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The Modern Jaw: How Head Posture Turns Clenching Into a Daily Habit

Jaw Clench Diagram

My dear reader,

If I asked you which muscles carry the most stress in your body, you might say the shoulders, the neck, the lower back…But there is one area that silently absorbs more tension than almost any other:

Your jaw.


The masseter, temporalis and pterygoids — once designed for chewing roots, raw meat, bark, and all sorts of Stone Age cuisine — are now dealing with deadlines, emails, screens, awkward selfies and the quiet panic of modern living.


I see jaw tension every week in my Marylebone clinic.The surprising part?It almost never starts in the jaw itself.

The real culprit is much higher (and lower):head posture and neck alignment.

Let me explain the chain.


The Modern Head: A Bowling Ball on a Stick


Your head weighs around 4–6 kg.When it sits directly over your spine, the load is beautifully balanced.

But when it drifts forward (hello, phone and laptop):

  • The cervical spine strains

  • The suboccipitals tighten

  • The upper traps overwork

  • The jaw shifts into a mild clench to stabilise the skull

  • The masseter becomes the “emergency stabiliser”

Your jaw tries to stop your head from falling farther forward — a job it never applied for.

This is why so many clients tell me:

“I clench without realising.”“I wake up with jaw tightness.”“My teeth feel tired.”“My jaw clicks with stress.”

Of course it does — it’s trying to keep your head on straight.


The Anatomical Chain Reaction


Let’s break this down in simple JANMI-friendly biomechanics:

  1. Forward Head Position Your head drifts forward 2–5 cm → load multiplies.

  2. Neck Flexors Switch Off Deep neck stabilisers become weak and sleepy.

  3. Suboccipitals Tighten They pull the skull into subtle extension to keep your eyes level.

  4. TMJ Shifts Into Overtime The jaw muscles tighten to stabilise the new forward-heavy skull.

  5. Masseter Becomes a Stress Container It becomes the tension bin for the entire head–neck complex.

  6. Jaw Starts to Clench on Autopilot Often during sleep, work, or stress.

The jaw isn’t the villain.It’s the victim of modern neck mechanics.


Why This Never Happened to Our Ancestors


Think of early humans:

  • Heads upright scanning distances

  • Breathing deeply

  • Shoulders pulled back by natural movement

  • Eyes looking far, not down

  • No screens

  • No emails

  • No meetings in tiny rectangles

The neck–jaw complex lived in alignment.

Fast forward to today:

  • Laptop neck

  • Phone chin

  • Commuter posture

  • Stressful breathing

  • Shallow inhales

  • Overthinking

  • Sleeping with tension

  • Little natural head movement

We turned our jaw into a stabiliser and a stress sponge.

That, my dear reader, is why modern jaw pain is everywhere.


What I See in the Clinic (Daily)


Almost all jaw-tension clients present with:

  • Tight suboccipitals

  • Forward head posture

  • Weak deep neck flexors

  • Stiff upper traps

  • Restricted C1–C2 movement

  • Chest breathing

  • Stress-related clenching

  • One side of the jaw more dominant

  • Shoulder protraction

Many think they have a jaw problem.

But the jaw is rarely the first domino.

In the JANMI approach, the pattern is treated as:

Neck → Head → Breath → Nervous system → Jaw

A full-body relationship, not a local massage.


Why The Jaw Hurts In Modern Life


Because we live in a world that promotes:

  • Forward-head posture

  • Screen staring

  • Chronic stress

  • Poor sleep

  • Shallow breathing

  • Sedentary positioning

  • Constant micro-clenching

  • Reduced natural movement

Your jaw is the last line of defence — holding stress, stabilising posture, and absorbing tension.


How We Address Jaw Tension at JANMI


In a typical JANMI Integrated session, I combine:

  • Suboccipital release

  • SCM and scalene decompression

  • Upper cervical mobilisation

  • Myofascial glide across the jaw–neck chain

  • Breathing reset

  • Posture re-alignment

  • Deep neck flexor activation

  • Gentle TMJ unloading

  • Light corrective drills for head position

Once the neck–head relationship is restored, the jaw finally stops clenching for dear life.

Clients often say:

“My jaw feels lighter — and I wasn’t expecting that.”

Alignment first.Jaw relief second.

This is evolutionary logic applied through soft tissue therapy.


Final Message From Me


Your jaw is not overreacting.It is overworking.

Blaming the jaw for clenching is like blaming your hands for typing emails all day — it’s doing what modern life demands.

When you restore the neck, balance the head, and bring back natural movement, the jaw softens on its own.

This is the JANMI way — treating not just the pain, but the pattern behind it.


Warm wishes,

Paulius Jurasius

JANMI Soft Tissue Therapy · Marylebone, London





 
 
 

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