What is TMJ?
Digestion begins in the mouth. And I’m not just referring to food.
The TMJ (temporomandibular joint) connects the jaw to the skull. Grinding your teeth during sleep, ear pain, headaches, chronic migraines, soreness of the masseter and temporalis, tightness through the neck, are all common symptoms of tmj dysfunction. Like many chronic soft tissue pains, the cause of TMJ dysfunction is rather unknown. I've pondered it and observed it over the last 8 years and come to my own insight, which I'm sure is not original but is maybe quite a unique perspective compared to others you'll find on the internet.
I’ve said it before and I'll continue to say it- nothing is happening in the body (specific to the muscular system here) by mistake. When we speak about the ‘soma’ or the body of a human, we speak to the whole: psyche, body, energetics, emotions, experiences, etc- essentially anything that interacts with a human being's experience. And the way our soma experiences sensation and feeling, specifically in our muscles and other soft tissues, is via our autonomic nervous systems.
You would have seen it in many movies, when there is a scene with tension, anger or especially inner frustration, and the man (or woman’s) jaw pulsates. Their fight energy is in the masseter, the muscle that sits on the side of your lower jaw bone (mandible).
It is unclear why TMJ syndrome or dysfunction is becoming so prevalent, why people are grinding their teeth and clenching their jaws at night asleep, ending up with more headaches. Most health practitioners will tell you it’s stress. But I'm forever curious- what causes you unhealthy levels of stress that communicates to our bodies that we are under threat and need to prepare to fight, flight or flee? What are we thinking about, consciously or not, that is creating a surge in our stress hormones, even if we are merely hypothesising or essentially imagining the outcomes that haven't happened yet? Is this way of thinking and responding telling us we are fear driven? How much of our time do we spend in the future expecting the worst? And down the rabbit hole we go…
Stress is in the eye (or the mouth) of the beholder, it manifests slightly differently for everyone, so let’s unpack it.
Deadlines (what a word), time pressure, perfectionism, expectations of others, too much-ness/ overload. These might be your initial, explicit factors. Then we dig a little deeper and find their implicit factors: inability to ask for help, inability to delegate, inability to say no, inability to speak up, always putting others' needs first, spending your time and energy in an environment you can't stand, the list goes on. Then we have to look even deeper at what sits underneath these limitations or blocks: shame, fear, lacking confidence, honesty, integrity, self- worth, the list goes on.
Shame and fear cycles often drive our stress response. They’re the emotions that keep us hypervigilant, planning for safety in the future, looking for threats, seeking and solving from a place of lack.
Honest conversations with yourself and with others are often the antidote to a lot of our stress. Expressing emotions that maybe we were taught were ‘bad’ like anger or frustration is another antidote to stress, and relieves tension.
When we release tension, not only can we breathe and relax again (because our muscles relax and soften), but we see the world through a different lens; the frontal cortex is functioning, the limbic system is at bay. It’s from this lens that we can put trust in humanity. By seeking connection, even as little as a vulnerable or honest conversation, we recruit allies that help us feel supported with all of our stress we are carrying. 99 times out of 100, the other person is experiencing something similar, and finds it just as helpful to hear someone else’s shared experience to realise- I’m not in this alone. We down- regulate simply by relating.
If you find it too hard to have the conversations that you’re biting down on, write them out, especially before bed, even if they’re not on your mind. Make the time to give them some air time, so you can clear what's in between you and a deep sleep. Have all the conversations within the privacy of your own mind and heart, and get them out of your body, by writing them down on something tangible like a journal or paper.
How to cure TMJ permanently?
You can try splints, botox and cbd oil to manage symptoms. You can use anti- inflammatories, intra- oral face massage and dry needling to help relieve the cyclical pain, but my advice is to do the hard thing and speak the truth, otherwise it will continue to eat you up.
Why do you think the energetics of stress hormones sit in your jaw when you suppress your words or emotions? Because if you’re always subconsciously eating your words, you need a lot of energy to chew them down. To me, it’s really that simple.
Take it as a grain of salt, but if it resonates, it is worth trying, as it’s worked for myself, and it’s worked for others. Speaking and writing your truth is literally the most affordable, accessible and available option to you, it just might seem like the hardest.