![]() ![]() The notch is on the underside of the cheekbone, it’s easy to find, and your thumb or fingertip will fit into it nicely. 7 is conveniently located in a notch in the cheekbone, about one inch in front of your ears. The bottom of the muscle attaches to a broad area on the side of the jawbone. The masseter muscle “hangs” from the underside of the cheekbone on the side of the face. It has both great needs and it’s unusually easy and satisfying to self-massage. The worst cases interfere with eating and sleeping, often involve ear aches and ringing as well How do you massage the masseter muscle?įortunately, it’s easy - really easy - to massage and soothe your own masseter muscle, which is what makes it such a particularly perfect Perfect Spot. TMJS can be minor or awful, and is one of the classic chronic pain syndromes that lacks an obvious cause. Temporomandibular joint syndrome ( TMJS) is a slow-motion failure of jaw joint function, mostly pain and/or limited movement, strongly linked to habitual clenching and grinding (bruxism). 11īruxism, or grinding and cracking of molars, with many early warning signs of wear and tear. Although they are unlikely to be caused by masseter trigger points themselves, they are probably involved and need to be considered. There are many other potential contributing factors and causes of these conditions. Both can be serious and complex problems. Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and dizziness. Travell and Simons quip, “This can lead to disastrous results for an innocent tooth.” 10 I once suffered a dramatic case of a “toothache” that was completely relieved by a massage therapist the day before an emergency appointment with the dentist: a particularly vivid experience, and in fact the one that originally got me interested in trigger points. A masseter trigger point can radiate pain directly into a tooth. 9Įaraches and toothaches - which are much less obviously associated with the masseter. They both need some attention - massaging above and below the cheekbone. But the masseter is often neglected, even though it is more powerful and clenchy. 8 This is mostly due to the temporalis muscle, which is reflexively massaged by everyone with a headache (the temples). There seems to be a clear link between tension headaches and jaw muscle tension. Tension headaches, of course - this makes strong intuitive sense to most people. “I also have a temporomandibular joint I can’t get rid of.” This makes it slightly amusing when people say, “I have chronic TMJ.” But the acronym TMJ refers only to the joint itself. This isn’t a casual shortening of the term: people think “TMJ” refers to the syndrome. “TMJ syndrome” is often mistakenly referred to as just “TMJ”. (Although I’m pleased to see a surprisingly strong interest in the subject amongst dental specialists.) When irritated, masseter muscle knots can cause and/or complicate several problems: Why is the masseter muscle a Perfect Spot for massage?Ī little muscle rubbing and stretching probably eases pain and stiffness at least a little, 7 and it’s easy to imagine why this muscle might enjoy that: whose jaw isn’t at least a little bit tense? But the masseter’s potential to cause trouble - and its need for some massage - is often underestimated by both patients and professionals. The physics details are a bit mind-bendy. 5 This feathered arrangement favours torque over speed, making the masseter a “low gear” muscle, slow but powerful and efficient, lots of chewing bang for your masseter buck. The masseter gets extraordinary strength from a “multipennate” arrangement of fibres that’s like a complex feather - fibres converging diagonally on several internal tendons. It’s amazing how specialized muscles can be. For contrast, the world record for human bite strength is 442 kgf. 3 Together with the temporalis muscle and a few other smaller muscles, most people can generate at least about 68 kilograms of force (kgf) between their teeth. Not only does the masseter muscle probably harbour some of the most common trigger points in the human body, the masseter is also the strongest muscle in the human body (pound for pound), although many variables make this difficult to be sure of. The masseter muscle is strong (and special) 2 It is an accomplice in many cases of bruxism (that’s Latin for “grinding your teeth”) and temporomandibular joint syndrome (jaw joint pain), and probably other unexplained painful problems in the area - it will be either a contributing factor or a complication. And so it’s also the muscle that clenches your jaw and grinds your teeth, unfortunately, and it’s one of the most common locations for trigger points in the human body. Your masseter muscle is your primary chewing muscle - not the only one, 1 but the main one - and it covers the sides of the jaw just behind the cheeks. ![]()
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