In practice, I often observe the interesting and profound connection between the jaw and a woman’s reproductive issues. This may look like chronic bruxism (teeth clenching or grinding at night), pain in the jaw, ongoing issues with throat infections or laryngitis, or tension headaches. From a pelvic perspective, this correlates with pelvic floor dysfunction, painful sex, uterine issues, SIJ dysfunction, menstrual cycle irregularities, or unexplained pelvic girdle pain. For many years I observed these patterns without understanding the root causes and connections, which I accidentally discovered when reviewing reproductive embryology - and, wow! To my surprise there is literature that has explored some of the questions I had about these experiences so many clients reported to me.

The connection between the throat and uterus begins during embryologic development at around day fifteen. In this stage, called gastrulation, two depressions form on the dorsal side of the embryo which become the oropharyngeal membrane (goes on to form the mouth) and the cloacal membrane (goes on to form the openings of the urinary, reproductive and digestive tracts). The spine grows between them and the two remain connected from their early beginnings as one being in the embryo.

Both the jaw and pelvis are known to be our avenues of expression – on physical and verbal levels. Think about what happens to your jaw when you are holding back from expressing yourself. Suppressed anger, fear, and negative emotions can cause you to clench and grind your teeth, or build stress in the jaw. Similarly, think about what happens to your body when you are in a stressful situation, can you feel your abdomen and pelvic floor muscles tense up, or your buttocks clench? Years of sexual repression and unspoken feelings can be held in the body as tightness and pain. Past trauma often surfaces for women through pregnancy.

Another notable connection between the jaw and pelvis is concerned with the biomechanics of the cranial bones and the dura. Tensions and imbalances in the jaw can have an effect on the membranes connecting the dura to the skull and affect where it is tethered in the sacrum. Uneven pressures and pulling in the sacrum, in turn, affect the cranial attachments and lead to pain, dysfunction, and other symptoms on either end of the cranio sacral system.