My boyfriend and I decided to take two days to get away and relax… From life, work, stressors… and did I mention life?! But a weekend getaway doesn’t always go as planned.
We left for Duluth on Friday at 5:00 pm. We missed traffic but didn’t escape the random slow drivers who can bring on headaches of their own.
This brings me to my point: headaches. They love to tag along on vacations and stay the whole time.
I woke up Saturday morning with a monster headache. (Yes, massage therapists get headaches, too.) The right side of my head felt like it was in a vise and nothing would being it relief; not even coffee. I tried stretching my neck and then massaged my right shoulder. The stretching helped a little, but not much. I moved in to a muscle called the Sternocleidomastoid… SCM…The Headache Maker.
Check out the red trigger point pain patterns associated with SCM. The red represents the pain, the light red is referral pain and the X marks the spot!! That picture matched my pain so I knew I had to tackle my SCM trigger points.
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SCM is one of the easiest muscles to massage.
Tilt your head forward, slightly to the right, and the muscle will just pop right out for you. With the opposite hand, (Right SCM, Left hand) grab the belly of the muscle (center meaty part). You will feel a rope-like muscle… now slowly squeeze. As you pinch your fingers around the muscle, you will notice a slight pain flow to the top o
f your eye brow. This is GREAT!! I know, sounds crazy, but this is a trigger point. If you don’t feel what I am talking about, move your way up and down the muscle until you do. Keep in mind, there are several trigger points in this muscle, so if you hit a spot that feels interesting keep holding and see what happens, you should feel a flutter, muscle jump or just simple relief… YES, RELIEF!
If you have trouble finding your SCM trigger points, ask a friend to help with. They may be a little nervous, but it’s up to you to communicate your comfort level and reassure them if they are hitting the right spots and helping with the pain.
This was my Saturday. In the middle of a souvenir shop, we palpated my neck and treated the Trigger points of my SCM. People walked by and thought we were crazy, but I
didn’t care. I got relief and was able to enjoy the rest of our weekend walking around the cobblestone sidewalks of the canal on a beautiful, bitter-cold day.
Katie is a trigger point therapist who specializes in chronic pain and headaches. She sees clients at Range of Motion-Maple Grove.
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