Myofascial Trigger Pain Affecting The Trapezius Muscle

Introduction

The body incorporates different muscles that have specific jobs to help mobilize the skeletal joints while providing function to the arms, neck, legs, and back. Many individuals use their muscles for everyday uses like lifting and carrying objects, moving from one place to another, and protecting vital organs from damage. To that point, issues like traumatic events, injuries, and environmental factors can affect the body and cause damage to the muscles. When muscles are affected by these factors, tiny knots can form along taut muscle bands, causing painful symptoms in specific areas of the body. One of the muscles affected by pain is the trapezius, known as the “coat hanger” muscle, which is often associated with chronic symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome. Today’s article examines the trapezius muscle, how myofascial pain affects it, and how to manage myofascial trapezius pain. We refer patients to certified providers specializing in musculoskeletal treatments for individuals with trapezius muscle pain associated with myofascial pain. We also guide our patients by referring them to our associated medical providers based on their examination when it’s appropriate. We find that education is the solution to asking our providers insightful questions. Dr. Jimenez, DC, provides this information as an educational service only. Disclaimer

What’s The Trapezius Muscle?

Have you experienced pain in your neck, shoulders, or mid-upper back? Do you feel headaches occurring near your temples? What about tenderness in certain areas of your body? Some of these symptoms may appear in your trapezius muscles. The trapezius muscle is located across the back that looks like a simple trapezoid with upper, middle, and lower muscle fibers that have different functions for the upper-middle back, shoulders, and neck. The entire trapezius muscle helps rotate, elevate, and retract the scapula, extend the head and neck, and turn the chin by itself. At the same time, the entire muscle can assist in extending the cervical and thoracic spine.

• Upper Trapezius muscles: allow the shoulders to rise, bend the head and neck, and help support the weight of the upper extremities of the body, including the arms.
• Middle Trapezius muscles: assist with flexion and abduction of the arms at the shoulders to nearly full range.
• Lower Trapezius muscles: Helps retract the scapula while rotating the glenoid fossa upwards by decompressing the vertebral borders of the scapula. These fibers help assist the flexion and abduction of the arms.

When traumatic forces or injuries affect the trapezius muscles, painful symptoms begin, causing tenderness to the touch and affecting various areas of the body.

How Does Myofascial Pain Affect The Trapezius Muscle?

When traumatic forces or injuries affect the trapezius muscles, certain areas of the shoulders, neck, and upper-middle back may experience pain-related symptoms. When people experience headaches and neck and shoulder pain, along with tenderness in the trapezius muscles, this is known as referred pain associated with myofascial pain. Myofascial pain occurs when tiny knots along taut muscle bands make the muscle area tender to the touch. Individuals who suffer from myofascial pain in their trapezius muscles might experience hyperirritable spots that inflict pain and motor dysfunction. Studies reveal that individuals who work in food services may experience shoulder pain associated with myofascial pain due to repetitive motions that strain the upper trapezius muscles, affecting their upper bodies. Myofascial trigger pain is a bit challenging to diagnose since the pain can be in different locations and mimic various ailments in the body. To that point, when the trapezius muscles are affected by trigger pain may potentially be involved with cervical myofascial pain. Cervical myofascial pain is a disorder that causes pain from muscle overuse or trauma in the neck. When the pain affects the neck muscles, it can radiate to the trapezius muscles, causing tenderness and sensitivity in the affected area. Stress, postural mechanics, or repetitive movements can lead to myofascial pain syndrome and affect surrounding muscles.

Trapezius Trigger Points- Video

Have you felt sore around your shoulders, neck, and upper-mid back? What about muscle tenderness in certain areas of your body? Do you feel tension along your neck or near the temples of your head? If you have been experiencing any of these symptoms, you might be experiencing myofascial trapezius pain. The video above explains how trigger points from traumatic events can affect the trapezius muscle and cause referred pain that overlaps with other conditions that may affect the body. Studies reveal trigger points in the head and neck muscles of many individuals suffering from tension-type headaches. Tension-type headaches are one of the symptoms associated with myofascial trapezius pain. Some of the other symptoms related to myofascial pain affecting the trapezius muscle include:

• Deep aching pain
• Stiffness
• Muscle spasms
• Tightness around the shoulder and neck
• Tenderness along the shoulders, neck, and upper back
• Occipital headaches

How To Manage Myofascial Trapezius Pain

When many individuals suffer from myofascial trapezius pain, many would go to their primary doctor and explain to them that they are experiencing tension headaches constantly. Since myofascial pain is associated with the trapezius muscle is a bit complex and challenging for doctors to diagnose since every person’s pain is different. Many doctors will refer their patients to associated specialists, such as physical therapists, massage therapists, or chiropractors, to determine where the pain is located within the trapezius muscle. Various treatments can help alleviate muscle stiffness, and studies indicate that spinal manipulative therapy can help manage chronic pain of myofascial origin. Spinal subluxations or misalignments could involve the corresponding spinal nerve root, leading to antinociceptive effects on the tender muscle and thus causing pain in the trapezius muscle. Utilizing various treatments to treat myofascial trapezius pain can provide individuals with beneficial relief from their pain, along with managing their associated symptoms.

Conclusion

The trapezius muscle is a large, superficial, trapezoid-shaped muscle located in the back. The upper, middle, and lower muscle fibers have different functions in the head, neck, shoulders, and arms. The trapezius muscle also helps extend the cervical and thoracic spine. When traumatic events or injuries affect the trapezius muscle, it can develop trigger points along its taut muscle band, causing referred pain to the upper extremities. Luckily, various treatments can help manage the associated pain symptoms of myofascial trapezius pain and help many individuals get back on their health and wellness journey, including physical therapy, massage, and pain-relief medications.

References

Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César, et al. “Myofascial Trigger Points and Their Relationship to Headache Clinical Parameters in Chronic Tension-Type Headache.” Headache, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2006, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16942471/.

Hwang, Ui-Jae, et al. “Predictors of Upper Trapezius Pain with Myofascial Trigger Points in Food Service Workers: The Strobe Study.” Medicine, Wolters Kluwer Health, June 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5500039.

Laframboise, Michelle A, et al. “Effect of Two Consecutive Spinal Manipulations in a Single Session on Myofascial Pain Pressure Sensitivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, Canadian Chiropractic Association, June 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4915475/.

Ourieff, Jared, et al. “Anatomy, Back, Trapezius – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL), StatPearls Publishing, 26 July 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518994/.

Touma, Jeffrey, et al. “Cervical Myofascial Pain – Statpearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL), StatPearls Publishing, 4 July 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507825/.