Deep Dive: Neck Pain
This is an interesting deep dive. And I think it’s because, in general, clients complain of shoulder pain or headaches, but not usually of neck pain itself. With that being said, the neck is also the area that I work the most to relieve you of your shoulder pain or headaches! The referrals of the trigger points in the neck just refer up into the head or down to the shoulders. To be honest, the neck is one of my favorite areas to work- especially the anterior neck, because therapists can be scared of this area. But it’s so important to release, and often the missing link!
Most of the muscles in the neck have an attachment on a vertebra and one in the shoulder. Some muscles also attach to the skull. Trigger Points in the neck muscles often refer either up into the head and cause headache pain or down into the shoulder for that nagging crook of the neck pain or shoulder achyness. Your neck muscles aren’t that large, but carry the heavy load of your head all day every day. This can cause for tension, especially when you have a forward head posture that a lot of us have.
Texting, working at a computer and poor posture all lead to holding your heading out further then it needs to be. When you do create a forward head posture, the anterior muscles in your neck become shortened and tight (including SCM and scalenes), and the posterior muscles also get tight trying to hold your head up. The best position for your head is to make sure that your ear aligns with your shoulder, and your head is directly above your neck. If its not, problems are bound to show up.
L- Scalenes R- SCM
As you can see from these two images, trigger points (knots) in the anterior neck refer pain down the arm, shoulder and into the head. It doesn’t mean you won’t experience neck pain, it just means that’s not the most common spot to feel it.
Here are the referrals and trigger points of the posterior neck:
So while there is some neck pain, there is also a lot of head and shoulder pain!
Treatment:
Trigger Point Therapy is very effective in releasing lots of tension, knots and the pain that stems from the neck. It may take some time, depending on how tight the muscles are and how long the tension has been there, but it is so worth it. If you are experiencing any of the pain above, I highly encourage you to book online now! We have a variety of therapists that can help you with your pain.
We also have an awesome neck stretch on our YouTube Channel, here. This will really help with the tension, and pain. Make sure to do it a couple times everyday if you feel the pain a lot. This will also help between sessions if muscles begin to tighten up again.
Another great self-care tool is to use a tennis ball, or our favorite, the Trigger Point Ball (it’s harder) to lay on your back, put the ball under your neck and roll out those tight spots. You can also stick the ball in a sock and lean up against a wall to do this.
We also have an e-course with guided foam rolling techniques for general use and seven different areas of the body, how to use the Trigger Point Ball, and 10 spots we always use it for & 10 different stretches! It’s a great resource to return to again and again. Working on yourself at home can have a great affect on your body between appointments and keep you feeling great!
Our two favorite Encompass products that we offer here are Pain Relief Cream and our Tension Relief Roller. They both have a variety of pain relieving, inflammation reducing oils to help you get back to feeling your best!
If you have a question or comment, don’t hesitate to comment below! We want to make sure we are providing you will all of the information you need.
Best of Health,
Nikki
