Jaw Pain: What My Body Is Telling Me

Our bodies store emotions, tension, and stress. Whenever I have pain or a problem in my body (such as jaw pain or tooth pain), I look for the root emotions or experiences behind it. This process may or may not completely solve the physical pain, but at least I know I’m addressing what it’s asking me to address so my body can release the root cause and go into a natural healing process. As long as we hang onto negative emotion or stress, our bodies will keep trying to get our attention with continued problems of one sort or another.

Intermittent, radiating tooth and jaw pain

In late January I started having excruciating jaw pain on the left side. It isn’t constant but comes in waves like someone sticking an icepick in the joint of my left jaw. It radiates down to the lower left teeth, gums, jaw bone, and even to the upper left teeth. It’s worse at night and wakes me up.

I have bridgework on my back lower left molars. I’ve never been able to really chew on that side since I got the bridgework over a year ago. It’s been too tender, so I’ve favored that side of my mouth and chewed on the right. I’m missing the back two molars on the right side, so yeah… my mouth and bite is really wonky.

I decided to see the dentist and have him shave down some of the bridge in case my bite was off. He did that, and I felt better for a couple weeks. We left town for our trip to Arizona at the end of January, and I was fine for about a week. Then the pain came back with a vengeance. I tried everything I could think of: tooth polish for sensitive teeth, sensitive gums/teeth mouth wash, salt water rinse, Orajel, Ibuprofen. I put a pain cream on the outside of my jaw. Nothing worked. I was up crying in pain and using a special pain-reducing mouth rinse to calm the pain flair up.

Finally, Dave got me some Extra Strength Tylenol that gave relief. I also started putting a clove-based toothpaste directly on my gums and let it stay there as I slept. I took the Tylenol like clockwork every 5-6 hours, day and night. Finally, I got the pain under control.

Once I got home, I went back to the dentist to have him shave off some more of the bridgework. He did that and suggested I purchase a mouth guard from a local pharmacy. I did that and within a few days the pain went away completely.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago, and the pain came back. I’ve got some clove-based mouth rinse that calms a flair-up, and I do take Extra Strength Tylenol when the pain gets crazy or if I have to be out for several hours and can’t deal with a flair up – like at a 3-hour pottery class. I’ve even started carrying a little dropper bottle of the clove mouth rinse with me.

I’ve tried using the mouth guard again, but I end up pulling it out in my sleep. I must have flung it across the room the last time I used it because I can’t find it anywhere.

When I was in for a dental cleaning a couple days ago, the hygienist took x-rays again to make sure there wasn’t an abscess. My teeth are fine. My jaw looks fine, yet I deal with a constant dull ache and flair-ups at least 4-6 times a day. She gave me the name of a specialist. Until I can get in to see them, I’m researching natural remedies and taking a look at this on an energetic level.

Emotions Behind Jaw / Teeth Pain

The emotions behind the jaw in “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” have to do with feelings of rage, subconsciously wanting revenge, and an inability to express how one feels.

I have no idea who or what I’d be angry at or want revenge on. I couldn’t find anything like that in my emotional or energy systems. Perhaps there is an emotion I’m not able to express.

I have a chart to look up teeth and where they map to in other areas of the body. These teeth map to stomach, pancreas, lymph, connective tissue, mammary glands, larynx, maxillary sinus, jaw joint, mouth, and rheumatism. Besides the obvious jaw joint and mouth, rheumatism stood out to me so I looked it up. Rheumatism is chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints of connective tissue (can be in joint, neck, or back pain). I do deal with neck and back pain quite frequently. This jaw joint pain has been intermittent and chronic. Maybe I am onto something…

I looked up the emotions behind rheumatism:

Feelings of resentment/wanting revenge
I’m a victim syndrome
Long-standing bitterness
Problem loving self or others

None of these seemed relevant to me at all. I used SimplyALIGN to check my systems and asked, “Is this my stuff?”

The answer was, “No.”

“Is this other people’s stuff?”

“Yes”

“Is it generational?”

“Yes”

I cleared some generational issues on my dad’s side (24 generations back), and on my mom’s side (6 generations back).

I also looked at rheumatism solutions / relief. I found that Rheumatism can be related to TMJ. Rheumatism is an auto-immune and inflammatory issue. I don’t really think I have rheumatism, but it never hurts to look up emotions or natural remedies relevant to symptoms. I also looked up TMJ relief.

Here are a few things I found relevant to bringing down the inflammation related to rheumatism and TMJ:

Turmeric
Probiotics and gut health
Omega 3 fatty acids
Consistent exercise
Mindfulness
Warm compress on the jaw (I used a heating pad last night and this morning on my jaw and it helped.)
Avoid resting chin on your hand (I lean my chin on my hand a lot, so I’m being more mindful of this, catching myself, and stopping this.)

Natural remedies for inflammation and oral health

We attended an edible weeds class last week, and I used my notes from that class to come up with a list of natural remedies for inflammation and oral health.

Blackberry leaves (I make a tea with these). They’re good for oral health, healing wounds and mucous membrane inflammation

Creeping Charlie (We use this in salads). It’s an anti-inflammatory. It also is an inner and middle ear remedy and is good for the kidney and bladder.

Chickweed (We eat this in soups and salads). Anti-inflammatory

Stinging nettle (we make a tea out of this) – Anti-inflammatory that is good for the kidneys, adrenals, menopause symptoms, gingivitis, gout, kidney stones, sciatica and female organs / prostate for men

Plantain – (This is a green, not the banana-like fruit. We either cook it or eat plantain raw in soups and salads.) – Anti-inflammatory, protects the liver, a tissue restorative and is good for lowering high blood pressure. I was excited to discover the hypotensive quality of plantain because I also have high blood pressure. It’s great to find natural alternatives to prescription drugs.

Why do I clench my teeth?

When the emotions relevant to the jaw didn’t really fit me, I dug a little deeper. Much of my pain is probably caused by the fact that I’m clenching my teeth randomly during the day and as I sleep. I’ve been catching myself clenching my teeth as I’m focusing on tasks. I intentionally relax my jaw when I catch myself. I suppose this is where the mindfulness comes in – being mindful of what I’m doing like leaning my chin on my hand or clenching my teeth.

Why am I clenching my teeth? What I came up with is that I feel like I’m bracing myself for impact. I often feel like the issues of the world are about to hit me like a tsunami, and I need to be ready for something cataclysmic. I also feel like I’m playing “beat the clock” much of the time – hurrying to get our garden in and our landscaping under control before the next wave of weeds and grass take over.

In our SimplyALIGN™ Practitioner call today, I asked Carolyn Cooper to take a look at my energy around this jaw issue, and she picked up some things about me not feeling safe. She also worked on the trauma related to having my teeth pulled and nerve damage caused in the process.

Here are some affirmations I came up with for myself:

I am safe and comfortable.
My future is safe.
My preparedness efforts are enough.
I have plenty of time to be prepared.
I am always divinely guided and protected.
Time is on my side.
I am able to express my feelings easily and process them fully.
I relax and enjoy life.
I relax into the moment and release concerns about the future.
I release the pattern of clenching my teeth
I release any tension and stress from my body – my jaws, my back and my neck.

Sunstone Gemstone Related to Teeth / Jaw

This afternoon I felt drawn to a piece of sunstone I have and decided to look up what it is good for. Interestingly, according to CrystalVaults.com, sunstone stimulates self-healing powers and regulates and harmonizes organs. “In ancient times sunstone was used as a grid around the body to relieve cartilage problems, rheumatism, general aches and pains.” Isn’t that wild how rheumatism keeps coming up? Hmmm…

Sunstone is also related to abundance and freedom from fear. If you carry it with you, it’s supposed to help you feel more fearless.

Sunstone also relates to all things “light related.” Sunstone is in the feldspar family and with either goethite or hematite being mixed in, it reflects light between the crystal layers and creates an iridescent effect when you look at the sunstone from different angels. This light effect symbolizes things like clarity, illumination, and the regenerative powers of the sun.

As a reddish-orange gemstone, sunstone relates to the root chakra. The root chakra correlates with legs, bones, feet, base of the spine, immune system, rectum, large intestine, and teeth. The root chakra has to do with feeling safe and secure in the physical plane to manifest our basic needs. When the root chakra is having issues we might experience chronic lower back pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors/cancer, hemorrhoids, constipation, degenerative arthritis, knee problems, depression, immune-related disorders or weight problems.

What My Body Is Telling Me

So, it seems to me in a nutshell that my body is telling me that I’m letting fear about the future and feelings of overwhelm settle in my body. I had some generational anger and bitterness that needed releasing. I wasn’t feeling safe. There was a feeling of dread about the future. As much as I try to stay positive and have faith, my subconscious has a lot of fear going on.

This needed to be acknowledged and addressed, not ignored. Just being able to express that emotion and address it and thank my body for the message can bring healing:

“Yes, I’m afraid of where the world is heading. Yes, I feel overwhelmed by everything I have to do to be prepared for this growing season and for whatever is coming. Even though the fear is there, I still love and accept myself. I’m doing my best, and I’ve discussed these feelings with my husband. Together we are doing our best and trusting God to make up the difference. God has been with me my whole life. He will be with me going forward. Thank you for giving me this important message. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. You may now release the pain from my jaw. I have the message. Thank you!”

Recapping the Emotional Release Process

If you have something in your body that is trying to get your attention:

Look up the emotions behind your ailment. See if the emotions are relevant.
Release any emotions or trauma that needs to be released. SimplyALIGN™ is great for this.
Look up any clues that stand out to you. Follow the bread trail.
Look for natural remedies and listen to your intuition. For example, I didn’t know that sunstone had to do with many of the issues I’m dealing with. I just felt drawn to this gemstone and decided to look it up.
Acknowledge the emotions you’re feeling and have a conversation with your body. Let it know you got the message and that you are going to do your part. Then, thank your body for delivering this important message, and ask it to release whatever pain it’s causing you.

Results: So far today my jaw has had more of a dull ache and not the sharp pain. I have used my mouth rinse twice – once after lunch and the other after dinner. I make sure I clean my teeth well after each meal so that no food gets stuck under the bridgework. I had a good long stretch this evening where I’ve had no pain at all. I’ll update this post as I give things a little more time.

If you’d like help processing the emotions or trauma behind the messages your body is giving you, please book a SimplyALIGN™ session with me here.

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