Some people don’t recommend putting your hands in your mouth because the force of the jaw closing could injure your fingers……but
This works for me: right after you notice the pop feeling that your jaw has locked, relax…it will come undone! Take your two pointer fingers and stick them in your mouth and grab your farthest back teeth (your molars or whatever), one side with each hand. Wrap your thumbs around your jawbone. Press down firmly with your pointer fingers sort of down and back while relaxing your jaw. Hopefully it will reset itself. The quicker you set it the better.
Also see your dentist about it. More Info
I’m not a medical person of any sorts, this just works for me. Once my mouth got stuck open for a half hour. That really sucks. If you hit this page I hope it helps a little.
Feel free to call this the Ellerbeck Maneuver if you so desire 🙂 Not as life saving as the Heimlich but we all do our best!
Michael Ellerbeck 
Thank you so much! I was only stuck like that for a few minutes thanks to your handy blog entry.
That’s never happened to me before. It kind of sucks, eh?
I’ve had this problem for almost a year…I think this happened from grinding my teeth and tightening my mouth when I”m upset. it started one day when i opened my mouth really wide, I’m guessing a yawn or my jaws felt tense and that’s when the clicking noise started and still ever since…I’ve gotten stuck maybe 3 to 4 times and i unlocked it by relaxing and moving my lower jaw towards the left usually and trying upward after slowly for me it took seconds until it unlocked and it unlocks every time like that…i wont lie its very terrifying and pretty painful but for me relaxing is number one and moving my jaw to the sides at the same time trying to close it. I hope this helps you!
Also the more you open your mouth with the clicking sound the worst it gets…and if you continue to do so when you go to the doctors to know the problem with your jaw you’ve been dislocating the disc in your jaw more and more with every click and that will be harder to treat or even untreatable and perhaps cause lock jaw which is for life.
At last how you had solved this problem can you advise any solution
hello sir i too got same problem while yawning unable to close mouth it comes many times for me.For this which doctor i have to consult.
Thank you so much!!!! This worked like a charm for me. (To relax it!!!)
Yawn again…Just like what brought it on you can undo it by yawning again…
Yes thank you it work for me
It does suck. You have to be careful when you yawn or eat a big sandwich. I think stress can influence it as well as if you grind your teeth or clench your jaw (since it tires your jaw muscles) so it might be time for a vacation 🙂
I’ve also found that chewing gum seems to help, maybe it strengthens the jaw??
Yea – so I just experienced this. Went into a panic. My wife and I threw on our clothes to go the emergency room. While she got herself together I googled “mouth stuck open jaw”, and this popped up. Took me a while, but got my oddly gaping mouth shut. I just turned 26 yesterday. If this is what happens when you pass mid-20s, I quit life. Thanks for the help!
i have the same problem once or twice a week when i open my mouth to far or yawn it feel like i have a muscle sticking out of the bottom of my jaw but i am onli 19 and this has ben happaning for about 2 years now if i relax it seem to go bk to normall if i push the muscle back into place
It happened to me for the first time when I was 15. I’m 18 now and currently experiencing this for the fourth time. In middle school an orthodontist gave me headgear to make me “prettier.” All they succeeded in doing was majorly screwing up my jaw. I’ve had tmjd ever since then. Having my jaw lock at 15 while I was sick with swine flu? Definitely one of the most upsetting nights of my life.
Thats interesting, it first happened to me around that same age 25-26ish. It really is one of the most helpless feelings I’ve had in my life so far.
I’m 24 and this started happening to me about a year and a half ago… it just happened again about 10 minutes ago and I did a panicked google search which led me to your blog.
I ended up putting my thumb and index finger arched around the front of my jaw just above my chin, and pushing backwards hard and steady until it reset into position… I think this one was my record of about 8 minutes. I can’t even imagine a half hour! I would have given up and gone to the ER by that point I think…
Thanks for posting your method, I’m happy to have another trick in my arsenal for dealing with this problem!
Yeah, I was in total misery. Now I know to set it back as quick as possible! That way it pops back in real quick. I only worry it will get stuck open some time during some sort of public speaking… oh well that would be interesting 🙂
Hi im guessing your jaw got stuck I was reading all the comments on this blog and al people said it lasted less than a half hour mine has been going on for 2 days straight I can’t open my mouth all the way one day I was eating pizza every time I chew u know it pops I chewed and it just stuck there I notice that most peopleare older than me by a long way! I’m in 7 th grade just tellin u u seem to write a lot
That’s my problem too. I can’t open my jaw fully or move it forward fully. I have no pain at all unless I try to open it wide or move it forward. I just woke up with it one morning and my jaw was stuck. And it’s been in the same place ever since.
wow!! just wow!!!! my jaw got stuck when i slept, so i woke up like this. this really works thx dude
I have gotten my jaw stuck 3 twice when 15 within 2 months of each other another just last year at 18. This just happened to me from yawning. Its very painful I couldn’t do anything for it. The first time it closed, actually snapped shut, the second time was stuck open 9 hours, I was in the hospital for 8 of those hours. The last time I was in the hospital for 5 hours and the doctor forced it shut, now from that time I have suffered from pains and from head aches. The first time in the hospital they called an oral surgeon and was told that I must get it fixed or it will happen again. Which it did and I am now suffering from it. If I were you I would get it checked out. Let your doctor know and see what they say, but according to what I have been through and read it gets to be really, really, painful, and wont go away until fixed.
Has happened to me for years now. First was in college (’99) DURING a final. (Got a “D”) ER doc fixed it said “dont open too wide again.”, I left the ER yawned again and was right back. They wired my jaw shut. That might have not been needed. It has happened every so often when I yawn too wide. I chew a LOT of gum so that could have something to do with it. I have learned to “pop” it back in using the above advice. That is just what the ER doc did years ago. Sometimes its easy other times it takes a good minute to fix. Although, when its happening it seems like forever.
The first thought to relax seems like great advice.
My jaw nevers gets locked shut always open im in the hospital right now they have done scans of all sorts for 5 h0ursally þtook it upon my self to research and thank god for umichaelellerbeck ur a angel from bove i was critical pain i owe umay
Thanks. That was pure silliness. I ended up in the shower drooling, for lack of better options. Then the fingers in the mouth things helped.
My problem is half different from your case, I have trouble opening my mouth fully due to a tough right jaw. I think it’s because of my reliance of my left jaw when I bite. Now I get a stiff right jaw that makes it hard for me to open my mouth sometimes. Thanks for the tip! Worked for even one side only.
I am so happy we have the internet for these type of questions. My jaw popped for like 3 minutes at a huge party the other night. Nobody knew what was going on because I couldnt talk and my eyes looked terrified. I was hitting it in horror trying to pop it into place. It was really scary and Im glad that now I have something to try…. all I kept thinking was if I cant talk, how will people know what to do with me? lol. Thanks for your advice!
I think getting your jaw locked open is one of the worst things ever. It hurts like crazy, but people don’t take you seriously because it doesn’t look like such a big deal.
I’ve gotten my jaw locked open at very inappropriate times. Once I had one during my exams (that was terrible cause all the profs/invigilators didn’t know what to do with me). I also have had several cases during a lot of all-nighters (trying to finish projects, cramming, studying etc.)…which was horrible cause it wasted a lot of my time.
My jaw gets locked on average for about 30 minutes each time…I tried your method, but I don’t think I’m doing it right cause it’s not working. How I usually end of unlocking it, is by placing one hand under my chin, and the other on top of my head. Then I would try to force it closed. This method isn’t the greatest cause it hurts like crazy, and doesn’t always work. But I really have no other ideas. I’ve talked to TMJ specialists about this and they told me to “wiggle” my jaw joint back in place. Right. Like I will know how to “wiggle” my jaw joint when it happens.
Whoa, sounds like you have a pretty serious case. A few other things I have noticed. I was clenching my jaw a lot, my dentist has been after me to get a night guard. I have been focusing on not clenching during the day, and try to remind myself not to clench while I am sleeping. I think this has been helping. For a while I was chewing gum more frequently to help with my GERD (a whole nother post in itself) and I think the gum chewing was actually helping. I also yawn a little differently now. I kind of open my mouth down and back like trying to bring my chin to the back of my throat.
The finger method I use is kind of a 45 degree angle pressure to the down and back while grabbing those back molars. I have gotten so I can do it with one hand now if needs be, but luckily the popping out of socket has really calmed down a bunch.
An epipen jaw relaxer would be awesome… just jam it into your face so that your jaw can get back in socket…
one method that works for me is to gently try to close your mouth to the extent possible, then slightly open it again (while it is still locked) and then again try to close. Repeat the motion several time and it closes with a thud.
I have also experienced smooth, painless and natural closing of locked mouth by wrapping it in warm cloth like muffler or blanket and waiting for my joint to warm up a little bit.
one method that works for me is to gently try to close your mouth to the extent possible, then slightly open it again (while it is still locked) and then again try to close. Repeat the motion several time and it closes with a thud.
I have also experienced smooth, painless and natural closing of locked mouth by wrapping it in a warm cloth like muffler or blanket and waiting for my joint to warm up a little bit.
Thank you soo much for this, ironicly in line with the other posts, I am turning 26 tomorrow and when I woke up today, I yawned and my jaw wouldn’t close. I tried what you reccomended and it painlessly worked. God Bless you, I was worried I would have to drive myself to the emergency room.
my grandpa is old and his mouth and jaw is open
is just happened recently and we don’t know what to do and I search up the internet and you’ve given as a great info on what to do
Now I can go tell my mum and help my grandpa out.
My parent’s is very crazy right now just because of all that, they thought that would be the sign of death, just because my grandpa can move his jaw
thanks
hi, im 18 and this recently happened to me one night while i was laying in bed, and i yawned and my jaw kind of popped and since it had never happened i didnt expect anything really and i closed my mouth real fast and it made an awful painful crack. since then my jaw has gotten stuck open a couple times when yawning, one night specifically when it happened like 3 times. but i found that if i grab my lower jaw by the front teeth and pull down and out from my body then ease my jaw shut no pop or crack or anything. I hope it never happens in public!!
I have had this ongoing issue for the past several years now. Started when I was younger, 16 maybe. Here I am turning 29 in March and last night this happened again. I always had to push on the top of the jaw, near the ear with pressure and take my left hand and slowly push my jaw to the right (hence that is the side mine has issues with)
Yes the pain is insane. I felt like I was nuts for telling people it happened to me a few times. LIke a damn dog, with lock jaw. I do grind my teeth at night. I even asked my DR about it and he said if you dont normally go in for teeth cleanings every 6 months can also cause this. I do go in every 6 months like clock work, expect this past year its been almost 10 months.
Chewing gum may help. Opening your jaw to the opposit side or putting pressure on the top area might allow you to yawn just fine. I always feel a yawn come in, I will open my mouth and pretty much lock my jaw tight way before it could get painful and pop out
You do have to relax your whole face. Dont flip out because its stuck. This is the only way to pop it back in. See last night mine popped out becuase my husband and I were play fighting and I went to laugh and open my mouth to bite his neck, when he heard the pop but I went to pull back right as it popped, happened way to fast and it snapped very loud back in place. The pain was seriously nuts. Instant pain, instant tears. It was so damn loud he thought I bite down on my tounge. My teeth clashed down is what he thought. I grabbed my face and put pressure on the location, it helped the pain go away faster. Pressure and rubbing in a circle motion.
He wanted to take me to the ER. I told him the bad part was over, now I get to see if I swell up or not.
Thank you…Thank you..soo much! I yawned and the next thing..my jaw popped..and I couldn’t close my mouth. I tried to open my mouth more..and see if i could push my jaw..to either side…nothing was working. It’s early in the morning here..and i didn’t want to wake everyone up..to tell them we have to go to the emergency room. So, I googled to see if there is a quick and painless fix…and yours was the first that popped up on google search. Thank you..thank you..thank you 🙂
MANY THANKS! You just saved me a trip to the ER.
Hey, I have had this happen to me a couple of times. First time was when I was at the dentist. My jaw was open for so long that it got stuck. The dentist said I have a “hinged jaw”, he just took his fingers and pushed in below my temple. It actually happened again today at school, that’s how I found this. It took some time but I pushed from the sides again and eventually it popped back in. Still is kind of sore right now, but I find it works.
My jaw locked open for the first time at a baby shower about 8 years ago. I of course was in a panic. Now I am 33 and still dealing with this. My jaw locks almost every time I don’t catch my yawn before it happens. When it sticks, I try to relax andI use my index fingers to massage the joint right under my earlobes and it seems to pop back into place. To avoid this, when I yawn I try to stick my bottom jaw to the right and my upper jaw to the left. That seems to work for me.
This is the cure, not the fix to this scary problem, whether your jaw gets stuck open or closed. You have to stop the bad habit of resting your jaw or chin on your fist or palm with your elbow on the desk when sitting at a desk or table, even sleeping with your hand tucked under your jaw will push it out of place. Takes at least a few days of breaking this habit to start feeling the benefit. Much harder habit to break than you may think but worth the effort. Anyone who sits in a classroom all day, look around, about 50% of people have this bad habit. Some people have mentioned that thier jaw has gotten stuck after writting an exam. Resting the wieght of your head against your hand with your elbow on a table/desk pushes your jaw out of alaignment, try it right now and see what I mean.
worked for me, hope it works for you too
good-luck
I have done this all my life so this is gonna be tough for me. My jaw is locked so I can’t fully open it and it’s helped me break my habit of biting my nails so I hope I can break this habit.
wow. This site is very helpful. My jaw started locking open too when I was 26. I have to be careful when I yawn bc that is when it locks. I find rubbing my temples helps the pain once the jaw is back in place.
GOD Bless You much!
You just saved me from an open mouth locked jaw!
=)
I am 48 yr old female and my jaw has made clicking sounds for a long time now. Even at the dentist, if I had my mouth open for awhile it was a little hard to shut. But just last night I was out with some friends and went to bite a sandwich and my mouth locked open for the first time. How freaky!! It happened about 5 more times as I continued to eat the sandwich. It scared me really bad. I just relaxed and pushed in on the sides of my face at the jaw joint but it took awhile. Then I saw this web site today. I will definitely try the fix if and when it happens again. Thanks very much.
I’m 18 years old right now and my jaw locked open for a couple minutes for the first time today when my dentist told me to open my mouth wider and wider. To fix it he did the same thing by putting two fingers in my mouth and pushing down on my molars. It took a while, but I was so relieved when my jaw was able to close. I was so scared when it happened, and I’ve been scared to open my mouth wide now. He suggested that I should have it x-rayed to see what’s wrong and get it fixed.
I usualy just apply pressure with my fingers to the joint (mainly on the lower jaw) right infront of the ear and just close it, it hurts like hell and feels/sounds like everything is cracking but it works for me
I was in a store and i had been yawning for about an hour. All of a sudden I yawned again and itlocked up. This was the very first time it had happened, so I panicked. I kept trying to close my jaw, but it wouldnt close down at all. After I relaxed and kept playing with it I was finally able to close it. This was a year ago and I still have pains in my lower jaw. It feels like I pulled a muscle in my jaw. Very scary experience and it hurts like crazy. I defifnitely try not to open my mouth so wide when I yawn to avoid this. I am also very conscious about it now.
It just happened to me for the first time today. The dentist pressed down on my bottom molars and rocked my jaw a little to get it back in place. Really annoying! hope it never happens again. I will definitley cut out the gum and the resting my jaw on my fist good advice! My jaw is a little tender right now but I’m sure it will be fine in a few days. I hope it doesn’t affect my kissing power with the ladies!
This has happened to me at least 10 times, it started when i was 13. I yawned and it just got stuck wide open and i was trying to close it and i panicked a lot. Since then it does happen a fair bit and i try really hard not to yawn cause im scared of it gettng stuck again,
wow i hope this helps for next time around. i am vacationing in Costa Rica at the moment and this happened for the first time ever while souvinear shopping. I am 27 BTW. Very embarrasing. It happened 2 times after that and this last time hurt like hell after it popped back into place. I will give this a try.
hi, i’m only 13. and my jaw keeps getting locked closed when i wake up for school in the morning. it really hurts when i try to open my mouth, but sometimes it just goes back in place. i woke up today, but it didn’t go back in place and i’m sitting here in pain. what do i do!
i’m 17 and it has happened twice today. i panicked because it really is one of the most helpless feelings ever… this blog was an amazing find for me, worked like a charm! 3 pops and bam i can talk again! both happened from yawns. one when i woke up, that was the panic, and once while i was driving to school! i ended up being a half an hour late bacause of the panic. first one lasted about 15 minutes, second one i fixed right away, it hurt quite a bit more though. thank you so much! the ellerbeck maneuver has saved me from a very tough situation! although my school didnt quite believe me when i walked in half an hour late saying “my mouth was stuck open and i panicked! i’m sorry!” luckily there was a teachere there who had the same problem 😀
holy crap you saved my life!when i was younger my jaw would lock up constanty then when i had braces the problem went away.since i’ve had them off i had it happen to me twice but when my jaw locks up i usually have to wait a couple hours before it finally unlocks and your advice has really helped a lot cuz im sure nobody wants their jaw locked for hours like me
i will try this next time it happens.i recently got my wisdom tooth pulled and after they were done my mouth was stuck open they tried to message it, but it didn’t work so an oral surgeon came and pushed down all the way in the back of my mouth just like u said to…it hurt like hell because i just had gum surgery but he taught me how to do it so..thank u both:-)
My jaw has been permanently locked closed for 7 months now. I can still open it about an inch and chew but it gets really tired and hurts really bad when chewing anything hard or for a long time. nothing has worked that I’ve tried and it can cause me a long time to get to sleep. I think the muscles have something to do with it but they wont relax. I guess this technique doesnt work when its been locked this long:( Any suggestions or ideas?
2 months ago I told my boyfriend that I yawned so big that I thought my jaw was going to get stuck open. Last night it really happened when I yawned. It scared me and yes the tears started and panic set in I just pushed down on both sides of my jaw in the back and after about 5 minuets it popped back in. Please don’t tell me this is always going to happen now. I was so scared to yawn again last night. Is this a form of TMJ is this something a dentist can stop.
It happened to my friend today, she is 5 months pregnant, and while she was preparing her food, didn’t even yawn or do anything all of sudden her jaw got stuck open :0(
she was suffering for half and hour until her husband arrives, then we took her to emergency, they took x-ray and put her sleep, i don’t know whats going to happen :0(
i just came back from hospital and still thinking of her, if i see your site first we could have done your method on her by saving the time…..
Hey Thanks! a tonn, My jaw got stuck last night and through this post now its back to normal. Thanks once again!
Thanks a lot! My jaw gets locked occasionally and normally it goes back into place by itself, but when it did it just now it refused to. After reading this I got it back into place in no time (although I had to pull forward as opposed to push back on my molars).
hey thanks for the tip,it started happening when i was in high school,it pains when my jaw stuck while yawning,i force it to shut,ealier this morning it happened again and it’s 14th time as usual i did shut and it was painful than those i felt before.next time i think i will try your tip.
Dear sir/lady, you are my hero. I haven’t had my jaw get stuck in over a year, but I just popped in my old retainer (old one stopped working – I have to kind of forceably clench this one in) and my jaw cramped so I couldn’t open it more than an inch! Now it’s only clicking. =P Thanks!
I just dislocated my jaw and went to the ER after an hour, the doctor did pretty much the same thing but advised me to go to the dentist, to make sure that my bite was correct
Hi Mellerbeck,
I have a different problem. When I yaw or open mouth wide (moving the lower jaw), I have pain in the right joint.
Is this the same you mean by (jaw gets stuck?)
Do you have such techniques for my problem?
I had a back tooth pulled and ever since then my jaw has been sticking. It hurt when I open my mouth wide and try to bite anything. any suggections
Normally when I yawn and my jaw gets like unhinged or whatever it scares the hell out of me so like normally I that makes my jaw force close lol its very scary for me lol is there a way to like not have this happen lol. People keeptelling me just don’t open your mouth that wide again but it doesn’t always work … lol heehee I feel so weird now lol
A cure rather than a treatment : works along the same lines as not sitting with your chin in you hands. Do not sleep on your front, as sleeping with your face down or sideways puts pressure on your jaw, if you can sleep on your back your jaw will not get pushed out of alignment.
Hey Mellerbeck…….thanks a whole bunch!!!! U’re method works quite well. Thanks a whole bunch again!!!!!! U’re a life saver. I just hate it when that happens…mine lasted 20 minutes or so…that i almost panicked…gets really annoying and irritated sometimes. Thanks again….God bless !!!!
My jaw got locked for the second time, and this one happened 3am in the morning and lasted for 4hrs. I am trying this method alone because I dont want to disturb anybody. But it seems that maybe my jaw was really locked tight or I am just not applying enough pressure thinking it would hurt (like the first time I experienced it with a dentist).
I showed this video from youtube to a friend dentist and she solve my problem painlessly
(she puts her two thumbs on my upper molar and her pointer fingers at the bottom end of my gums inside my mouth so she could really perform a harder pressure for the downward push)
im 19 and my mouth gets stuck open for a while and i cant close my mouth .its very painfull. i dont know what to do. it happens 3 times in a day of month
I meant this ISNT WORKIING!
I’m sorry, it works for some, in that case I would find a medical professional 🙂
[…] Ellerbeck Maneuver. It has helped several people recover from a mouth stuck open according to the comments on michael’s blog: Some people don’t recommend putting your hands in your mouth because the […]
Thank you so much for this info. I was at lunch with my colleagues and at the end of lunch I yawned and it got stuck open. Too embarrassed, I walked off and went to the bathroom After 5 minutes in the restroom, a student walked in. I then went to my office and close dthe door, 10minutes later a student came in and asked a question…I mumbled a responce and waved him off. 10 minutes later, after having to cover my mouth and act like I was yawning when someone walked in, I decided to google a solution (it usually pops back in place and I was beginning to worry a bit) and this solution came up…IT WORKED IMMEDIATELY!!! Thanks,
ok so im only 16 and my jaw has recently been i guess getting stuck in place to the point i can open my mouth but it feels strange to eat and i normaly just wake up and strch my mouth till it pops but it hurts to bad to do that now i try to just leave it alone but i went to yawn and it got stuck…..what should i do and what might be wrong?
I would see a dentist 🙂 Also, take note of whether you rest your chin on your hand often. Or how you are sleeping on your jaw. Take care
Michael
this happened to me for the first time when I was like 14! I freaked out but was able to snap it shut.. it would happen once in a while but I was always able to kind of snap my mouth shut. one time it happened a few years ago, but was REALLY stuck! went to the ER. I think it was stuck open for like 45 minutes b4 the dr. came and re-aligned my jaw. last night it happened again and I went to the ER. again another 45 minutes b4 they fixed it.. VERY painful after a while!
Hi,
I have also have mouth/jaw problem
i am eating tobacco with pieces of areca nut & due to my mouth/jaw is stuck, i can get only 2 fingers into my mouth, before i started eating tobacco, my mouth was a opening fine like a normal man.
Please advise
Once my jaw was stuck for more than an hour. It was super pain . I went to the ER and even the doctors couldn’t help me and they did the exact same thing. They said it was too stiff! I was sedated and put to sleep while they helped me place it back.
Ugh, My jaw has been locked for 2 days now….I’ll keep trying this, but it may have worked better had I done this when it first started. I have NO insurance, so really don’t want to pay 100’s of $ to have it fixed. Thanks for the post, I’ll definitely try it right away next time.
Wow my jaw was locked for the past three days thinking it’d fix itself because it usually does. This time though it lasted longer and I almost considered going to the doctors. But I decided to google, what do and this came up. I tried it and immediately it worked. You have no idea how thankful I am about this post. I was worried it was something worse. Once again, thank you so much!
echoing the many WOWs. i’ve had this problem for that past few years. this is the first time something worked so quickly. THANK YOU!
i get the popping all the time ever since i was little and my jaw likes to stay open sometimes. im only 23 and for the last 4 days my mouth doesn twant to open wide enough for me to eat anything i don tknow why its doing this but its scary and VERY painfull. i figured maybe chewing gum would jhelp but all that did was cause more pain, any one that can help please!!!!!
Thanks for posting this lol. My jaw just locked open and i remember this happening while getting fillings done and my dentist did something and i was trying to remember it while looking on google and found this. MAN i was freaking out good lol. I’ll be more mindful of my yawning from now on.
My jaw is jammed shut and I really don’t have a clue what to do. I can open it a bit but I’ve been stuck like this since Saturday morning. Just hope this works.
I’m 19 and this has happened to me occasionally since I was about 13 or so. I have am over-bite (not sure if it matters) and when I yawn too hard I generally get a very bad pain under my jaw in the center of it.
Usually to fix it I open my jaw a little more and apply a small amount of pressure on where I described the pain feeling.
Go to the doctor and get an X-ray. You may have a bacterial infection that causes lockjaw.
This sucks, we all know the temporary solution but what about a permanent one…….
So can your teeth fall out if your jaw keeps snapping like that ..
Thank you so much for this blog! This happened tor me before and I didn’t know what to do! It just happened to me today and I decided to google what to do. My bite is messed up because of a bad orthodontic treatment, so I can’t have a big yawn, bite into an apple, bite hard sandwiches because my jaw locks open. I am glad now I know what to do, so next time I don’t have to suffer until the muscles relax. Thanks again!
Been there done that….No fun…terrifying panic mode!!!! Wow….cant open wide…
Thanks today it helped me alot… It’s quite terrifying… Dont want to feel that again ever,
My jaw locked yesterday it was terrifying!I almost collapsed ‘coz I panicked.I yawned then all of a sudden it locked open.It was so scary I don’t wanna feel that again EVER!.Now I can open my mouth but not too wide after what happened,I can still feel there’s tension.I only eat soft foods now to not to put pressure on my jaw when chewing..The moment I was about to pass out my jaw instantly unlocked,I guess the muscles must’ve relaxed .I read that when you get your jaw locked you have to be calm so that the muscles won’t have too much tension so it’s easier to unlock it.I read that it’s better to sleep on your back.Thank God it ended but it was scary.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! My jaw has been locked for the past hour and a half. Normally I can get it undone immediately but had a ton of problems with it this time. Thank you thank you thank for your technique.
it happen to me last night “what the hell” this is insane i dont no what to do i force my jaw to closed nothing happen and i cry and pray after 5-10 munite a mirriacle happen i open my mouth slighly then closed with small amount of forced then it back to normal i’m scared right now. I train My mouth closed when i yawn lol.
THANK YOU. I honestly almost went to the hospital. Luckily I found this. Sore, but closed jaw.
Thanks man! Saved my ass!
Holy crap thank you so much for this, I just did it and it totally worked. THANK YOU I was flipping my lid.
AMAZING! I just performed the pointer finger trick and my jaw went back into place! Thank you so much!
Thank you !! This has been happening lately and this really helped ! Didn’t know I could reset my jaw though. Lol
My wifes jaw was stuck for almost 30 minutes. I was FREAKING OUT! I saw this answer (after searching for a million years) and read it out loud to her, and before I ended your advice, I heard a subtle click and she said, “I GOT IT!” Thank you so much, you really helped us out!
Thank you soooo much!!!! I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room. My jaw was stuck open for the first time in my life, and I was horrified.
Thank you again for sharing. You are my hero.
Thank you so much!! it really worked.
Oooh thank you so very much. I panicked. I thought I’d be like that all day. I was gonna go to the hospital. That info was so helpful thank God for Google and you. Bless you.
Thank you very much for the post! It really worked.
I used to slap my mouth a couple of times when that happens. Works like magic!
I just did this and it was so scary!!! Thank you!!!
[…] What to do if your Jaw gets stuck open/ mouth gets stuck … – Ellerbeck Maneuver: Take your two pointer fingers and stick them in your mouth and grab your farthest back teeth (your molars or whatever), one side with each hand. […]
question: ive heard from someone that this jaw problem occurs because of week bones? is it true?
please please answer my question
Just got home from A&E because of this, the doc put his thumbs in both inner cheeks and pushed the lower jaw down and back. It’s really sore at the moment
This worked! My jaw was locked for 20 minutes, so I took to the internet for help and found this page. Thank you.
This is the best advice ever! Works in no time. Thank you!
Here is my technique which works 99% of the time, since learning this I haven’t spent longer than 30 seconds with my mouth locked open – so all you need to do is push on your cheek from the outside, try to get the exact point where it sticks out abnormally and it should just click back into place. It helps if you relax also.
This happens to me probably twice a month now and it’s only when I yawn too big. For the amount of times I have experienced this, you’d think I would have learnt from it by now to yawn smaller!
Good luck 🙂
my jaw was open in the open position for 30 seconds and that was all I needed to go bonkers
This never happened to me before but today I was in a terrible condition I was stuck for 15mins and was helpless, read your blog I’m fine now. Thanks a lot Sir.
This happened to my girlfriend right now and we were freaking out. Luckily I found this right on time and managed to close her mouth like this. I know this is 10 years old but you’re a life saver!
Got stuck for 45 minutes.
Googled but found nothing helpful. Happened many times before but every time I had done it myself by using many different methods but tonight nothing worked. So rushed to hospital at 11 pm. And the Medical person used this method and fixed it.
Now found it after searching again and again.
Thank you it works