A Guide To The Masseter Muscle
The Masseter Muscles is the main muscle you use for chewing, and this video shows you how to release tension in this part of the body. Problems with the Masseter muscle can lead to ear aches, so make sure you know how to sooth this area.
Step 1: Masseter Muscle Explained
The muscle I will be showing you how to massage today is the masseter. This is the main one for chewing. So the origin is the zygomatic arch, and the angle of the mandible.
Step 2: Clench Jaw
So with this one, you want to actually have them clench their jaws,and teeth, so you can actually feel the masseter muscle. This is the main muscle which is illustrated right here.
There's actually four different trigger points in that region. So you can even go to the ear area, and actually just a little bit below. There is also the sinus region and temporal region. So those are the areas where you can actually refer to.
While massaging there is actually some bilateral contraction too. So this bilateral contraction is the actual action needed. So, bilateral contraction, compressing, and actually chewing is the main one.
Step 3: Finish Massage
So with this massage, you can actually use a glove to get into the mouth, and that's one form to get into. Alternatively you can actually teach the client to do it themselves. But otherwise you can actually just palpate around, and again, just have them kind of tense up.
So the muscle grade just goes up and down, like this. So if you want to go like this, go cross-fiber friction, or transverse friction, and that's another name people call it.
So again, this was a big one for TMJ problems, and it can also mimic earaches too.
