Stress and Jaw Pain
If your jaw starts to hurt or ache when you are experiencing stress, you’re not alone. Many people report that stress and jaw pain go hand in hand. When a person experiences stress, their body reacts in a number of ways, all of which are designed to help people handle the stressful situation. When stress is continuous, these physical reactions can cause larger problems; for example, when people clench or grind their teeth during stressful situations and find themselves experiencing frequent stress, chronic clenching or grinding strains the jaw and the muscles that support it and increases the amount of pressure the jaw joints undergo. This can cause soreness or pain in the jaw and the muscles that support and surround it, and it can lead to toothaches, earaches, or even headaches. Managing stress can help reduce its physical symptoms, including jaw pain.
The first step in managing stress is to identify the things that cause stress in the first place. Pay attention to times when you feel stress starting to arise, whether it’s a certain time of day or specific events or actions that trigger stress responses. Whenever possible, adjust your situation to avoid stressors. If you can prepare ahead of time for potentially stressful situations, this could help reduce the stress. Many times, people feel stress when they are underprepared, and effective planning can help keep stress at bay. Setting reasonable goals and priorities can also help. Take the time to prioritize things that need to be completed first, and be realistic about the timeline for things that can wait. Also, take the time to recognize your own accomplishments, work on learning to say no to things that might add to your stress load, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
If you can’t avoid your stressors, try to modify how you respond to them. Work on choosing your response to stressors, rather than simply reacting to them. Take a moment to breathe, and see if you can create some emotional distance between stress triggers and your reaction to them. If something is beyond your control, try to locate the things about it that you can control, and work on accepting that you can’t control everything. Breathing through anger or other damaging emotions can help reduce their intensity and duration, and taking the time to list or otherwise note positive experiences and moments of gratitude can also help keep things in perspective.
To the best of your ability, try to lead a healthy lifestyle. A regular sleep schedule can make a world of difference, and you should aim to get about eight hours of sleep on a consistent cycle. Exercise can also help reduce stress, as it increases the amount of feel-good chemicals in the brain. Even a simple 30-minute walk three to five times a week can make a world of difference. Finding effective, purposeful ways to relax can also help balance stress, especially unavoidable stress. These relaxation techniques could involve listening to music, engaging in an enjoyable hobby, meditating or using focused breathing techniques, yoga, mindfulness, or anything else that helps you relax and divert your focus to something calming. If stress-related jaw pain continues, a physical therapist or massage therapist could help relieve jaw pain. With professional help from one of these specialists, symptoms like neck pain, immobility, and pain while chewing and talking can be reduced or eliminated, and normal function can be restored.
If you are experiencing jaw pain, you may be suffering from bruxism. Over time, this can lead to cracked teeth and the need for extraction. Reach out today if you are experiencing pain and suspect you may be clenching and/or grinding your teeth.