The Pelvic Floor and Its Connection to the Jaw

A client came in for treatment the other day and we began talking about the physical therapy she has been doing and she mentioned that her therapist had brought up how her pelvic floor dysfunction could be contributing to her jaw pain. Well for some reason it struck a chord with me and it was like I was learning this all over again. I then got really excited about it and decided I needed to dive into this topic again.

Would you believe me when I tell you that your jaw and your pelvis are indeed connected and that your pelvic floor health and your TMJ could be contributing to one another or even the reason why one or the other may have developed. 

There are really two physical connections between the two 1.the fascial line connection  2. The cranio sacral connection. Let’s check out these two connections. 

Now let's cover the fascial plane that connects our jaw to our pelvis. First off, what is fascia? Fascia is basically a layer of connective tissue, primarily collagen, that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. So even though we have fascia throughout the body there are continuous sheets of this fascia that run along certain areas of the body and these are known as plains. An interesting note about these fascial lines is that the acupuncture meridians follow these planes fairly closely. There are some theories that suggest this is one way that the acupuncture points can communicate with one another. 

Known as the deep front line, this fascial line is one of our direct connections between the jaw and the pelvis. I like the description that The Tai Chi Effect give for the deep front line, “A core line that begins deep on the sole of the foot and runs up the inside of the leg to the front of the hip joint and across the pelvis to the front of the spine and on up through the thoracic cavity to the jaw and the bottom of the skull.

The Deep Front Line  comprises the body’s myofascial core.  Beginning from the bottom the DFL has roots deep in the underside of the foot, passes upwards just behind the bones of the lower leg and behind the knee to the inside of the thigh.  From there we see a split of tracks, anterior and posterior. The anterior aspect passes in front of the hip joint through the pelvis and along the lumbar spine.  Whereas the posterior track passes up more the back of the thigh to the pelvic floor and rejoins the anterior track at the lumbar spine, both joining the diaphragm.”

 So if you can try to visualize this as a three dimensional structure, almost like a very fine netting or a very specific shaped pair of panty hose running through different areas of your body. Now think about  if you pull on one end of the net you will feel the pull on the other end and even the sides of the net without directly touching that area.

 If you then apply this to the body you can see this fascial plain is a direct connection between the jaw and pelvis. Taking it one step further, if you have something pulling or restricting the fascia, say in your pelvis, this can directly influence, pull and tugging on the jaw.  

The second connection that we have linking our jaw and our pelvis is the craniosacral connection. The craniosacral connection starts at the cranium (head) and travels down the spine and connects at the sacrum, pretty straight forward. In between the top and the bottom you will find the meninges. The meninges are thin layers of connective tissues that protect and support the central nervous system. They run through the skull protecting the brain and travel down and round the spinal cord. It is also here that  you will find the cerebrospinal fluid which also protects and nourishes the CNS. 

So similar to fascial planes, the craniosacral connection is a second connective tissue connection. So by relieving tension in this system we can relieve tension in the central nervous system at both the upper and lower ends (head and sacrum) of the body. If we can get one end to relax then we can affect the other end of the system. If you flick one end of a jump rope you will see the ripples go down the rope and see it terminate at the other end. 

I think it becomes pretty easy to see how this applies to our pelvic floor and our jaw. It is pretty fascinating and exciting to think about these connections, and how when we begin to look at the body as a whole system and not as disconnected parts we can really begin to get to the roots of some of our problems. And what may appear as unconventional ways of treating problems isn’t so unconventional after all.