Dealing With The Impact of Stress on Your TMJ

In part 1 of this article we concluded the following about stress and the TMJ:

STRESS CAN definitely impact TMJ pain!  Stress often builds up over time so changes in the TMJ and it's subsequent pain syndromes may continue even when stress seems low.  Addressing the mechanical causes of the TMJ (Adjusting, stretching, cold laser, exercises, stretches, etc. can all help reset the TMJ joint itself.  However removing or at least reducing the stressors in life when possible can be very important for long standing TMJ pain.  Sometimes you can't get out from under a heavy stress burden anytime soon.  In those cases we have found that mitigating the effects stress can have on your system can still be very helpful at keeping TMJ issues at bay. 

We ended with the promise of giving you three easy and effective ways to at least modulate the physical effects of stress on the body.  The definition of modulate is: 

                 "exert a modifying or controlling influence on....."

You might not always be in a place to get out from underneath life's stressors, but you can often times minimize the effects it has  on your body.

1. Take a Walk
2. Breathing Exercises 
3. Stretch

Take a Walk

There is a great article from the Mayo Clinic that indicates the following on exercise and it's effects on anxiety and depression:

"The links between depression, anxiety and exercise aren't entirely clear — but working out and other forms of physical activity can definitely ease symptoms of depression or anxiety and make you feel better. Exercise may also help keep depression and anxiety from coming back once you're feeling better."

They go on to say that as little as 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 days per week may have a significant impact on your stress level.  It also indicates that bouts of 10-15 minutes at a time can be helpful, you don't have to try and get it all in at once. While formalized exercise programs can be very helpful, the article encourages things like walking and any other activity that "gets you off the couch" has the potential to improve your mood.  I highly recommend this article as a starting place on getting going on the physical end of things! 

Take Some Time To Deep Breathe

I have to admit when I first came across deep breathing as a technique to calm the nervous system I was a little skeptical.  As a child of the 70's and 80's I always associated deep breathing with eastern religion..  While it does play a role in the meditation practices of the far east, it has come into it's own right  here in the west as a way to calm the nervous system and lower the effects of stress on the body and brain in both the short term and possibly long term.  A lot of times when I am researching a topic for an article I will put the topic followed by "scholarly articles" in the google search engine.  That will give you a quick overview of some of the research out there for the topic.  If you do that for deep breathing you will find people are looking at it A LOT ! From it's effects on those suffering from bipolar disorder to smoking withdrawal to heart disease.  I think it is a good bet that it has some powerful impact on both our minds and our bodies.  Even WebMD has a how to article on it.  The quick version:

Most people take short, shallow breaths into their chest. It can make you feel anxious and zap your energy. With this technique, you'll learn how to take bigger breaths, all the way into your belly.

1. Get comfortable. You can lie on your back in bed or on the floor with a pillow under your head and knees. Or you can sit in a chair with your shoulders, head, and neck supported against the back of the chair.
2. Breathe in through your nose. Let your belly fill with air.
3. Breathe out through your nose.
4. Place one hand on your belly. Place the other hand on your chest.
5. As you breathe in, feel your belly rise. As you breathe out, feel your belly lower. The hand on your belly should move more than the one that's on your chest.
6. Take three more full, deep breaths. Breathe fully into your belly as it rises and falls with your breath. You can run through this just a few times if you are feeling anxious and need to "flip the switch" right away, or spend 10 minutes working on it once or twice a day.  The full article has some additional variations that are worth exploring. Give it a try for a few days and see how it makes you feel.

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Take Some Time To Stretch!

The pathway between stress and muscle tension is fairly well established.  Think of the fight or flight response you learned about in high school biology:  If a lion runs into the room your nerve system cranks up fast and gets your muscles ready to fight or run away (run away probably the best option in this example !).  Sometimes however the nerve system stays cranked up even when the threat is gone or much lower and likewise the muscles continue to get the wrong signal.  The pathway between muscle relaxation and stress reduction isn't quite as clear.  However there are know pathways that when you lengthen muscles, like with stretching, you activate part of the nervous system that "dampens" the fight or flight system. This follows some of the same neurology as how taking a walk can impact anxiety.   Since the muscles most intensely effected with stress are those of the neck, shoulder and jaw, it makes good sense to work on these first! The video above shows a quick way to stretch out the muscles of the neck shoulders and portions of the jaw.  You can check out the stretching article in the main menu of our web-site for jaw specific stretching.  Try to hit these stretches at least three times per day, once under the hot water of a shower for a double bonus!

Take it All In

While the above outlined steps aren't meant to be a replacement for appropriate mental health care, they can have a big impact on your overall stress level.  Pick just one or a combination of all three and commit to working consistently on them at least three times per day and see how you feel at the end of that time.  You may really see not just your stress go down some, but your TMJ Issue might improve as well!

If you are suffering from TMJ symptoms and have questions about which way to go, contact our office. I would be happy to talk with you over the phone and discuss your condition and see if we can make some suggestions on getting you out of pain and on the way back to health.

Yours in Health,

Doug Williams, D.C.

TMJ Relief Center at Care Chiropractic

134 Executive Drive # 3

Lafayette, Indian

47905

(765) 448-6489