Upper Trap Pain

How Does It Feel?

Tightness in the upper trap muscles on top of your shoulder blades
Aching in the shoulder and neck muscles
Throbbing in the upper trap muscles on top of your shoulders and into your neck
Stiffness in the neck especially when turning or tilting your head
Dull pain in the neck muscles especially when sitting or using your arms

Signs & Symptoms

Inability to bend or rotate your neck

Difficulty looking up, down or over your shoulder

Muscle spasms and pain around the neck and shoulder

Pain in the neck, upper back, shoulders, arms, or hands

Inability to maintain upright posture

Stiffness in the neck and shoulders

Diagnosis

What We Do

We conduct a thorough examination including the back and hips. We determine the root cause of your symptoms to ensure that physical therapy treatment is the best option for you.

How We Do It

We examine posture, range of motion, strength, reflexes, sensation, soft tissue mobility, joint mobility, nerve mobility, and functional movements to create a custom treatment plan. We also take into account any imaging that you have had like X-Rays, MRI, CT scans, etc.

Why We Do It

Recent research has actually shown that physical therapy is a better option than surgery, pain medication and injections. We can help you avoid unnecessary invasive procedures and tests that cost a fortune with limited effectiveness.

Treatment Plan

We may use a combination of the following
techniques to help you get your life back:

Spinal manipulation/mobilization to decrease pain and improve spinal motion in the neck and mid-back
Soft tissue mobilization to reduce muscle guarding and tension in the neck muscles
Dry Needling to reduce muscular pain and increase the health of muscle tissue specifically in the neck and upper trap muscles
Neuromuscular retraining to teach your body how to move in a better way
Mobility training to increase flexibility and range of motion in your neck and mid-back
Strength training increase your postural muscle strength as well as strength in the muscles along your shoulder blades
Endurance training to improve your postural muscle capacity for things like working or studying