Lateral Pterygoid Muscle - Trigger Point Release for Jaw and Cheek Pain 

If you've ever had a tooth drilled at the dentist, you have trauma stored in this muscle. If you've ever had orthodontics, all the trigeminal muscles will be bound up in a complex tension pattern that radiates outward to the spine at large. If you're highly dextrous (to the fault where your left hand is highly impaired), you will have extreme tension in the left lateral pterygoid compared to the right, and this is the linchpin for a larger off-center holding pattern of the body. Release of these muscles can lead to an incredible transformation, but it cannot be done by another, but only by the subject on their own as a stretch of the upper cervical spine driven by the pandiculation reflex. Here, forced activation of the brachial plexus engages the scalenes changing the relationship of head, neck and shoulders, and so releasing the compensatory line of tension from sphenoid through jaw and into chest. A deeper pandiculation, involving pelvic obturation, brings about a sympathetic engagement of the psoas that likewise releases the legs through the bottlenecked femoral nerve. Essentially the yawn reflex is our natural tension release mechanism, and apart from gyration of the limbs, the yawn itself does the same for the jaw, targeting the pterygoidals as the source of impediment. In other words, yawning is the essential movement of the lateral pterygoid, and it drives a release that spreads outward not only to the whole body, but to any living creature within your aura as an act of essential sympathetic magic. Point is, there is no passive solution for our body problems. Osteo can help by drawing a client's attention to their problems in ways they might otherwise overlook. Chiro can help by simulating the experience of release to assist the client in finding it on their own through stretch. But in the end, this is not medicine; one cannot simply sit back and be cured. Passivity is the whole problem. Only through one's own agency, through willfull effort to symmetrically engage their body, may a body be healed. This is probably the single most important piece of information that most people need to hear.

Thanks a million. Your techniques have given me so much tmj relief.

Your voice is very calm and relaxing

Some heroes don't wear capes -- just a single latex glove. Hoping this helps with my lockjaw!

Thank you, Jonathon! How are you? This is brilliant - love the practical detail. I've been getting right-sided cluster headaches in a trigeminal nerve distribution daily for the last three weeks - seriously painful! I've tracked it back to the lateral pterygoid, with a bit of contribution from tight temporalis and masseter. I assume a tight, shortened lateral pterygoid with adhesive fibrotic tethering adding to the loss of elasticity - happens with other muscles as one gets older so why not this one? It's much better immediately after getting going with trigger point/myofascial release, plus release massage for the bits I can reach from the outside including temporalis and masseter. I'm trying to work out the very best stretch for it. From the action and direction of the muscle fibres, it would seem that jaw retraction and maximal opening will do a reasonable stretch. I've simply been lying on my back, relaxed, then using both hands to gently push my jaw back into retraction, then slowly opening the jaw to maximum and holding the stretch. However I'd like to add in a jaw deviation component to maximise the stretch. I'm not sure which side to push the jaw to - there are conflicting reports. Any ideas? Best wishes, Steve August.

My masseter was broken by NHS restoration Dep where they forced in a Huge Obturator after having Maxillectomy . This treatment helps the grow back of the muscle

Wow, I didn't even do this properly and it helped tremendously! Had pain for a week, and this never occurred to me. I was trying in vain to massage the outside. Thank you!!

I have dealt with this pain for so many years!! I just did this to myself and thank you so much!! My jaw is not swallow giving me that puffy eye look !! Thank you

Omg i did the i seize ines prior But just did the outside ine and it opened up my jaw!!!!!! It’s been 6 years!!!!

Face tattoo on dudebruh's face really helped me. Totally worth dry heaving for the massage. Trying that tongue trick helped that a lot.

Thank you for this video it has proven to be helpful!

Brilliant! Thank you !

Do you have another video for the medial pterygoid release?

whats the technical name of the device that avoid bitting our fingers?

thank you

We all know how good it feels to apply pressure to a tight muscle but I’ve found that the relief is fleeting. I’m wondering if anyone out their understands HOW to relax the muscle because another muscle isn’t doing it’s job. It’s a compensation.

What kind of Doctor/therapist are you? I have had a very painful TMJ for 9 months. I cannot find any one (MD, Dentist, therapist) to help me.

Where exactly are you pressing- you never explain that

Ischemic Pressure principle is stressing me....painful like hell

The external trigger point release (using the ischemic principle in your other video) gave me relief after 4 months of pain from spasm of lateral pterygoid. How frequently can/should this be done? Leave it alone if I'm not having the ear/jaw pain? The intra oral approach was also somewhat effective but i could not reach it well enough and i was irritating the tissue trying to push in there. Thank you so much for posting this. All other videos only show intra oral approach.

How often should you do this and how long does it take ?

Can this muscle spasm cause tinnitus ? Because when i open my mouth wide the tinnitus pitch change

Push in… toward the tongue? It feels better if I push out… toward the cheek

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This guy is like deepak Chopra