The muscle that clenches your jaw hangs from your cheekbone, at the outer edge of the bone that holds your cheek sinus. So an ache in that cheek can come from your sinus, your jaw, or both. I'm Geri León, a massage therapist, and I welcome you from Hayward to my Castro Valley practice for face massage that covers sinus pressure from allergies and TMJ disorder.
Where The Fullness In Your Face Sits
Your maxillary sinuses are the air spaces behind each cheekbone, just under your eyes, and your frontal sinuses sit low in your forehead near the inner ends of your brows. When a sinus is blocked, you feel the pressure in exactly those places, which is why your face can feel heavy below and above your eyes. When a cold or an allergy flare swells the lining of those spaces enough to close the small openings that let them drain, pressure builds in your cheeks and forehead. With that in mind, I save my gentlest hands for those parts of your face. My strokes there begin beside your nostrils and travel out beneath each cheekbone toward your ears, then rise from your nose along your brows.
Your Upper Molars And The Sinus Floor
The roots of your upper first and second molars sit closest to the sinus floor, and in many adults they reach up into the cheek sinus itself. When the lining above them swells, those teeth sit right under the pressure. So if a toothache rises and falls with your congestion, tell me, and I keep my touch at its lightest over the cheek above it, whatever else we do that day.
The Jaw Muscle On Your Cheekbone
Your masseter is the thick muscle you feel bulge at the side of your face when you clench, and it is a main muscle for closing your jaw. It runs from the underside of your cheekbone down to your lower jaw. Clenching or grinding can happen awake or asleep, and its signs include sore jaw muscles and facial pain or headaches, especially in the morning. The temporalis, a fan of muscle over your temple, also lifts your lower jaw. For that reason I carry the jaw work up to your temples once your cheeks are done. Neck and shoulder pain is also a listed symptom of jaw joint disorders, alongside jaw pain and headaches, so when your jaw is the trouble I can include your neck as well.
Two Kinds Of Pressure In One Session
Over your sinuses, I use a touch about the weight of a penny, because pressing hard there can leave you lightheaded or dizzy. On your jaw, I work slowly from the masseter under your cheekbone up into the temporalis over your temple. Your masseter can take slower, firmer work, and when your jaw is the one aching, I give it and your temples more time, at the firmness you set.
Resting Comfortably When You Feel Stuffy
Face massage happens with you lying face up, your head resting on the table and your face open to my hands. The table carries the weight of your head while I work. If a spot over a sinus feels tender, say so and I lighten my touch right away. A change of pace or a short break is yours whenever you want one. Sinus pain with a fever, or pain that lasts ten days or more, is a reason to see a healthcare provider first.
One Visit For Your Cheeks And Your Jaw
Book face massage at my Castro Valley practice by calling me, Geri León, at (510) 409-8598. Tell me whether your cheeks or your jaw bother you more, and I'll begin where that ache is strongest. Your swollen sinus lining and your tight jaw meet at the same bone, so one session can give each the pressure that suits it.
