Jaw pain in the morning?
Waking up with jaw pain or stiffness is surprisingly common, and there’s usually a simple explanation: you’re clenching or grinding your teeth during sleep. Known as “sleep bruxism,” this can place intense pressure on the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), which is the jaw joint. The joint itself is small and quite complex, and sits just in front of your ears.
Of course you think you’d know if you clenched or ground your teeth, yes? Actually that’s not the case. You might only know from the fact that you have sore jaw muscles, headaches or sensitive teeth. Or anyone sharing a bedroom with you might hear you grind and complain about it. Consider soldiers sharing dorms, tents or ship’s quarters. If you had two people grinding their teeth it would certainly affect the sleep of everyone else near them. Fortunately our former Royal Marine (one of our directors), Steven Bruce, says he’s never had that problem, but it must happen.
Stress and anxiety are common triggers for grinding and clenching the jaw, so pain often flares up during times of stress.
It might surprise you to know that sleep position can also contribute to the problem. Sleeping on your stomach or with your hand under your jaw can place your TMJs in a strained position for hours.
To help ease the pain:
- Try using a soft night guard (ask your dentist)
- Use heat to relax the jaw muscles
- Avoid chewing gum or hard foods
- Practice jaw relaxation exercises before bed
Treatment – physiotherapist Kerry Skellham and osteopath Georgie McGahey are specialists in jaw problems. They can help by releasing tight jaw and neck muscles, improving joint alignment, and reducing tension. At The Ashgrove Clinic, we often see patients with jaw pain, but it improves quickly with gentle manual therapy and home exercises. For more information see our Jaw Pain page.
If you’re waking up in pain, don’t ignore it as a few simple changes can make your mornings much more comfortable.