Have you ever woken up after a night of partying a little too hard only to have a terrible ache in your jaw? Unfortunately, jaw clenching is a common occurrence when it comes to the morning after a rave. We’re here to look at 7 jaw clenching remedies for the morning after your big night out and give you tips on how to hopefully prevent jaw pain from happening again.

1. Magnesium supplements

Magnesium supplements can be taken as both a preventative measure and a cure for the jaw pain. In fact, it is key to avoiding jaw tension in the first place. You may have heard that some people experience terrible aches and pains in the jaw joint the morning after a rave while others do not. This could be due to the fact that we all naturally have different levels of magnesium in our bodies – none of us are exactly the same. Magnesium not only supports your mood and digestive system but it also supports the health of your nervous system – this is key for avoiding jaw pain. If drinking alcohol is part of your raving routine, magnesium is already being depleted from your body through your urine, making jaw clenching that much more likely. Try taking magnesium before or after a night of raving if you’re experiencing a sore jaw – it should help. 

2. Chewing gum

Chewing gum is a popular remedy for the prevention of jaw discomfort caused by clenching but will likely not be of much help to you the morning after – the last thing you’ll want to have to do is chew gum through the aches and pains. Keep in mind that not everyone considers chewing gum a solution for the prevention of jaw clenching. Some find that chewing gum leads to even more jaw pain though some swear by chewing gum throughout their night of raving to avoid jaw pain and tension. This method of chewing to relieve pain may come down to trial and error.

3. RaveAid Restorative Dietary Supplements

The combination of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids found in RaveAid’s dietary supplements is effective in preventing and treating the jaw clenching the morning after a rave. Not only does RaveAid include 125 mg per serving of magnesium, which is, again, essential for preventing jaw clenching, but its combination of beneficial ingredients make sure you have a fast recovery. RaveAid is scientifically formulated to avoid the comedown effects of a night of raving and is meant to be taken up to two days before a rave, during the rave, or up to two days after a rave. With the combination of magnesium, serotonin production, and antioxidants to help boost the immune system and eliminate free radicals from your body, RaveAid has you covered in your jaw aching prevention.

4. Hot or cold compresses 

If you’re past the prevention stage and need something ASAP to alleviate your morning after jaw pain, applying hot or cold compresses may be the way to go for immediate relief. Hot and cold compresses can help to reduce pain and tension and they relax your muscles quickly. When it comes to whether you should use hot or cold compresses, use whichever feels best to you. Hot compresses are most effective for chronic jaw pain while more minor aches and pains may respond better to treatment with a cold compress. Use either compress for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Try a heated gel pack, hot water bottle, cold pack, or straight-up ice itself wrapped in a cold cloth. 

5. Anti-inflammatory medications

The reality is if you did not take measures to prevent the symptoms of jaw clenching, you might need a treatment that’s a little more immediate. Although anti-inflammatories and painkillers do not prevent the problem in the long term or speed up healing, you may need to take a dose to take the edge off of your jaw pain. Again, this is meant for short term use and is not a long-term remedy to this condition. Over the counter medications such as ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin (caffeine-free) will help take the initial edge off the pain but don't really fix the damage.

6. Avoid caffeine

While this isn’t exactly a remedy, skip your caffeine the morning after, as hard as this may be – and we don’t just mean coffee. Be mindful that caffeine can be found in a variety of foods and drinks, including coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, and power/energy drinks. Caffeine only increases muscle tension, which is absolutely not something that you want to want to be messing with when your jaw is already as tense as it can get. Although it may be incredibly tempting the morning after a rave, we want to stress that it is not going to help your jaw pain in any way.  

7. Massage

Giving yourself a massage can be another form of immediate relief when it comes to alleviating jaw pain and stress management by increasing blood flow and reducing tightness in the muscles. You can give yourself a massage to reduce your jaw tension by opening your mouth (gently) and rubbing the muscles that are next to your ears in a gentle, circular motion. This is where you can find your temporomandibular joint. Do this several times a day or as often as needed if you find it’s relieving your condition.

While prevention is always the best way to go, we hope we have given you some great options in terms of not only preventing the jaw pain from clenching but also treating it. Jaw tightness and soreness is the last thing you want to think about after a night out so making sure you’re safe and you know how to prevent the problem is key.