applying strong pressure to the jaw or trying to force it to relax, I pay attention to the way the tissues respond beneath my hands.
Sometimes the change is very subtle.
You may notice warmth around your face.
Your jaw may suddenly feel heavier.
Your teeth may naturally separate.
You might swallow, sigh, take a deeper breath or suddenly find yourself yawning.
Yawning can sometimes appear as the nervous system shifts state and the body begins to settle. During a session, I pay attention to things such as yawning, sighing, swallowing and changes in breathing because they can accompany a change in autonomic state or a release of tension.
An area around the neck or base of the skull may begin to soften.
Sometimes the change happens somewhere that seems completely unrelated to the jaw.
This is part of what makes working with fascia so interesting.
Jaw Tension and the Nervous System
For some people, the jaw is one of the first places their nervous system shows stress.
You may have noticed that your jaw becomes tighter when you are under pressure, concentrating intensely or trying to hold everything together.
The sympathetic nervous system, commonly associated with fight or flight, prepares the body for action.
Muscles brace. Breathing changes. The body becomes more alert and ready to respond.
This is useful when action is actually required.
The problem is when that activation becomes difficult to switch off.
You may finish work, sit down on the sofa and technically be resting while your body is still behaving as though it needs to be ready for something.
Your jaw can be part of that.
CranioSacral Therapy gives us an opportunity to work with the physical tension while also allowing the wider nervous system to slow down.
Sometimes the jaw releases as the nervous system settles.
Sometimes working with the physical holding itself seems to help the whole person settle.
The relationship can go both ways.
What About Anger, Holding Back and Unspoken Feelings?
This is an area I find particularly interesting, but I also think it is important not to oversimplify it.
A tight jaw does not automatically mean you have repressed anger.
There are many physical reasons for jaw tension, and if you have persistent jaw pain, locking, significant changes in your bite or dental symptoms, appropriate medical or dental assessment matters.
But sometimes there is an emotional relationship.
We even use expressions such as:
“I had to bite my tongue.”
“I gritted my teeth and got through it.”
“I couldn’t say what I really wanted to say.”
“I just kept it in.”
Our language reflects something we often experience physically.
We hold ourselves back.
We stop ourselves speaking.
We keep things in.
We tolerate something we do not actually want.
We smile when we are angry.
We say yes when part of us wants to say no.
And sometimes the body participates in that.
During the conversation at the beginning of a session, I may therefore ask about more than your jaw.
What has been happening recently?
When does the tension become worse?
What were you feeling at the time?
Are there situations in which you notice yourself clenching more?
Are there recurring patterns around speaking up, boundaries, pressure or responsibility?
We are not trying to invent an emotional story for your jaw pain.
We are simply curious about whether there is one.
Can Emotions Surface When the Jaw Releases?
They can.
Sometimes an area of physical or fascial tension begins to soften and an emotion appears alongside it.
You might suddenly feel tearful.
You may feel anger.
A memory or image might come into your mind.
Or you may simply notice a feeling that you cannot immediately explain.
In bodywork, this is sometimes described as the body or tissues “holding memory”.
That does not necessarily mean fascia stores conscious memories in the same way as the brain.
But our experiences involve our whole body.
Stress, fear, anger and overwhelm can influence breathing, muscular tension, posture and the way we physically hold ourselves.
Over time, these responses can become familiar patterns.
Sometimes when the physical pattern begins to change, something associated with it seems to surface too.
If that happens during one of my sessions, you do not need to stay silent.
We can talk.
My wider background in EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, somatic and energy work means I am comfortable supporting the emotional side of a session when it naturally appears.
Equally, we do not go searching for an emotional release.
Sometimes jaw work is simply jaw work.
Fascia, the Jaw and Unwinding
Another experience that can happen during CranioSacral Therapy is unwinding.
As fascial tension changes, the body may begin to move spontaneously without you consciously directing the movement.
With jaw and neck work, this might be very subtle.
Your head may slowly turn to one side.
Your jaw may shift or your mouth may want to open.
Your neck may move into a position that feels like a stretch.
Or a movement may travel further through the shoulder, spine or rest of the body.
I do not choreograph these movements or decide where your body should go.
I support and follow what is emerging.
Sometimes an unwinding ends with a sigh, swallow, deeper breath, yawn or noticeable softening.
Sometimes an emotion or memory appears with it.
And sometimes it is simply movement.
If you are curious about what unwinding and the rest of a session actually feel like, you can read What to Expect in Your First CranioSacral Session.
What About Teeth Grinding at Night?
Night-time teeth grinding, or sleep bruxism, is a little different because you obviously cannot consciously tell yourself to stop clenching or grinding while you are asleep.
If you grind or clench your teeth regularly, particularly if there is tooth wear, sensitivity or significant jaw pain, it is worth speaking with your dentist.
A dentist may recommend a night guard or investigate other contributing factors.
CranioSacral Therapy does not replace that.
What bodywork can offer is another way of exploring the muscular, fascial and nervous system patterns that may be present alongside the bruxism.
For someone whose jaw tension noticeably increases during periods of stress, working with the wider nervous system may be particularly relevant.
How Many Sessions Might I Need for TMJ Tension?
There is no fixed answer.
It depends on what is contributing to the tension, how long it has been present and how your body responds.
Someone with relatively recent stress-related jaw tension may have a very different experience from someone who has been grinding their teeth for years or has a more complex structural TMJ problem.
I prefer not to decide before meeting you that you need a particular number of sessions.
We start with what is happening now.
Then we see how your body responds.
After a CranioSacral Session for Jaw Tension
After a session, you may notice that your jaw feels softer or that your teeth naturally sit slightly further apart.
You might become more aware of just how often you normally clench.
Your neck or shoulders may feel different too.
Sometimes people feel deeply relaxed or tired after CranioSacral Therapy, particularly if they have been functioning in a highly activated state for a long time.
When the body finally has an opportunity to settle, you may suddenly become aware of how tired you actually are.
I recommend drinking a little more water than usual afterwards. CranioSacral Therapy involves working with the body’s tissues and fluid systems, and good hydration supports normal tissue and fascial function.
Over the following day or two, simply notice what your jaw does.
When does it tighten?
What are you doing at the time?
What are you feeling?
You may begin noticing a pattern that previously happened completely outside your awareness.
That awareness itself can be useful.
CranioSacral Therapy for TMJ With Me
When someone comes to me with jaw tension, I am interested in the jaw.
But I am also interested in you.
What is happening physically?
What is happening in your nervous system?
Where else is your body holding tension?
When does the clenching happen?
Is there a recurring emotional or behavioural pattern alongside it?
Does your body know how to let go once the stressful moment has passed?
My approach brings together my training in CranioSacral Therapy, Yoga and Meditation, EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, Somatic and Energy Work.
That does not mean every session needs to become emotional.
Sometimes we talk.
Sometimes we work almost entirely through the body.
Sometimes fascia unwinds.
Sometimes an emotion or memory appears.
And sometimes you simply become very, very relaxed and your jaw finally stops trying to do quite so much.
I practise in the beautiful therapy rooms at HUMA in Estoril.
If you are new to CranioSacral Therapy, you may also want to read:
What Is CranioSacral Therapy? The Ultimate Beginner Guide
For more about the connection between CST and regulation:
CranioSacral Therapy for Vagus Nerve & Nervous System Regulation
Or, if you want to know exactly what happens when you come for your first appointment:
What to Expect in Your First CranioSacral Session
Your jaw may be where you feel the tension.
It does not necessarily mean that is where the whole pattern begins or ends.
Book a CranioSacral Therapy session with Natalie.