How Stress is Changing Your Physical Appearance
Contributor: Saffron & Sage
Have you ever thought of how your physical pain can cause change in your physical appearance? If you are wondering why your Holistic Esthetician has been bringing up TMJ during your facial it’s because of the effects of stress.
So What Is TMJ Anyway?
TMJ refers to the temporomandibular joint. This condition consists of a less than optimal functioning of the joint or a disassociation of the mechanics at or around the meeting of the mandible and temporal bone. More simply, TMJ is jaw tension that resides in the primary joint and muscles over the jawbones.
Longer hours in front of our phones and computers, increased anxiety, and chronic stress are key contributors to TMJ. What all these ailments all have in common is their link to Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, or, more commonly referred to as TMJ, TMJD, or TMD.
While TMJ has been found to alter your physical appearance it also has adverse effects on the health of your teeth. Dental professionals have noticed a significant and steady uptick in cases, with symptoms including popping, clicking, headaches, joint locking, muscle spasms, and pain when chewing or speaking.
It’s not surprising that as a society we are more sleep deprived, insecure, and stressed than our predecessors. But the physical manifestation taking place is alarming after considering that, if left untreated, TMJ can lead to tooth breakage, infections, chronic headaches, depression, and debilitating neck and jaw pain.
What Are the Causes of TMJ?
Some of the causes of TMJ include; favoring one side while you sleep and sleeping without consideration of alignment and support. TMJ can also result from grinding your teeth with a misaligned bite and favoring one side while chewing.
Additionally, unexpressed thoughts, experiences, feelings, and emotions can put physical strain and emotional stress on your body and, in this case, your jaw. These stressors may also trigger excess hormone production that can lead to muscle tension and acne.
How Does It Affect You Physically and Aesthetically?
Put simply, it's degenerative. TMJ can wear down the teeth, disks, and bones. Excessive contractions in your muscles can lead to accumulated muscle tissue, as well as tightness in the surrounding tissues, leading to poor lymphatic drainage, and sometimes to skin conditions such as acne, rash, and cellulite.
Stagnation or blockages in the lymph nodes decrease filtration, increasing the amount of toxins accumulating in your blood. An excess of toxins can contribute to dull skin, acne, and distention. TMJ can also contribute to changes in your face as your muscles become disorganized, with some overworking while others atrophy. The natural aesthetic of the face can be altered if teeth shift, if bone loss occurs, or if the bite and jaw are off-balance. Good circulation and coherence in the various layers of tissue is reflected in healthy, glowing skin.
Additionally, tension in the tissue (which accumulates with intense and repetitive facial gestures) can lead to a dull, wrinkled, and inconsistent aesthetic.
What Are Ways to Alleviate TMJ Discomfort?
There are a number of ways to remedy the issue and some of our favorites include meditation, breathwork, and holistic facials.
Breathwork
Breathwork analyzes current breathing patterns and opens restricted airflow to improve mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It is a healing method that employs a high-vibrational energy, created by an open, full and connected breath, to support a greater sense of self awareness and self healing. This high vibrational energetic state allows for deep resolution by full integration of body, mind, and spirit. Our favorite back to back sessions include Breathwork followed by a TMJ Facial Massage.
TMJ Facial Massage
Trigger point massage can work wonders for people who struggle with TMJ. Manual therapy can help to relieve pressure in the masseter muscle—which extends from the cheekbone to the lower jaw and is largely responsible for chewing solid foods—and is where TMJ aches and pains rear their head.
Additionally the Buccal facial massage Pronounced 'buckle' is a facial treatment that has become increasingly popular due to celebrity and media buzz and its non-invasive facelift-like results. Different from other facial treatments, it is done intraorally (inside the mouth) by a gloved practitioner. This massage allows for access to the facial muscles inside and outside simultaneously, massaging to contour, lift, sculpt and firm while removing blockages and adhesions.
Beyond directly alleviating tension in the masseter muscle, massaging your jaw can subsequently relieve tension headaches, earaches, toothaches, and more. The trick to achieving the desired results is to start by massaging your face and working down your neck to the top of your chest.
Gua Sha
Gua Sha is truly magical for those that suffer from TMJ. When used properly, a quality Gua Sha can break up some of the fascia that forms due to inflammation and the overuse of muscle. But be careful; as amazing as it might feel to massage some of those tender points, going too hard can actually aggravate and agitate the muscle, furthering inflammation, aka: more clenching. Be gentle, and apply strength in a conservative fashion so you don’t go overboard. A good intro to using a Gua Sha. You can also use it to massage other muscles of the face that may be feeling a bit of reciprocal pain from TMJ — namely the temples, cheekbones, mastoid muscles along the front of the neck, and along the eyebrows.
Facial Acupuncture
These little miracle needles have been clinically proven to reduce pain, and the jaw is no exception to that fact. They channel the flow of energy, releasing pain-relieving endorphins and redirecting blood flow to otherwise stagnant or inflamed areas of the body. It will take a few treatments to feel any results, but the effects will magnify over longer periods of time if you stick to it for a few months.
Consistent treatment and stress management can help TMJ symptoms decrease and lower rates of occurrences in everyone. We encourage you to invest in yourself by applying these techniques and visiting one of our Holistic Healthcare Practitioners here at Saffron & Sage to live your best life on every level.