DO YOU EXPERIENCE NECK AND HEAD PAIN?
Even though the average head could be as heavy as a 10-pound bowling ball your head can sometimes feel like it weighs a ton.
There are some important muscles that are responsible for the head to balance on the top of the spine. These muscles also initiate, and control your fine movements, postural support of the head, as well as extension, lateral flexion, and rotation.
Some of these muscles lie below the occipital bone and form the Suboccipital Muscle Group. This deep and complex group contains four paired muscles, three of the pairs belong to the suboccipital triangle.
Excess tension in the suboccipital muscles affects every muscle in the neck. It can lead to headaches, neck pain, and upper back pain. Things like trauma (injury), overuse, or physiological stress can cause Trigger Points to form within this muscle group.
Neck and headaches could be caused by Trigger Points in the head and neck areas especially the side of the head, behind the ears and under the base of the skull.
If you spend most of your time in front of a computer or are under continual stress, the muscles in the back of your head, or the occipital region, tend to stiffen. A tight neck can lead to tension headaches and a vulture neck, in which your head and jaw jut forward.
Occipital Neuralgia is a condition in which the nerves that run from the top of the spinal cord up through the scalp, called the occipital nerves, are inflamed, or injured. You might feel pain in the back of your head or the base of your skull. People can confuse it with a migraine or other types of headache because the symptoms can be similar.
The Sternocleidomastoid Muscle (SCM) is the large vertical muscle that protrudes when turning the head to the side. Its primary functions are to rotate the neck and flexion. The SCM most often creates headaches behind the eye and near the temple. In extreme cases, it can even cause dizziness and mimic vertigo.
The Trapezius Muscle (Traps) span much of the upper back in a diamond shape and include attachments at the shoulder and top of the neck. Trigger points at the muscle attachments by the left and right corners of this muscle are usually the most problematic. Tension headaches from these trapezius trigger points most often present in a typical coat hanger pattern that travels up the side of the neck, behind the ear, and wraps around the side of the head to finally concentrate at the temple.
At Align Total Wellness our signature neck and head massage could be the very answer to your muscular pain.
