Monday, October 24, 2011

Locked Jaw



image courtesy photobucket.com

A recent post by a Blogger friend at: http://bit.ly/s3piQm  shared “The day her face fell.” A trip to the Doctor diagnosed her with Bell's palsy, for many only a temporary problem, but for others a long lasting disability. Her Doctor’s confirmation that this will probably get worse and might go away after some time was not a happy note.

Gratefully she accepted the steroids he gave her and went home to rest and pray. Friends sent up prayers and in a few days her Doctor was amazed to find that she was back to normal.

I do believe in prayer and I know God works miracles and praise is in order to the Healer who also uses various methods.  Doctors provide help for they have much information at their finger tips to aid us.

There are times we need to go a step further and seek out other good information to help us.

Do you suppose that as we experience stress and anxiety that we lock our muscles and that our nerves get a message to tense up, preventing blood flow and messages from the brain to relax us ??

Thinking back I was reminded of a time a few years ago when my jaw locked.  I had trouble opening my mouth to eat and chew. There was another annoying symptom of a clicking that went up to my ear as I tried to open my mouth.

Making a trip to my chiropractor, I discovered that he also had a clicking in his jaw. His treatment to me that day did not help.

I was desperate. Next I considered finding a massage therapist who was able to do head and facial massage.

A telephone call was made to a RN nurse who also did massage. After hearing my problem, she told me of a little old retired chiropractor who did different types of treatments and suggested that I visit her at the assisted living where she was staying. A quick phone call and an appointment was made.

The elderly lady received me in her small room, and asked me to resist as she applied pressure to my outstretched arms. This was a method to “balance” my system.

As I think back to what she actually did that helped my problem, I believe it was this:

She asked me to curl my tongue to the roof of my mouth and press hard and hold it there.  This is an exercise that helps strengthen the jaw.

She had me touch parts of my body with one hand while keeping contact with the other hand.  Keeping contact seemed to be necessary. The next step was as amazing as it was weird, at least to me!!

She explained that our body with all its cells is an electrical system, and sometimes our brain gets lazy and tired and needs help getting awake.

Her instructions were to place my thumbs next to my ear at the point where the jaw opens and closes; while holding my thumbs at the joint, to begin to use my fingers to tap lightly on my head as far as I could reach.

By moving the fingers backward and forward for a few minutes the tapping continued. She explained that this exercise will help wake up the brain so it can give directions to the nerves of the face and jaws.
As I left that day, I was able to open my mouth and the clicking was also gone.

Who healed me? The answer is always the creator who made us, and we realize that He also gives wisdom to those who study and seek to help others that suffer with physical and psychological problems.

Searching for self help, I found this interesting demonstration on YouTube: It was the closest video to what my lady did for me.  However please remember to keep contact with your thumbs while tapping on your head.   http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-give-yourself-an-energizing-facial-massage


This post was linked today with L.L. Barkat’s “In and Around Mondays” at: http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com/

Also linked to Laura's PlayDates http://www.lauraboggess.com/2011/10/playdates-this-moment.html
Do visit these sites for some awesome words posted there.

5 comments:

floyd said...

I find this kind of stuff fascinating. My wife had vertigo some time back and the specialists made her do some things that seemed a little weird, but in the end helped her regain her equality inside her inner ear. Drugs are usually just a mask.

Laura said...

This is so interesting, Hazel. I have some friends who have had similar experiences--all believers. I know one thing--our body is an amazing creation and I know there is only One who understands all its workings and trappings. Off to see your video!

Pamela said...

I have the clicking, too, and was diagnosed with TMJ. I'm going to try this. So interesting. I know it took a while for you to type it out and include the link. Thank you for that.

Blessings,
Pamela

Anonymous said...

This is interesting, I push my tongue against my teeth sometimes when I'm sleeping (stress-related), my dentist gave me some stretching exercises but will bookmark this video to watch later.

Thanks also for commenting on my blog. :)

Anonymous said...

How interesting, thanks Hazel

Love, Vicki K