Why is the stretch treatment of jaw muscles effective against chronic pain?

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The purposes of this research were to clarify the healing mechanism of therapeutic exercise including the stretch treatment, and to develop a load device of eccentric exercise to use therapeutic exercise. It is suggested that experimental prolonged low-level jaw-clenching reduces the pain sensitivity, and the effect of the clenching influences the pain sensitivity of remote regions. Changes of autonomic nervous activity induced by an intra-oral stimulation were measured by accelerated plethysmography. The utility of the muscle hardness meter for orofacial region was also evaluated. The results of the present research are considered to contribute to clarify pathology of chronic orpfacial pain and to develop the method of diagnosis and treatment.