How to Relieve Trapezius Pain FOR GOOD

In this video, I'll show you how to fix

trapezius

pain

for

good

. Stay tuned. Hello everyone. Dr. Rowe comes to us from SpineCare in St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we will go over a step-by-step guide that can provide quick and long-lasting relief for

trapezius

muscle

pain

. If you're not familiar with the trapezius, it's a large muscle that runs along your entire back and is made up of three separate areas. The top, the middle and the bottom. When this muscle becomes tight and inflamed, it can cause many problems, including neck pain that extends into the shoulders, down between the shoulders, and then further down between the shoulder blades.

So to make relief easier, I'll show you how to target each area separately in three different parts. While the parts may be different, they are meant to work together. So for best results, use all three. As an added bonus, all of the exercises can be performed at home and you may find quick relief from trapezius muscle pain even in 30 seconds. So, let's get started and fix that trapezius pain right now for

good

. In the first part, we will focus on warming up the muscles and soft tissues that get blood flowing, improve circulation, increase flexibility, and hopefully get quick pain relief.

Let's start with the upper trapezius. That area practically from the bottom of the ear to the side of the neck and the top of the shoulder. This is usually the big pain point for most who have problems with the trapezius. For this one, you can use a couple of fingers as if you were making a hook with them, but I would recommend trying a tennis ball. As if they took it that way. I actually like the tennis ball method because it's a little more comfortable. So whichever side you have upper trapezius pain. Let's say it's your right side.

You're going to take your arm on that side, bend your elbow to 90 degrees, and then slide your hand and arm down your lower back as much as you can. You should feel the muscle right here at the top of your shoulder and on the side of your neck start to relax. From there, we're going to move our head away from the side of pain. Then, I bring my left ear towards my left shoulder. You should feel a D-opening stretch forming on that painful side of your neck. From there, we're going to get that muscle activated by turning and looking toward the ceiling.

At this point you should feel a very deep stretch. From here, we will move on to a self-massage. So, take your tennis ball or take your fingers and what you're going to do is start right on the side of the neck below the ear and press there where you're going to get a good self-massage but without causing any discomfort and do this for about three to five seconds. From there, I'm just going to relax. On the next repetition, what you are going to do is go slightly below the previous point and then repeat. You want to do this entire process pretty much from the bottom of your ear to the side of your neck to the top of your shoulder.

You will find that a certain point is simply the hot spot, as if it were really painful. Perhaps a trigger point for a spasm of a large muscle knot. At that point, you really want to focus on that and repeat this until you finally feel the tension go away or the pain reduce significantly and I recommend that when you're done on one side you switch to the other side just to keep everything in balance. For the middle and lower trapezius, we need to aim through the shoulders in the upper back towards the spine to the shoulder blade.

It's not the easiest place to reach. So, here's a simple trick to make it easier. What you're going to do is grab a tennis ball and if you don't have a tennis ball, it's not a big deal. Instead, simply roll up several socks and place them in a large sock and pillowcase. That way you can throw the ball over your shoulder like this and be able to hit those hard to reach spots. So, let's go next to a wall. You are going to place the ball right over the most painful point and with this, just go over the muscle.

Don't go over the spine or anything bony. You are going to tilt your body so that your feet are slightly extended in front of you. That way, you can press your body weight against the ball. Go only to a point where it is a good and comfortable self-massage. Nothing, whichever side you are experiencing discomfort on. I have it practically centered on my lower trapezius on the left side. You're going to take that arm to the side like this and bring it back as far as you can so my arm is straight. and I'm moving the back of my hand away from my body and bringing it back, you should feel a very deep stretch in your chest, but more importantly, right in your trapezius muscle.

What I like to do is hold this for about 3 to 5 seconds. I relax and then repeat this 110 to 15 times. What we're trying to do again is warm up the muscles while we're trying to improve circulation and with each rep, we're trying to stretch a little bit further. From there, what I'm going to do now is raise my arm like in a Y position and then repeat. You will notice that the muscle is hit a little differently. Again, 10 to 15 reps and then from there just switch places as needed. In this part, we will focus on achieving long-lasting relief by strengthening the trapezius muscles.

This is by far the most important part, so don't skip it. Let's start with the upper trapezius with an exercise called the shrug lift. Very easy to do. The only thing we need is a smooth wall. Start facing the wall, with your chest against it. You are going to take your hands in your palms and place them on the wall. To start, we want to do a shoulder shrug movement. Therefore, just stretch your hands towards the ceiling as much as you can. Really focus on feeling the trapezius muscle at the top of your shoulder start to fire.

Hold this for 5 seconds. Then you will relax and then repeat this 10 to 15 times and with each repetition, you will try to develop it a little more. If you want to make this one more challenging, you can always add one or two more sets. To take this to the next level, grab some weights like a dumbbell or barbell and then shrug your shoulders up. The more weight resistance you use, the more muscle you should gain. So let's start next with the push-off, which will target the muscle a little differently. It is very similar. What we are going to do is face the wall, have our chest pressed against it, but this time we are going to move our arms and hands away from us in a Y position.

I like to make a fist and have my thumbs pointing in the opposite direction. to the wall. You're going to press your fist against the wall and now press up as much as you can until you feel those muscles in your upper back start to fire. Once you feel that, you will take off. Then, take your hands off the wall. What you should feel is a deep activation of your chest muscles but you should also try to focus on pinching your shoulder blades at the same time to activate those traps. Hold this for about 5 seconds, it will relax and then on the next rep try to build it up a bit more.

Again, to make this one more challenging, add one or two more games. Then, moving on to the middle and lower trapezius muscles. We're going to do a strengthening exercise called a scapula pump and rotate. This is best done at the edge of a bed. Position your body where your shoulders and head will be outside the edge of that bed. To start, we want to do a simple head retraction. Take two fingers, place them on your chin, push your chin and move towards the ceiling until you feel a really good activation of the neck muscles. We will maintain this position right here during this exercise.

So whichever side of the bed you're closest to. In this case, it is my right. I'm going to take the arm on that side, stretch it like this, make a fist, and then turn my hand so that my thumb goes up toward the ceiling, like it's a hitchhiker sign. First we are going to do the pumping movement. Very easy. What you want to do is raise your hand and thumb toward the ceiling, but moving it across your shoulder blades. So, really focus on trying to move your shoulder blade by lifting your hand. You should really start to feel the muscles around your shoulder blade start to activate.

That's that trapeze. You want to maintain this and now we're going to incorporate rotation to take it to the next level. So again, moving toward the shoulder blade, I'm going to rotate the shoulder blade and upper body toward the ceiling until I feel a deep activation of those muscles. I feel a ton of gunshots. It's quite challenging. Hold this for about 5 seconds. You're going to relax. On the next rep, pump and twist some more. I try to do this for about five to ten reps and you can make it more challenging by adding a couple more sets.

From there, I like to take this one to the next level by aiming it from a different angle. So instead of going straight, I'm going to go to a Y position like this. So I'm going a little further ahead. So I'm going to pump up again and then I'm going to rotate. You will notice that it affects the muscles a little differently. Again, 10 to 15 times, make it more challenging by adding another set or two and whatever you do on one side, always switch to the other side to keep everything in balance. So in the last part, we will focus on stretching.

It is very important to stretch after strengthening exercises to keep muscles loose and help prevent soreness, but stretching can also be used throughout the day to quickly

relieve

muscle soreness and tension, and I will show you a method that can be done virtually anytime, anywhere, including work, because we can do it sitting down. I'm going to start with the upper trapezius and then work on the middle and then the lower and focus on the right side, but I recommend doing this on both sides to keep everything in balance. So to start with the upper trapezius, I'm going to take the arm on the painful side, in this case my right elbow is bent at 90 degrees and then I'm going to slide the arm and hand down the lower back as far as it will go. possible. as much as you can until you start to feel the upper trapezius muscle at the top of your shoulder start to relax once you feel like you are going to take your other hand, hook the side of your head like this and now slowly pull your ear towards you. the shoulder on the opposite side, so I tilt my head to the left, you will feel a deep opening stretch that forms one side of the neck.

You want to hold this position and now what we're going to do to take this to the next level is turn around and look up at the ceiling. The more you twist and look toward the ceiling, you'll really feel that upper trapezius and get a wonderful, deep stretch. Hold this comfortably for 20 to 30 seconds. Release it and then on the next rep, incorporate it a little more. I try to do this for three to five repetitions. Moving on to the middle trapezius, we will focus more on the upper back, between the shoulders. So, this is like a stretch of depression.

What I'm going to do is take my hands, interlace my fingers like this and put it on the knee on the side of pain. Again, on my right side. Collapse forward by bringing your chin to your chest and bending your shoulders forward until you feel a very good stretch in your upper back between your shoulders. Once you feel that, we'll use our leg here to intensify that stretch and reach the middle trapezius. So what I'm doing is pretty much using this knee to push down and lower my hands with it and when you do this, it's really going to intensify that drop stretch.

I feel it pretty much all over my upper back and it usually feels very, very good. Again, hold from 20 to 32, you will release it on the next repetition. Try to incorporate it a little more. Three to five complete repetitions. For the lower trapezius, what I'm going to do is take my arm on the side of pain. I'm going to straighten my elbow and stretch it up like this and now I'm going to take my hand and my arm and extend it across my body, so my right arm is going to cross my body to my left and I'm going to angle it down toward the floor. , until I feel a very deep stretch forming at the edge of my shoulder blade, going towards my spine, which is more or less The lower trapezius area once you feel like you're going to sink in a little more to intensify it, take your hand on the other side, grab your elbow and passively pull your hand toward the floor even further.

You should feel a deep stretch forming already, but let's take it to the next level by dropping a little lower and rotating our shoulder from the painful side to the other side towards the floor. So, I'm rotating that right shoulder across my body towards the floor. You will feel a deep stretch through your shoulder blade toward the side of your spine. Again, it stays at 20 to 32. You'll relax and on the next rep you'll try to incorporate a little more than three to five reps. If the exercises help you, support the channel by liking this video and maybeAlso subscribing if you have any comments or questions.

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