Yes, you can take control of releasing your jaw tension with four pressure points near the ear. 

You know you are on the right point by the pain, or tender and possibly electric feel when you apply pressure. Breathe deeply and slowly to encourage your trigger points to release. 

Holding your breath tells your body to hang on to the tension. Let it go and breathe. Trigger points should release the muscle tension while you hold the point and it may take 30 seconds or the whole two minutes or a few moments longer.

You will need to come back and work the points several times every day. Do work both sides of the head at the same time and breathe while you hold the points.

You may find it easier to follow this video by Massage By Heather. 

Any ball with a bit of bounce or give to it will work well. A golf ball is really too hard and may cause damage to muscle and tissue if used aggressively. 

Put the ball in a long sock to give yourself a handle so that you are not having to chase it when it gets loose and falls and rolls away. 

You can also lay on the ball instead of leaning against the wall. 

There is no need to roll around like you are trying to give yourself a massage. Just hold it in one place and breath calmly. It is kind of like trying to win at arm wrestling. Just breathe, relax, and wait it out and you will win. 

Place two balls in the sock and tie them tightly together. Now you have the right gap between the balls to allow safe work at the small muscles along the spin. The small gap between the balls is the place for the where the spine will be. Never press on the bone of the spine from neck on down. Please be cautious. You would not want to create nerve damage.

This picture shows the many points that can be worked with the ball. The points you see on one side of the body also exist on the other side as well. So there are twice as many points to work with than what is pictured. 

Having found the right spot start breathing and aplying pressure. After three breaths, which is ten seconds,  you should feel the muscle starting to relax. If there is no change then shift the ball just a little bit and keep breathing. 

Trigger points have a rebounding effect, they will reoccur. Plan to work on them several times in one day and many times in a week to get a longer lasting result.

The body is fascinating with the trigger points having some amazing referral pain to proximal and distal points of the body. In the Breast Massage Book I wrote about the points that cause referral pain to the breast. So do not be alarmed if you are pressing out a point and you feel some ache or pain running across the chest or down the arm. I have seen it a few times with several  patients to the clinic that have been stress tested and tested at the hospital for what they think is a heart problem and they can't find any problem with the heart or the body; and then they land on my table and  it is only the pec minor and maybe a few other hypertonic muscles. Sighs of relief along with the pain of releasing the muscle tension and trigger points.

Caution Reminder: Be careful of the spine from the neck down.


Be Healthy. Stay Healthy. Massage with a ball.​
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