Did you know that a PENCIL can cure a headache??? Holding it between your teeth relaxes muscles in the jaw - easing the tension that triggers pain.

Whether it's after a busy day in the office or a noisy afternoon with the kids, a throbbing headache is never welcome.

But rather than reaching straight for the medicine cabinet, one expert says the solution could be as simple as putting a pencil between your teeth.

Aesthetic specialist Dr Jane Leonard says most are tension headaches are triggered by stress, anxiety, tiredness and emotional upset.

They are typically caused by spasms of the muscles in the face, neck, jaw and scalp, she told the Express online.

'Patients often hold their temples to indicate where the source of the pain is,' she said.

'This is due to spasm of a fan-shaped muscle found across the temples spreading the back of the head called temporalis.' 

These spasms are also related to the jaw muscles and can be a sign of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, typically caused by jaw clenching or teeth grinding during sleep.

Dr Leonard, who has clinics in London and Manchester, said holding a pencil between your teeth can help relax the jaw muscle.

'This is an exercise to try to relax the chewing muscles, which are in spasm in TMJ dysfunction,' she said. 

The jaw is one of the most complex joints in the body, and any problem that stops the muscles, ligaments, cartilage discs and bones in it from working properly can cause TMJ.

Characterised by pain and clicking in the joint, it's estimated that around a quarter of us will develop it at some point.

TMJ dysfunction is an umbrella term for problems with jaw joint function and one of the most common problems we see is internal derangement of the jaw — where the normal movement of the joint disc is disturbed.

The jaw joints sit just in front of the ears, where the lower jaw bone meets the skull. In between where these two bones meet is a cartilage disc, which helps the jaw move smoothly.

Problems arise when this disc — which is the shape of a baseball cap and the size of a thumbnail — moves out of its usual position.

One reason why this happens is prolonged tooth grinding or clenching of the jaw. This makes the jaw muscles sore and they go into spasm, which causes the disc to become displaced. 

In addition, wear and tear with age can make the joint arthritic, and pieces may break off, again displacing the disc.

As a result, the joint becomes inflamed and painful; the clicking that people complain of when they open their mouth is the displaced disc getting in the way, or trying to get back into the correct position when the mouth closes.

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache and are usually triggered by stress, anxiety, tiredness and emotional upset but can also be caused by jaw clenching

In most people, the clicking or aching settles down. But in around five per cent of people, the disc becomes badly displaced and cannot move back into position without surgery. 

Left untreated, the jaw is likely to become repeatedly or permanently locked.

This is an exercise to try to relax the chewing muscles, which are in spasm in temporomandibular joint dysfunction

Dr Jane Leonard

Previous studies have also linked headaches to increased pressure on the neck, made worse by bad posture.

Slumping leads to knots forming in the neck muscles, which release chemicals that make nerves more sensitive to pain. 

Experts say 80 per cent of all tension-type headaches - the most common type of headache - are caused by muscles in the neck.

Julie Sugrue, a physiotherapist specialising in the role muscles play in headaches said the head and neck have at least 36 muscle groups of which 20 have been shown to refer pain to the head.

She said: 'These muscles are used for many activities such as moving the head, maintaining posture, eating, talking and facial expressions.

'There are a variety of factors such as poor posture and increased neck tension which can result in "knots" developing in these muscles.

'Tenderness caused by these knots can cause pain in a distant area, which is likely due to the nerves being sensitive.

'This is called referred pain, and is the reason neck muscles can cause pain to be felt in the head.' 

ZeroDegree.