Medial & lateral pterygoids

Looks like

Two pairs of muscles hidden behind the jaw, running from the skull base to the jaw bone.

What it does

Slide the jaw forward and side to side — the grinding part of chewing.

Keeping it well

Jaw exercises and heat for pain; these are the muscles that ache in jaw joint problems.

Related conditions

• Bell's palsy
• Botulism
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscular dystrophy
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Tension-type headache
• Tetanus