The temporalis is a muscle in the area of the temples that can trigger headaches, toothaches and jaw pain if it is tense or carries trigger points.
However, you can free yourself of these pains with a self-massage.
On this page, I’ll show you how it works!
I’ll also explain …
Tensions in the temporalis often cause tenderness on the side of the head.
Trigger points can also trigger headaches, jaw pain and toothache.
The pain patterns for individual trigger points are shown below. Please note that these also may occur together, and the pain might “mix”.
Trigger points in this area mainly lead to headaches at the back of the head.
The pain occurs mainly on the head and diffuses obliquely backwards.
In addition, these trigger points can cause jaw pain and toothache of the posterior teeth (not shown).
The pain can extend vertically upwards to the head, across the cheek and to the 2nd & 3rd teeth of the same side (not shown).
The pain occurs mainly above the eyebrow, behind the eye and at the temple.
It can also extend across the cheek to the middle incisors (not shown).
In addition to the pain described above, the upper row of teeth may become hypersensitive.
This manifests in an increased sensitivity to knocking, cold, heat or temperature changes in general.
Furthermore, trigger points in the temporalis can limit complete jaw opening. In most cases, affected people are not even aware of this, as this restriction only occurs when they try to open the jaw as much as possible.
The temporalis is a “large” flat muscle. Simply speaking, it runs from the side of the head “fan-shaped” down to the lower jaw.
Origin
Insertion
Innervation
Trigger points in the temporalis often get activated by
Strong punches against a muscle can lead to the activation of trigger points, also in the temporalis.
Examples:
Keeping the muscle in the same position for too long can cause problems.
If you keep the mouth open for a long time, for example at the dentist, it is possible to overload the muscle.
Especially if you’re quite anxious and can’t relax the muscle. It then constantly works against the opening of the jaw.
Any posture in which you push your head forward changes the position of your jaw, affecting the muscle tension.
With the head being pushed forward the muscle shows increased activity, which can overload it in the long term.
Examples:
Constant chewing of bubble gum can overload the muscle and can activate trigger points. I assign this to the category of conscious overload as you are aware of what you are doing and that you are chewing a bubble gum.
Teeth grinding also represents an active overload, it is often unconscious. Most people who grind their teeth aren’t even aware of it. Still, it can overload the muscle.
The best way to feel the muscle is under contraction, i.e. when you use it.
Below you will find a description for the palpation of this muscle.
You can massage the muscle with your fingers or a massage ball. Both variants are effective.
On this page, I show you the massage with the fingers, and as massage technique we use the precise massage strokes.
Tip: Examine the entire muscle for trigger points, especially in its central areas.
This is because the trigger points near the base of the muscle (Trp X 2 & 3 above the jaw joint) are often caused by the muscle pull exerted by higher located trigger points (Trp X 1 & 4 ).