You bite down on your favorite food only to experience throbbing pain in your jaw. Several factors might be the cause of your interrupted meal. If you’re dealing with high levels of anxiety, for example, you could be grinding your teeth at night and putting tons of unneeded stress on your poor jaw muscles.
The good news is there are ways to solve your jaw pain and start enjoying food again. Using a cold or warm cloth and practicing relaxation techniques are a pretty good start, but they’re only a start. Keep reading to learn more.
Treat It With Cold (Or Warmth)
For bad lower jaw pain, you can use a warm or cold cloth to relax the muscles and reduce any swelling. Either option will suit this purpose, so use the one that works best for you.
If you use the warm method, toss a damp cloth in the microwave for at least a minute. As far as cold goes, the old cloth wrapped around an ice pack will do.
Make sure that you only leave the ice pack on your jaw until the pain starts to subside, and don’t put it on your bare skin.
Watch Your Diet
If you’re constantly snacking down on jawbreakers and other hard candies, that would be the main cause of your under jaw pain. You’ve got to watch what you eat. Reach for softer choices when you can.
If the feeling in your jaw is unbearable, you might want to shelve chewy foods and gum for a bit as well.
Relax a Little
If you find yourself stressed more often than not, there’s only so much Warren Orthodontics can do for you. You’re going to have to try and calm yourself down if you want to have any jaw pain relief.
You see, when you’re feeling anxiety, you form little habits such as clenching your jaw or resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Both these things put some serious strain on your jaw muscles.
You could also be grinding your teeth without even realizing it. In fact, most people experience bruxism while they’re fast asleep at night.
Chew On Both Sides of Your Mouth
If you only chew on one side of your mouth all the time, you’ll be putting a lot of strain on it. If you want to keep a jaw pain headache away, alternate sides a little.
You should also be sure to chew with your back teeth rather than your front. Most people do this naturally, but it’s still something worth noting.
Take Control of Your Jaw Pain
Are you tired of experiencing debilitating jaw pain? There are a million and one reasons why you may be experiencing this problem, but the good news is there are just as many ways to fix it.
Follow the steps that we’ve given you here, and you’ll be well on your way toward having the relief that you’ve been looking for. You’ll also need to take care of your oral health. For more tips on that, visit the Health section of our blog.