What can I do for tight jaw muscles that are making my face look swollen?
Stretching can be done by slowly opening your mouth as wide and you comfortably can and then slowly closing. Then slowly opening to the left side as wide as you comfortably can and then slowly closing. Then slowly opening to the right side as wide as you comfortably can and then slowly closing. Repeat these movements until your muscles feel better. You can do this stretching exercise while driving, watching TV, before bed, at work, and during a lot of other times. The next step is to assist your jaw in doing these stretches by using your hand to gently go a bit further than just by opening your mouth yourself. Do not use a lot of force! Do each of the stretching movements as previously described above but use your hand to open a little bit more than you could only with your mouth. If this causes a lot of pain, don’t do it. You can increase the blood flow to your muscles by placing moist hot towels on the sides of your face while you do this exercise. Run a sink with hot water until it
