If you deal with TMJ-related issues, then you know how unpleasant the symptoms can be: jaw pain, neck pain, headaches, earaches, toothaches or trouble opening or closing your mouth, all of which can put a damper on your everyday life. But there’s one unexpected exercise that could provide the relief you’ve been looking for.
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) connects your lower jawbone to the skull. You have one on each side of your face, just in front of the ears. You may have heard people who have problems with this joint and the surrounding muscles say they “have TMJ.” But the clinical term would be TMD, or a temporomandibular disorder, though some medical professionals may also refer to it as TMJ dysfunction or a TMJ disorder.
I have been on my own journey of figuring out how to manage TMD-related discomfort. I have a custom mouthguard that I wear at night because I clench my teeth while I sleep, which was making my daytime pain worse. I went to physical therapy to learn stretches for the jaw, neck and shoulders, as well as exercises to improve my posture. I have tried to reduce my stress via daily movement and spending more time outside. These things moved the needle, but the real game changer for me was an exercise I stumbled upon on YouTube.
The video by Dr. Priya Mistry, a dentist in Vancouver, Washington, who specializes in TMJ disorders, shows how to release a small jaw muscle I had never heard of before: the lateral pterygoid.
The lateral pterygoid is a fan-shaped muscle with two heads. It lowers the jaw, moves it side to side and is involved in chewing, speaking and clenching.
For many, the lateral pterygoid “can be at the crux of their TMJ problems,” Mistry told HuffPost. When it’s dysfunctional, it can cause a lot of issues, such as jaw pain and pain behind the eyes, and it can be related to pain in the ear and even the teeth, she said.
The lateral pterygoid can be tricky to reach, but Mistry explains step-by-step in the video how you can access it yourself. With a clean or gloved hand, you’ll use your right pinky finger to release your left lateral pterygoid and your left pinky finger to release the one on the right side.
Turn your finger so the nail faces your teeth and the pad of your finger is facing outward, and insert it into your mouth. Put it as far back and up in your mouth as you can, past your last upper molars.
“It’s probably going to be pretty tight in there, and it’s going to feel hard or knotted or like bone,” Mistry says in the video. “And it’s probably going to be pretty tender. That’s how you know you’re in the right area. Because this muscle, when it’s angry, again, it’s fierce.”
When you reach the spot, apply pressure for 10 seconds or so. Then you can change the angle of your finger and apply pressure for another 10 seconds. Do that a few times and then switch sides. She recommends doing this exercise once or twice a day in order to bring fresh blood flow to the muscle and to promote lymphatic drainage.
“It’s kind of like releasing a trigger point or doing a really nice massage. It just releases the muscle,” Mistry told HuffPost. “So it’s not just constantly tight and contracted and referring pain all over the place. It gives it a chance to just sort of let go. It brings it from being from like a constantly contracted position to a much more relaxed position, which will help quite a bit in pain relief.”
Mistry has received a lot of positive feedback about this exercise, both online (it’s her most-viewed YouTube video) and from her patients, she said. The technique is not new ― it has been practiced and taught for many years ― but Mistry’s video how-to has caught on, making it more accessible.
“People find a lot of relief from this. Some people have even told me it helped their jaw get unlocked. Most people told me it helps a lot with the pain, that’s what I hear the most. But some people will tell me it helps them with their range of motion.”
Physical therapist David Denton told HuffPost that when there’s a problem with the lateral pterygoid, such as muscle fatigue or spasms, “patients feel pain constantly during activities not even connected to jaw movements.”
The technique shown in the video is “very effective” for folks looking for exercises they can do at home, as it can be done “accurately and safely, and it provides a substantial deal of relief,” said Denton, an assistant clinical professor of physical therapy at Hanover College in Indiana.
He is also a proponent of trigger point dry needling into the lateral ptyergoid muscle (this would be performed by a trained professional, such as a physical therapist, acupuncturist or medical doctor) and then turning to the finger exercise to “continue to relax the muscle and provide symptom relief” between sessions, he said.
For detailed instructions on how to do the lateral pterygoid release, watch Mistry’s video explainer above. Hopefully, incorporating this exercise into your routine is a positive step toward more pain-free days for you, just like it has been for me.
And though the lateral pterygoid can feel pretty tender and even a bit painful while you’re applying pressure to it, lingering pain is a sign this may not be the right exercise for you, Mistry said.
“So just being really careful and seeing how your body feels after doing this is definitely a good idea,” she said.
