What Your Massage Therapist Wants You To Know: Intra-Oral Massage

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What Your Massage Therapist Wants You To Know: Intra-Oral Massage

Intra-Oral Massage happens inside of the mouth

Intra-Oral Massage happens inside of the mouth

Massage Therapist are trained professionals.

And some of them are trained to work on the muscles inside the mouth.

Did you know that some massage therapists are trained to work inside of your mouth? Much to the surprise of many, I am one of those therapists and I often work on the muscles inside of my clients’ mouths. This can be helpful for post-dental work recovery, TMJD, headaches and so much more.

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Anatomy Lesson

What’s inside the mouth?

If you place your fingers on the edge of your cheek bone near your ear while gently opening and closing your mouth, you will feel a set of muscles push against your fingers as they open and close your jaw. Meet your Masseters. These are the strongest of your muscles of mastication (chewing).

Your Masseters work alongside a few other muscles as you chew. Day in and day out they use force sometimes as great as 55 pounds of pressure to grind food matter into a consistency for swallowing. Sometimes they become a bit over-worked due to constant gum chewing, tooth grinding, or other habits. When this happens it can be common to experience jaw pain or headaches.

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How Intra-Oral Massage Works

(Yes, the work is done on the inside of the mouth)

Using medical-grade, disposable gloves, a trained massage therapist works on the muscles inside of your mouth.

They will work to reduce the tension held in these intra-oral muscles that control the movement of your jaw, as well as other muscles of your face and neck.

Communication is very important during intra-oral work. When I work inside of a clients mouth, we talk in detail about what is going to happen before anything does. We also work out a way of communication ahead of time since it is hard to talk with someone’s hands working inside your mouth. The mouth is sensitive. The work I do inside of the mouth is slow, skillful and impactful. It can feel incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating.

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Who Benefits From Intra-Oral Massage

Anyone with a mouth can benefit

You might benefit from intra-oral massage if:

  • You have been told by your dentist that you are grinding or clenching your teeth

  • You suffer from headaches

  • You have chronic tension in your shoulders or neck and no amount of massage seems to make a dent in reducing this muscular tension

  • You have recently had a visit to the dentist and you find yourself with jaw pain

Be sure that your massage therapist has specific training in intra-oral massage before allowing them to work inside of your mouth. And remember, communication is key when doing this work with your massage therapist. If you are in Boulder, CO and are interested in receiving this work from me, I’d love to speak with you and invite you to my office

Please add your comments or questions below, I’d love to hear what you think.