Hey, I used to struggle with jaw clenching, nonstop. My masseters were huge, I looked something like a chipmunk and by the time I found a solution I was having continuous daily pain. I realized I needed help when one day I caught myself rocking back and forth just to cope with how much pain I was in. Saw multiple specialists at several different hospitals.
Full-stop, the most helpful thing was physical therapy. The process itself was super painful, there were exercises we did involving pinching the muscle and me opening my jaw which were easily some of the most piercing moments of my life. There were also these metal scraping things we used which would leave my whole face red and inflamed for many hours. But I would walk away from a session feeling like my muscles were looser.
I think it took about 3 months to get to the point where I was no longer in continuous pain at home. About 6 months (and several thousand dollars of PT - $70 three times a week adds up) until I was comfortable dropping PT.
Two other things that helped, though difficult to know exactly how much:
1. Braces. I had braces a second time in my 20's because it was supposed to help. I think in the end they weren't necessary and PT alone would have been enough. Certainly the pain was gone long before the braces were gone. But my teeth are straight again, so I guess that's a win.
2. An awareness app that beeped at me every 15 minutes. The beep meant "check your jaw, put some space between your teeth (like 1mm) and unclench your muscles". Over time I was able to gain awareness and control over all the muscles in my face and neck and forcibly relax them. I don't think this would have been effective without the PT, my muscles were locked into place when I started PT and it was only the PT that got them loose again.
If I were to start struggling with this issue again, I'd go back to PT and I'd set up a 15 minute beeper again.
Can't stress enough how much PT helped. Through the 6 months, we ended up targeting probably every muscle group from the shoulders up. They were all tense together, and there's no way I would have found all of those muscles on my own, nor identified how much they worked together in causing all the clenching. It really was a whole-face-and-neck problem.
Hmm, I tried PT, but not so intensively. I had been about to target it specifically again before covid hit. Once the pandemic passes I will try this. Thanks!
I wonder how perception of one's own face changes the way people seek treatment for bruxism. A lot of men would view large masseters as a good thing in their own face.
Full-stop, the most helpful thing was physical therapy. The process itself was super painful, there were exercises we did involving pinching the muscle and me opening my jaw which were easily some of the most piercing moments of my life. There were also these metal scraping things we used which would leave my whole face red and inflamed for many hours. But I would walk away from a session feeling like my muscles were looser.
I think it took about 3 months to get to the point where I was no longer in continuous pain at home. About 6 months (and several thousand dollars of PT - $70 three times a week adds up) until I was comfortable dropping PT.
Two other things that helped, though difficult to know exactly how much:
1. Braces. I had braces a second time in my 20's because it was supposed to help. I think in the end they weren't necessary and PT alone would have been enough. Certainly the pain was gone long before the braces were gone. But my teeth are straight again, so I guess that's a win.
2. An awareness app that beeped at me every 15 minutes. The beep meant "check your jaw, put some space between your teeth (like 1mm) and unclench your muscles". Over time I was able to gain awareness and control over all the muscles in my face and neck and forcibly relax them. I don't think this would have been effective without the PT, my muscles were locked into place when I started PT and it was only the PT that got them loose again.
If I were to start struggling with this issue again, I'd go back to PT and I'd set up a 15 minute beeper again.
Can't stress enough how much PT helped. Through the 6 months, we ended up targeting probably every muscle group from the shoulders up. They were all tense together, and there's no way I would have found all of those muscles on my own, nor identified how much they worked together in causing all the clenching. It really was a whole-face-and-neck problem.