Pipe Smoking and Jaw Pain

Any expierenced pipe smokers ever get pain in thier jaw. I think I may have been clinching too hard. Any tips to help reduce or eliminate this annoying problem?

[The Poet]

So many jokes, so little time.

stop clinching to see if it goes away and or use a rubber mouth piece.

Originally Posted by TampaRoadking

Any experienced pipe smokers ever get pain in their jaw.

Yes, from time to time, there can be a number of reasons for this.
It’s often a simple matter of fatigue, caused by the pipe(s) being to heavy or ill balanced, i.e. placing to much of the pipes weight on the stem and your jaw, smoking more often than normal or holding the pipe to tightly between the teeth.

Hadn’t given it much thought prior to your posing the question.

Today, as in the past when this happens, I’ll either smoke lighter pipes for a few days or hold the pipe in my hand when smoking.
Experience has shown, this happens less frequently the longer you’ve smoked a pipe, and a pipe that may be to heavy today may not be down the road.

Hope this helps,

D.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by TampaRoadking

Any expierenced pipe smokers ever get pain in thier jaw. I think I may have been clinching too hard. Any tips to help reduce or eliminate this annoying problem?

Yeah, become a hooker.

OK, I'll get serious. Become a hooker... What I mean is, your pipe rests upon your bottom teeth, and the lip of the pipe will catch (hook) upon the inside of your upper teeth - practice to see how much you can open your mouth for your pipe to stay there.

It is an issue of thinking about it, "don't clench your teeth."

It is also easier on your bits if you don't.

By the way, another problem may be that, as you are new to the pipe, your jaw is not used to holding a pipe. Also, some pipes are lighter than others, and a heavier pipe than you are ready for can cause your jaw to hurt.

Another cure would be to hold your pipe in your hand for a bit while smoking, not leaving it in your mouth for an extended period of time.

I still think it is fun to say to a pipe smoker, "Hey, you're a hooker."

Hope this helps a bit.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Originally Posted by RevSmoke

your pipe rests upon your bottom teeth, and the lip of the pipe will catch (hook) upon the inside of your upper teeth - practice to see how much you can open your mouth for your pipe to stay there.

Cool advice Rev, I saw this method for the first time about a month ago watching a documentary on Albert Einstein.

Been using it on and off since, it still feels odd, yet works good.

[BigFrank]

I used to get a sore jaw from clenching, but I use the soft rubber pieces on all my of my pipes now, and the pain is no longer.

Thanks a lot for all your posts and advice.........the week off of smoking the pipe has seemed to help also.