Chronic pain is something that affects you for more than 3 months and if it goes on longer will affect you not only physically but emotionally and mentally. It 2021 it was estimated that 20.9% of U.S. adults have experience chronic neck pain. It can be due to many things including muscles, spine mechanics, and more.
The neck itself is made up of 7 cervical vertebrae and a large variety of muscles including: SCM, Trapezius, Scalenes, Supra/Infrahyoids, sub occipitals and many more. The nerves that innervate the arms exit these cervical vertebrae regions known as the cervical and brachial plexus
The neck itself is made up of 7 cervical vertebrae and a large variety of muscles including: SCM, Trapezius, Scalenes, Supra/Infrahyoids, sub occipitals and many more. The nerves that innervate the arms exit these cervical vertebrae regions known as the cervical and brachial plexus. When neck muscles become dysfunctional they can squeeze on these nerves and cause nerve entrapment, often can be position based.
Do neck muscles need to be massaged and released?
Massage Therapy and Cupping Therapy is a great way to help relax muscles, promote circulation/lymphatics and work on adhesions and trigger points.
However, when assessing from my experience with more extreme and chronic cases it is much more common to find a imbalance of under-working and overworking, with the worse cases being extreme weakness. These weak muscles will indeed feel tight, but massage can make them even weaker. That is why it's important to using muscle testing. However, what I often tell clients who prefer massage therapy is "we can do some good work on the neck muscles, but if you feel better when you leave and the pain comes back shortly between 15mins - 2 days we need to a much better inspection of the compensations in their body."
What are things that can cause neck issues
Neck issues can be caused by anything and everything but here are some of the most common dysfunctions that can contribute to neck issues
Muscular imbalances
Spinal ligament and glide issues
Emotional stressors and triggers
Poor posture
Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD)
Whip-lash or other injuries
What can P-DTR do for acute and chronic neck pain
P-DTR can be a great way to figure out not just how the neck is operating but what structures in particular are affecting the neck.
Client Experience #1
Client was having chronic neck spasms in traps and pain on the right side of the neck. The same day it started he has some emotional traumas/stressors and shortly after noticed the neck issues in his upper traps. As the day went on it became worse and no amount of muscle release techniques seemed to have any effect.
The next day he came in for his bodywork and when asked if anything happened right before the issues he mentioned the emotional stressor. After some initial testing and emotion treatment the clients next spasms went away and didn't come back.
Client Experience #2
I had a female client who had been suffering from neck issues since she was a teenager and nothing seemed to help. I started off with a typical initial question "Does anything make it worse: walking, standing, sitting?" She responded with walking which is pretty unique.
I had the client start by sitting and did some initial muscle testing on the neck and they seemed locked up. I assessments on the ligaments of the feet related to the neck and found they actually were at the very least contributing to the neck pain. I started working on some ligaments and they were clearly extremely sensitive judging by my clients reaction.
I asked "have you ever sprained this ankle" to which she responded "yes when I was little". We then discovered the neck pain started shortly after the ankle sprain when she was a teenager. We got the ankle ligaments working again and noticed a change in the neck tissue and upon a return visit she said her neck no longer bothered her.
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