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So a while ago I wrote about discovering that my jaw pain was caused by me clenching my jaw all the time, and about heading off to get help for it. I went to see a dentist who specialises in temporomandibular and orofacial disorders (or so it says on his card and no, spellcheck, they are actually words). He said that the first step was to try to become aware of when I was doing it, and to consciously release and relax the jaw. Well, it turns out that I do it all the time. All of it. Especially in my sleep. I tried to figure out why this might be happening, but as is so often the case, finding out the reasons why doesn’t generally equate to finding a way to stop. I still don’t really know why, and even with trying to bring attention to what I was doing made only a little bit of difference. In fact, I discovered that as soon as my attention drifted from maintaining that relaxed position, my jaw would simply close again, as though clenched was the natural position, as though there was a spring in there pulling it shut again. So after several visits (15mins and close to $100 each time) I gave up and let him make me a mouthguard to wear while I was sleeping, to physically stop the clenching. A bargain at a mere $500. I hated the guard. Having something foreign in my mouth made me salivate endlessly, and I could not close my lips over it to stop drooling. I generally couldnt get to sleep with it in, and on the odd occasion that I did I would wake up when my face hit the cold, wet patch on pillow. I stopped wearing it, and cancelled my appointments with him. So that was close to $1000 down the drain for no result. Not happy, Jan. A couple of weeks ago I went to an osteopath for a different reason. I talked about the main reason for my visit and mentioned the clenching thing a well. She thought she could do something about the clenching, and did a bit of manipulation, dry needling and massage. And bang, after just one treatment, the spring that kept closing my jaw again has been released. I can relax my jaw and it will stay in the open position. I still unconsciously clench it, and the relaxed position is not far from clenched, but it definitely made a change. She believes that it can be further relaxed, and I will see her again for further treatment. That little change has made a big difference, and on the negative side I have experienced quite a bit of pain in these few weeks since the treatment as my jaw adapts to the new position. I’m a fan of acupuncture and not scared of needles, but wow; the needling hurt! But it is worth it for the instant improvement. Im glad I didn’t stick with the specialist dentist and the mouthguard. http://threadsofgold.info/index.php/2548