Stress and Jaw Pain
Are you someone who is juggling multiple demands at work or someone with excessive pressure from your life? You may find that the added stress is creating physical complications from headaches to stomach aches to insomnia. Other people even find that their jaw and the joint that connects their jaw to the rest of their head bothers them in times of more stress as well. This joint is closely connected to stress levels in many people and they know that they can determine how stressed they are by the seriousness of pain in their jaw.
Added pressure on your temporomandibular joint can leave you with a sore jaw and even headaches from the tense muscles that run up the side of your head. There are a number of ways you can treat the symptom of jaw pain with medications and injections but there are even more helpful ways to manage stress to avoid jaw pain in the first place. Here are some helpful suggestions of places to start when you want to reduce or manage your stress:
1. First things first, identify the things that are causing you stress. Take a note of the time of day, the things that have been going on during the day, and the intensity of the stress that you are feeling.
2. Next, you can avoid and/or adjust the situation. You may not be able to avoid the stress at work all together, but you can set up tools to help you not feel as overwhelmed. If you find that you are most stressed in the afternoons, maybe that is the best time to take a quick walk or have a cup of herbal tea to give your body a moment of relief. If you notice that when you walk into work and start looking at your inbox your jaw starts to ache, then maybe setting filters with keywords on your emails may help you sort through them better. Other people use project management apps or set calendar alerts to navigate priorities. A little change like removing the sound from a new message alert can prevent the adrenaline spike that comes with another thing to do.
3. Choose to respond instead of reacting. People do not come with filters and traffic is not something that you can control. The best way to give yourself an opportunity to choose how you want to respond is to take a breath. Take multiple breaths. Take the rest of the day to move away from the intense feeling to one where you do not escalate the situation and add more stress.
4. Acceptance. You are only one person and you are not able to control everything. Instead of focusing on the car accident that has caused a delay in getting home after a long day of work, it may be an opportunity to give yourself a chance to count all the things you are grateful for from the moment you woke up that day. Instead of focusing on the way things are not working, you can use that focus to see all the things you miss that are pretty great.
5. Invest in your health. Try to embrace a sleep routine and stick to it every day. Add a workout in your day wherever you can. You may be able to take the stairs at the office or go for an extra block when you are walking the dog. Those extra neurotransmitters can help your brain adjust to conflict and stress better. Add more whole foods in your diet. Fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed foods are the clean fuel to keep your body running well.