Does heat or ice help jaw pain?

A sore jaw usually sends you to the freezer or the kettle. Then you stand there holding a bag of frozen peas or a hot water bottle and wonder if you picked the wrong one. This is one of the most common questions I hear in my physio work, so you are far from alone.

Below you will find when each one fits, safe timings, and an honest look at the research.

Key takeaways

Heat tends to suit tight, overworked jaw muscles, while ice suits a fresh injury, recent dental surgery or swelling. For general jaw pain, the NHS advises wrapping either one in a tea towel and using whichever feels better to you (NHS, TMD). The NIDCR suggests pairing either one with gentle jaw exercises (NIDCR, 2026).

• Reach for heat when your jaw feels stiff and tired, and for ice when something is fresh, swollen or recently injured.
• Always wrap the pack in a cloth and keep sessions short.
• Research on heat and ice for jaw pain is thin, so treat them as comfort measures next to exercise.

Is heat good for TMJ pain?

Heat is my first choice when a jaw feels tight and stiff, for example after a stressful day or a night of clenching. A Brazilian review pulled together 13 studies on surface heat for jaw disorders. Moist heat was the most common method, many studies applied it for about 20 minutes at least once a day to the face and neck, and the treatment went along with less pain, less muscle tension, better jaw function and wider mouth opening (Furlan et al., heat, 2015).

If tightness is your main problem, why does my jaw feel tight? goes through the usual causes, and why does my jaw hurt when I wake up? covers morning soreness.

Can heat make jaw pain worse?

Sometimes it does, especially at first. People with jaw disorders are usually more sensitive to heat pain, and the heat review reports that warmth can initially worsen their symptoms (Furlan et al., heat, 2015). Keep it comfortably warm, and if heat still feels wrong, switch to cold, in line with the NHS advice to use whatever feels better (NHS, TMD).

When is ice the better choice?

Ice is the better pick for anything fresh, inflamed or swollen. The heat review states plainly that heat is contraindicated with inflammation, trauma or bleeding, and that cold is recommended in those cases (Furlan et al., heat, 2015). NHS advice for sprains likewise says to avoid heat packs for the first couple of days (NHS, sprains and strains).

So if you knocked your jaw or your cheek is visibly puffy, use cold. A review on cold therapy for jaw disorders describes cold being used before stretching exercises to take the edge off pain, with one caution. People whose pain comes from the jaw joint itself were much more sensitive to cold, and low temperatures can make pain worse before the numbing effect kicks in (Furlan, cryotherapy, 2015).

Should I use heat or ice after a tooth extraction?

Use cold. A patient leaflet from an NHS hospital trust advises putting a covered ice pack or a cold towel on the outside of your face over the extraction area during the first 12 hours to help reduce swelling (East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust).

A meta-analysis of six trials after wisdom tooth surgery found a small drop in pain on the second and third days but no evidence that cold reduced swelling or improved mouth opening, and rated the evidence as low quality (do Nascimento-Júnior et al., 2019). A Danish review of six trials was more positive. It found that cooling on and off for 30 minutes in the first days reduced swelling, pain and jaw stiffness, and worked better than continuous cooling, while warning that the studies varied too much for firm conclusions (Larsen et al., 2019). Your dentist's own aftercare sheet comes first.

How long and how often should you use heat or ice?

For jaw pain the NHS gives clear timings. Use a hot water bottle wrapped in a tea towel twice a day for 15 to 20 minutes. For cold, use a pack of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel for no more than 5 minutes at a time (NHS, TMD).

A few safety rules keep your skin out of trouble. Never put ice directly on your skin, because it can damage the tissue, so always wrap it in a towel or cloth (Furlan, cryotherapy, 2015). Skip cold on skin that is already numb, such as while a dental anaesthetic wears off (Furlan, cryotherapy, 2015). Keep heat no warmer than bath water, and do not use it at all after a jaw injury, if you have trouble sensing pain or if you have poor circulation (Healthwise, 2022). Higher temperatures can also increase jaw pain (Furlan et al., heat, 2015). If your skin looks very red or pale afterwards, shorten the next session.

Can you alternate heat and ice?

You can. A patient guide from Healthwise suggests alternating moist heat and an ice pack for 5 to 8 minutes each if moist heat alone does not bring relief (Healthwise, 2022). I could not find a trial that compares alternating with using heat or cold alone, so treat it as something to try and keep it only if your jaw feels better.

What does the research actually show?

The honest answer is that it shows very little. In the heat review, heat was never studied as a treatment on its own. It was always combined with splints, exercises or other care, and there was no agreement on the best technique, temperature or frequency (Furlan et al., heat, 2015). For cold, the review concludes there is a lack of research proving it works for jaw disorders (Furlan, cryotherapy, 2015).

Self-management as a whole has been studied more. An umbrella review of 11 systematic reviews found the evidence generally points to benefits from education, behavioural therapy and jaw exercises, though five reviews judged it insufficient (Bijelic et al., 2026). A meta-analysis of 47 randomised trials rated that evidence as low to very low certainty (Ferland et al., 2026). I see heat and ice as helpers for the moment, while exercise does the longer-term work.

Try it: a warm-up routine for tight jaw muscles

I use this routine with people whose jaw feels tight and tired and who have no swelling, no recent injury and no recent dental surgery. It pairs warmth with gentle movement, in line with the NIDCR advice (NIDCR, 2026). The water temperature, massage and number of repetitions are my clinical habits, not figures from a study.

1. Fill a hot water bottle with warm water from the tap or a kettle that has cooled down, and wrap it in a tea towel.
2. Rest it on the sore side, over your cheek and the joint in front of your ear, for 15 minutes. Take it off if it ever feels too hot.
3. While it sits there, let your teeth rest apart and your tongue lie softly on the roof of your mouth. The NHS points out that your teeth should be apart except when you eat (NHS, TMD).
4. Remove the bottle and massage the big chewing muscle on your cheek with two fingers in small, slow circles for about a minute per side. The NHS also suggests massaging painful jaw muscles (NHS, TMD).
5. Slowly open your mouth five times, only as far as feels pain-free, and close it gently each time. If your jaw clicks or veers to one side, open only to just before the click.

Keep it to twice a day at most. If the warmth feels uncomfortable even when you turn it down, replace step 2 with frozen peas in a tea towel for no more than 5 minutes (NHS, TMD). Our TMJ exercises page has more gentle movements to build on this, and if daytime clenching keeps undoing your progress, read can you stop clenching your jaw during the day?

How JawBuddy helps

Our app is a digital companion for guided jaw exercises and self-management. Our separate medical programme, JawBuddy Therapy, has micro programmes for acute complaints such as jaw clicking and a daily tooth contact check.

JawBuddy does not replace emergency care or an individual diagnosis from a qualified healthcare professional.

When should you see a doctor?

Right away / emergency

• Call 999 in the UK, 911 in the US or 112 in the EU if jaw pain comes with chest pain that feels tight or squeezing, or chest pain spreading to your arms, neck or jaw (NHS, heart attack).
• Call 999 or go to A&E if you have a painful tooth or jaw swelling together with any of these (NHS, dental abscess):
  • it is hard to breathe, speak or swallow
  • there is a lot of swelling in your mouth
  • it is hard to open your mouth
  • an eye is swollen or painful, or your eyesight suddenly changes

Soon

• Get an urgent GP appointment or call 111 if you cannot eat or drink, or if your jaw locks when you open it (NHS, TMD).
• Ask for an urgent dentist appointment if you have a painful tooth with swelling in your cheek or jaw, or a high temperature, because that can be a dental abscess, which needs a dentist rather than a GP (NHS, dental abscess). Do not put heat on it (Furlan et al., heat, 2015).
• After a tooth removal, ask for an urgent dentist appointment or call 111 if bleeding does not stop, if pain and swelling are severe or getting worse and painkillers are not helping, or if you have pain with a bad taste in your mouth, a high temperature or feeling unwell (NHS, wisdom tooth recovery).

You are allowed to make it feel better

Whether you pick the hot water bottle or the frozen peas, you will rarely go wrong if you wrap it, keep the timings short and choose cold for anything fresh or swollen. Try the warm-up routine tonight and notice how your jaw feels afterwards.

For more on what drives jaw pain, see our jaw pain page, and for the full picture of causes and treatment, read the TMJ disorder guide.