Kayla Duncan LMT

Fun fact: I can feel my cranium bones shift and squeak 🧠 God I love being hypermobile and having fascia disease! 😂 Thank the Lord for myofascial release and massage. Working on my cranial sutures is very helpful 🙏 Let me work on yours!! 💃

💜 The Sphenoid Bone: The “Keystone” of the Cranium

“When the center releases, the whole system can change.” 💜

The sphenoid bone is one of the most important bones in the body that most people have never heard of.

Often called the “keystone of the cranium,” it connects with every other cranial bone and sits deep behind the eyes, nose, and cheeks. Because of its central location, restrictions around the sphenoid can influence far more than the head and face.

When fascial restrictions surrounding the sphenoid begin to release through gentle, sustained John F. Barnes Myofascial Release, people may experience changes in:

✨ Headaches and migraines
✨ TMJ pain and jaw tension
✨ Eye strain and visual fatigue
✨ Sinus congestion
✨ Ear pressure or ringing
✨ Neck pain and stiffness
✨ Balance and dizziness issues
✨ Cranial and facial asymmetries
✨ Nervous system regulation

The sphenoid is also closely connected to the dura, cranial nerves, jaw, palate, tongue, and upper cervical spine.

When the sphenoid is under tension, the entire craniosacral and fascial system may compensate.

As John Barnes taught, healing doesn’t come from forcing tissues into place.

The body changes when restrictions are met with patience, safety, and sustained pressure.

Sometimes releasing tension around the sphenoid creates a sense of spaciousness throughout the head, jaw, neck, and even the entire body.

The body functions as one interconnected fascial system.
When the center begins to change, everything connected to it has the opportunity to change as well.

💜 Healing is not about fixing the body.It’s about creating the conditions for the body to heal itself.

Rowena Cua 💜
Expert JFB Myofascial Release Therapist Trauma-Informed Healing
www.bodymfr.com

This is one of my favorite muscles to focus on!

Hello, digastric. 👋

Are you a clencher? Do you wake up with headaches? Does your jaw click, pop, or feel tired by the end of the day? Do you carry tension beneath your chin or feel like the front of your neck is always working overtime?

If so, it may be time to meet one of the most overlooked muscles in the body.

The digastric is part of the suprahyoid group and is unique because it has two muscular bellies connected by an intermediate tendon. The anterior belly originates from the digastric fossa on the inner surface of the mandible, while the posterior belly originates from the mastoid notch of the temporal bone. Both bellies meet at a tendon that attaches to the hyoid bone through a fibrous sling.

Functionally, the digastric helps open the mouth by depressing the mandible and elevates the hyoid during swallowing. Every time we yawn, swallow, chew, speak, or coordinate tongue movement, this little muscle is helping behind the scenes.

What makes the digastric particularly fascinating is its relationship with the hyoid bone. The hyoid is the only bone in the body that does not directly articulate with another bone. Instead, it floats within a complex network of muscles and fascia connecting the jaw, tongue, throat, and neck. Because of this, restrictions in the digastric can influence much more than the area beneath the chin.

As bodyworkers, we often explore this muscle with clients experiencing TMJ dysfunction, clenching, headaches, forward head posture, anterior neck tightness, mouth breathing, speech issues, snoring, and airway concerns. Work through the suprahyoid region can help restore mobility to a part of the body involved in breathing, swallowing, speech, and jaw mechanics.

For a little self-care, try placing your fingertips just beneath the jawline and gently exploring the tissue from the chin toward the angle of the jaw. Pair this with slow nasal breathing and a relaxed tongue resting softly on the roof of the mouth. You may be surprised how much tension has been quietly hiding in such a small space.

The digastric may be small, but it sits at one of the body's most important crossroads.

Sometimes the muscles making the least amount of noise are influencing the conversation the most. 🥰

The internet will try to convince you that tooth grinding is caused by parasites and parasite cleanses are the only answer. I can’t even begin to tell you how WRONG this assumption is!! Tooth grinding often relates to facial tension, nervous system tension, and airway issues. Facial massage and exercises can be helpful! Myofunctional therapy and orthodontic treatments may also be necessary. A parasite cleanse could never 💅

What does teeth grinding-related tooth wear in children tell us?

Today I had a couple of new patient consultations prompted by concerns about teeth grinding and significant tooth wear.

Teeth grinding is one of the strongest red flags in the mouth that a child may be experiencing disturbed breathing during sleep.

It is often thought to be a stress response to increased resistance to airflow. There is a brief arousal from sleep, and the grinding helps recruit the muscles of the jaw and airway in an attempt to restore airflow. In this sense, it may be protective against obstructive sleep apnoea or more prolonged collapses of the airway.

Although there may be no obvious dips in oxygen levels, this process can still be associated with repeated sleep disruption, chronic stress on the body, and difficulties achieving deep restorative sleep.

The pattern of tooth wear can sometimes provide additional clues.

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body - even harder than bone. So when we see teeth being worn flat, I often wonder whether chronic acid exposure may also be contributing to the accelerated wear.

In this case, several teeth had worn through the enamel and into the softer yellow dentine layer beneath. Some areas also showed erosive or more scooped-out dental wear consistent with airway reflux and acid pooling in the mouth.

Reflux in children may also be related to breathing difficulties.

When children have increased resistance to airflow and are working harder to breathe, they generate increased vacuum pressures within the chest and airway. This may promote stomach acids being aerosolised into the throat, nose and mouth.

Signs and symptoms associated with airway reflux can include:

✅ Frequent throat clearing or chronic cough
✅ Postnasal drip
✅ Irritation or enlargement of the adenoids and tonsils
✅ Increased tooth wear and dental erosion
✅ Increased risk of dental disease and need for fillings
✅ Bad breath, particularly in the morning
✅ "Spew burps" or a bad taste in the mouth

Often these issues do not bother children. However, when significant tooth wear is present, it is important to investigate whether breathing difficulties could be a contributing factor.

If so, addressing underlying risk factors such as enlarged adenoids or tonsils, allergies, poor jaw development, mouth breathing, low tongue posture, and oral dysfunction may be important parts of the solution.

In dental school, we were taught that teeth grinding was a common childhood phase that most children would simply grow out of. However, when children do not breathe and sleep well, it can affect how they grow, develop, learn, behave, and feel.

I believe every dentist teeth needs to at last consider grinding as a clue that a child may not be breathing or sleeping as well as they could.

If we ask the right questions, we may be able to identify children at risk and help them achieve a better night's sleep.

For those interested in learning more, here's a previous podcast episode targeted to new graduate dentists that I was invited to be part of, to help shed light on children's teeth grinding and its relationship with breathing and sleep:

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tip-125-childhood-bruxism-a-case-study-with-dr-shereen-lim/id1453166863?i=1000615180407

Massage therapy is bottom up processing! Bodywork succeeds where talk therapy falls short.