Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism by Stanley Rosenberg

Author:Stanley Rosenberg
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Health
ISBN: 9781623170240
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2016-05-09T21:00:00+00:00

The Levator Scapulae Muscle

We can improve the function of the cranial nerves, and improve the rotation of the head to the right and left, with the Basic Exercise and the Salamander Exercises. But these still might not be enough to allow full freedom in the turning of the head, since many other muscles of the neck are involved in head movement, and tension in any of them can restrict head turning.

If we have pain in our neck on the same side our head is turning toward, then the problem is not cranial nerve XI and the trapezius and SCM. It is most likely coming from another muscle, the levator scapulae (“shoulder-blade lifter”). In these cases, working on cranial nerve XI and the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles will probably not remove all of the pain and stiffness.

Janet Travell, David Simons, and Lois Simons, in their book Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, nicknamed the levator scapulae the “Stiff Neck” muscle.52 This pair of muscles reaches down from the top vertebrae to the shoulder blade, along either side of the neck.

I have found that directly massaging the levator scapulae gives relief, but only temporarily—the muscle dysfunction quickly returns. The problem is probably that the levator scapulae is undertoned. So if you want a more lasting result, Tom Myers suggested massaging the supraspinatus muscle (along the top of the shoulder blade) to improve the tonus of the levator scapulae. (See “Supraspinatus” in the Appendix.)

Benjamin Shield suggested another approach. He observed that with a side-bending of the upper cervical vertebrae, you can open the spaces between C1 and C3 to take the pressure off of the spinal nerves that go to the levator scapulae. You might try the upper part (Level 1) of the Salamander Exercises, tipping the head to one side to open the spaces between C1 and C3.

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