If your jaw joints are aching, put yourself on a soft diet (i.e., oatmeal, tuna salad, pasta and the like). Stay away from: steak, salads (there is a lot of grinding needed to chew these), bagels and biting into anything large (an apple) or overly hard (raw carrots). Hey, while you’re at it, quit the gum chewing. For your jaw it is similar to walking a mile on a sprained ankle!
 

Quit biting your nails, chewing on pen caps and/or smoking. All of these oral activities cause you to jut your bottom jaw forward in order to meet your top teeth. This action creates harmful strain on your temporomandibular joints (TMJs).
 

Protect your jaw joints when you yawn. Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth before yawning. As you yawn, maintain contact between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. This will limit the amount of “jaw dropping” in order to protect your jaw joints from injury.