The Effects of Intentional Stimulation on Shoulder Muscles and Suboccipital Region for Headache and Shoulder Pain Relief

Background. To relieve headache and shoulder pain, intentional stimulation of the central nerve passages, such as the sternocleidomastoid muscle, upper trapezius muscle, and suboccipital triangle, has a significant effect. The cause of the pain may be muscle pain or abnormal posture, and the correct area must be targeted. Objectives. This study aims to determine the pain reduction effect by relaxing the muscles that serve as passageways for the greater auricular nerve, greater occipital nerve, lesser occipital nerve, and vertebral artery in patients suffering from headaches and shoulder pain. Methods. Intentional stimulation of the sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius, and suboccipital triangle was performed on 30 women in their 50s to 70s suffering from headaches and shoulder pain twice a week for 30 minutes for 12 weeks. Pain intensity before and after implementation was collected through a questionnaire. Results. After applying conditioning, the pain of all participants was reduced by more than 50% (p<0.001), and the pain level of headache and shoulder pain was measured numerically. As a result of before and after comparison, p<0.001 in all variables. A significance value was shown. Conclusion. In this study, intentional stimulation of muscles, which are passageways of major nerves, effectively reduced pain. It can also be concluded that pain may be caused by compression or abnormality of the major nerves that pass through the muscle to which voluntary stimulation is applied. Therefore, non-ideal muscle conditions can pressure major nerves, so relaxing the muscles to relieve this can effectively reduce pain.