I wondered if I could gather the ideas and opinions of those here as to what could possibly cause the jaw to recede. When I say recede, I don’t mean actual bone loss but in my case for example, my jaw appears to have elongated downwards and sunken in. So instead of the lower just being up and forward, it has been pulled down and in, creating less space in the throat. As an easy way to picture what I mean, the space between the tip of my chin and my hyoid/throat cartilage has reduced. As if my chin is gradually sinking into my neck.
I ask this as I’m sure this is related to the general head and neck symptoms I experience and the swallowing issues. Which would make sense if the jaw has receded meaning there is less space in the throat.
I have head CT scan from 2008 when I had an injury and my jaw is far more forward/away from the throat than it is today. I have measured the actual length of the jaw bone, which is exactly the same, but the positioning of it now is much lower down/closer in to the throat. I’ve spoken to several others with similar jaw recession but we are yet to work out what could have caused it and what the solution might be.
Does anyone here have any ideas or experienced something similar and found a solution? Could the styloidhyoid ligaments and muscle pull the jaw down and in? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I’d suspect tight neck and back muscles as the main contributor to the elevated sternum/ribcage, which makes it appear to be closer to the jaw and also tight neck muscles severely limit hyoid mobility.
But also it could be that in one of the CT scans you had your breath in and withheld, during the other - out.
Hey, thanks but I don’t mention sternum or rib cage. Even if these could be somewhat related in looking at the jaw/chin and it’s distance from the neck/throat. It’s clearly receded/pulled down in me. Noticed by other people also.
I wasn’t trying to argue. You just started talking about an elevated sternum and ribcage which I never mentioned in the post that you responded to, and these are not something I have. Thank you for your input anyway.
That’s interesting, I think my lower jaw has got more recessed as I’ve got older too, and my teeth more over crowded!
Having a quick look online the causes of jaw shift seem to be injury, bruxism, and TMJD ( but the there’s lots of suggestions that a recessed jaw can cause TMJD)…I wonder if it is related to calcification whether it would be more likely that the stylo-mandibular ligament could be calcified rather than the stylo-hyoid? We’ve had one or two members who’ve had calcification on that ligament.
This is happening to me as well, I feel like during the day I push my lower jaw forward, perhaps to compensate or stabilise my head. I have disc bulges at c5/6 and c6//7 and I wonder if these contribute because I never feel like I can properly relax my jaw in the day and it doesn’t really fit properly with my teeth. Sometimes I feel like if relax everything my lower jaw would just sink and go backwards, cutting off my airway. I mentioned on another post that I’m having my upper wisdom teeth out and I’m hoping this will help with the jaw lining up better, have you still got any wisdom teeth? Also forward head posture contributes to the lower jaw being pulled back if this is something you might have? There can be lots of reasons for the lower jaw to recede back. I saw a maxillofacial specialist recently though and they were not interested in the slightest. I can never seem to get any answers.
Have you looked into ‘adenoid face’? This is a common breathing pattern issue typically occuring when the turbinates/nasal airway/adenoids are enlarged and blocked, promoting mouth breathing particularly when sleeping. More commonly when young and the cranial bones havent fully formed, the skull then takes a recessed shape with the jaw. That also promotes forward head carriage and the tight neck muscles that ensue from improper breathing as you are using the accessory muscles (e.g. SCM) rather than the diaphragm for breathing.
This has sparked a lot of interesting in ‘mewing’ a technique that a dentist called Michael Mew (i think) developed for proper tongue posture - but the validity of its efficacy i dont know…
Hey, yes I know of this and this doesn’t match up with me as I am a nasal breather with tongue at roof of the mouth. So essentially have always been mewing before the term was labelled. Which again makes the jaw recession even more confusing.
Ok great you are aware already, and also have proper breathing technique. One of my friends has a similar face to what you describe and has quite a large thyroid. His jaw definitely seems recessed in a similar way to what you describe. Just throwing ideas out there!
I have had a recessed jaw for as long as I can remember–smaller, crowded lower jaw, retainers and braces as a kid. I’m going to look into TMJ specialist and potential orthotropic interventions. Guy from the thread above started using a mouth guard like brace I think to expand and bring his jaw forward.
But @vdm is right. The muscles are all involved. Also the fascia. It’s all conencted. I’ve been doing a lot of fascia work with a specialized physio and it’s crazy how much I can feel the fascia from my chest, ribs, abdomen and even down to my hips connect with my neck and jaw. Sometimes after work on my chest, sternal area and neck, my voice is even noticeably different.
It’s crazy how the “neckbones” seems connected to the “footbones”, eh?! Fascia winds around our bodies from top to bottom helping all parts work together. It’s very enlightening when you can actually note how it all works together in your own body. Thank you for sharing this, @domino
I’ve also noticed that when I stretch my hamstrings my jaw and neck also feel more free. Sometimes when my throat and jaw pain is really bad I stretch my hamstrings and it eases off a bit.
Like I said! Caveat - this is an over simplification but you get the idea: Our spines run from pelvis to skull & the nerves that innervate our bodies radiate from the skull & spine thus when our neck & back muscles are tight nerves are impinged which affects our extremities & our movement in general. That in turn can cause key muscles to shut down while others that aren’t meant to be “work horses” ramp up to try to cover for those that have gotten weak. It’s a vicious cycle that can cause chronic pain, inflammation, & debilitation.
I love this forum for all the great information that has been linked here over time relative to human anatomy, proper muscle function & what dysfunction can cause but the best of all are the many links that give information as to what we can do about all this dysfunction. It’s often via baby steps i.e. simply sitting in front of a computer w/ better posture, or holding a cell phone at eye level vs looking down at it all the time, or making time to just relax & do some slow, deep breathing in a moment of severe tension to turn on the sympathetic nervous system which allows a bit of unwinding. There are so many little things we can each do to help ourselves, but once we’re in horrible pain, it’s tough to know where to begin.