Trapezius muscle trigger points.
Headache
Massage and neck pain
Poor posture and trigger points
If this looks familiar to you, then you probably have trigger points. The muscles in your back and neck become strained and overloaded and the muscles in the front become shortened and contracted. When this happens trigger points can develop. These points will cause pain, refered pain, stiffness and weakness. Trigger points in the neck muscles can refer pain into the head and cause headaches.
Trigger points in the sternocleidomastoid muscle
The sternocleidomastoid muscle is a thin strap like muscle located on both sides of the front of the neck. It helps with movement and posture of the head and neck. This muscle often becomes shortened and tight in people with poor head forward posture. As a result trigger points can form, and these points can cause pain to refer into the skull, and face around the eye. Trigger points in this muscle can also refer into the inner ear.
Trigger points are everywhere!!
Trigger points in the levator scapulae muscle.
The levator scapulae muscle is a thin strap like muscle in your neck. It helps to shrug the shoulders and to side flex the neck. This muscle often becomes over worked when the head is tilted forward, or the shoulders are in an elevated position for prolonged periods of time. When strained trigger points develop. These points will refer pain into the neck and shoulder blade area. Trigger points in the levator scapulae are a main cause of a stiff neck.
Suboccipital trigger points
The suboccipital muscles are small muscles at the base of the skull. These muscles often get strained by poor neck and head posture. Chronic strain will cause trigger points to form. Trigger points in the suboccipital muscles are major cause of headache pain. These points refer an achy pain deep into the skull being that eye and into the temple.
Trigger points in the upper traps.
The trapezius muscle is a large diamond shaped muscle in your back and neck. It helps with shoulder and neck movements. This muscle is often over worked due to poor posture, such as sitting in front of a computer. This muscle is also a common ” stress” muscle where people have their shoulders hunched up to their ears. As a result trigger points in the upper traps are very common. These points refer pain into the temple and behind the ear. Upper trap trigger points are a common cause or headaches.
Trigger points and neck pain.
Neck pain and stiffness are very common. Most of us have, at one point or another experienced it. Neck pain can range from being an annoyance to being excruciating and debilitating. Lots of issues can cause neck pain, but one of the most common causes are myofascial trigger points. Trigger points from in muscles tissue from overload stress. This stress causes muscle fibers in a muscle to become contracted into a knot. These knots will produce pain, referred pain, stiffness and weakness among other symptoms. Trigger points in the levator scapulae and the trapezius muscles are a leading cause of neck pain and stiffness.
Headaches and whiplash.
With a whiplash injury the muscles of the neck get overloaded and strained. When this happens trigger points can form in any or all of these muscles. Trigger points in the neck muscles will refer pain into the head and face causing headaches and migraines. These points won’t release with rest, stretching, or rehab exercise. They require a manual technique like trigger point massage for them to resolve.
Aberdeen Chiropractic 