autostretching0198

THE JAW 5.

Your difficulty is:	Pulling in Iower jaw with mouth closed.
Tight Muscle:	Muscle involved in pushing jaw out: 1 pterygoideus lateralis.
Starting Position:	Sit with back straight and ’long’ neck. Close mouth but do not clench teeth. Place left hand on back of head, and right hand on chin, fingers on one side and thumb on the other.
Stretching:	1.    Push jaw backward with right hand so that stretch is felt on both sides of jaw. 2.    Look up. Try to thrust jaw forward against pressure of right hand; hołd for 5 seconds. 3.    Relax. Push jaw back with right hand to limit - maybe a little bit morę. 4.    Repeat until you feel you can stretch no further and muscles feel tight. Hołd this finał stretch from 15 seconds to a minutę or morę.
Stimulation:	1.    Release grip. Move hands to either side of jaw, fingers hooked around back of jaw. 2.    Push jaw back to limit. 3.    Resist movement with both hands. 4.    Hołd position a few seconds.
Common Errors:	*    Head turns. *    Neck bent backward. *    Mouth opens. *    Wrong hand grip.
Notes:	1.    Stretch should be felt on both sides of jaw. 2.    If jaw can be pushed back on one side only, stretch the other with mouth closed (Exercise 6).
Normal Mobility:	You should be able to puli your jaw in a little.

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