What is joint flossing?

Foot pronation couples with jaw decompression

Seems like an obvious question. However, I’ve made it my personal practice to never again take for granted that I understand what a joint is. Nor will I assume that the person I am talking to has the same understanding of a joint as mine. 

Holding and gripping… Sounds like what many of us do with our jaws today. 

Your jaw is actually the “gripping” part of your face. Feels true, don’t it? 

The jaw has two articulating bones: Mandible + temporal bone. 

As you open your mouth the mandible protrudes (slides anteriorally and inferiorally) opening space in the TMJ, and we’ll call it a decompression. And visa versa. 

Now the fun part… Your jaw has a specific way of interacting wiht the rest of the body as you walk.

All joint motions the body can do show up in gait. Even the jaw’s motions, though it is so subtle and happens too quickly to pay attention to it unelss you really focus.

Every single joint in the body has the opportunity to articulate to both ends of it’s available movement spectrum, in all three planes, with each foot step. Every movement your body can do it does in the space of 0.6-0.8 seconds with each step. 

Unless it can’t. 

So if a joint doesn’t have access to a movement just standing and trying to isolate it, you can bet it won’t be happening when you walk either. This leads to new strategies that are more effortful, and may lead to new problems later. 

How does lack of movement at the foot affect the jaw? How does lack of movement at the jaw affect the foot? 

When the jaw gets stuck in one position and only has that one option, it can impact on the movement options for the rest of the body.  

I randomly came accross a chart with the teeth and their association to different muscles. I’ve misplaced said chart and all I remember was the connection between molars and hamstring (and if anyone has this or a similar chart I would love to see it!). 

Just for the fun of it, I tried doing the heel strike exercise while holding contact with my left molars. BOOM hello hamstrings. Freaky biomechanical magic.

All this to say, TMJ mechanics and resting bite can have an effect on how we move and how we feel. So we want it to be able to dangle freely, in the right relationship with the rest of the body, which should happen in a particular way with each step we take. 

This takes into account every joint in our body. They all should be able to move freely in 3 planes of motion. Learning daily joint flossing techniques can make that happen. It can take some time to restore joint motion, but the rewards will be great. I used to have issues with my left SI joint all the time, but after learning how to floss my fibula, that cranky SI joint rarely shows it’s head anymore.

So remember,none of these movements are inherently bad or good. They simply happen. 

What makes a movement better or worse for us is if it is happening too much, too fast, at the wrong time, or we get stuck in it as our only option. 

Pronation is a like visiting Walmart. You want to get in, get what you need, and get out. 

When we lable a movement (or anything…) as bad its often because we don’t understand it in its proper context, so our solution is to try to minimize, avoid, or control it. 

Real freedom isn’t reached by controlling and manipulating our bodies, selectively avoiding entire movement spectrums. Just a little perceptual recalibration is required. To learn more about joint flossing and taking care of your own self, join my online tribe today!