TMJD, posture, relaxation.

Hey folks, I'm here to share some easy things that helped me a lot. Maybe they'll help some of you too!

TL;DR. Fixing my posture and relaxing my facial muscles has done wonders for my TMJD symptoms, and now that I understand why, it seems obvious. This post is part encouragement, part explanation, and part specific exercises that helped me.

I grew up with slightly hunched posture. Not anything shocking, just the kind of stuff a lot of folks do when stressed and tired. And I'd clench my teeth sometimes. I didn't realise the effect this was having on my bite and my jaw joints.

The issue is that slouching makes the muscles and soft tissues between the lower jaw and the neck pull backward on the mandible. So while slouching, a relaxed pose for my jaw is somewhat dislocated to the rear of where it should be. This affected my bite, so now my teeth only really close fully when my jaw is displaced to the rear of what would be ideal for my temporomandibular joints. My posture has improved since then, but I still tend to hold my jaw back a bit, more or less out of habit.

I recently started doing relaxation exercises as part of training to sing. And I find that after doing these exercises, maintaining good posture, and actively letting go of the habit of holding my jaw back, my jaw joint naturally aligns in a more comfortable position. My shoulders and neck are naturally closer to the plane of my face, so they don't tend to pull back on my jaw, and everything feels much better and healthier. My bite doesn't match perfectly in this position, but that doesn't matter if I'm not actively chewing on anything.

To find a non slouchy posture: Stand up with your arms out to the sides, like a big T, reaching out directly to the right and left at the same time, thumbs pointing up, looking straight ahead. This can help to put your spine in a comfortable, upright, neutral position. Now, without changing your head, spine, chest, or hip position at all, relax your arms and shoulders and let them hang. Congrats, you're probably standing up straight for once :)

To help relax your jaw, try just letting it hang open at first. If you're totally relaxed, your jaw will hang open, and your tongue will fall forward over your lower teeth onto your lower lip. Saying "duhh" and pretending to be the walking dead might help. Make sure you're standing up straight, and pull your tongue back in and close your jaw just enough that your lips close. If you're still standing up straight, you may find that your jaw is just a little forward of where it was before. See how that feels.

You can also try pressing into the bottom of your jaw, from below, with your thumbs. Find the muscles that are right under your tongue. They're probably tense. Give them a little massage, and relax them.

That's it, maybe it'll help some of you, ymmv, good luck!