I was wondering if any of you suffer from a lot of pain in your trap muscles? I had my decompression surgery done in 2009 and these muscles hurt so much every single day! I have massage once a week and have even tried nerve blocks in that area but nothing works. When it's really bad, if I put pressure on the top of the muscle, I can feel it start a headache in the back of my head :( Any ideas for relief would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!!
Susan~
I second Emmaline suggestions! I also find that I absolutely cannot wear a racer back style bra! Another thing I do that seems to help is to make a point to relax my neck and shoulders several times a day. I find myself tensed up a lot, especially sitting at my desk!
I have had dry needling done and it has helped alot. This is done by a physical therapist. I will tell you that it is quite painful but it is over in a few minutes. I was very forturnate to find a physical therapist that does this only a couple of miles away. This is also covered by insurance.
Yes to the Arnica gel, yes to the magnesium!
Hi Karen In Toledo - can you tell me the name of your physical therapist? I am located in Monroe, MI, so this might be a possibility for me.
Karen in Toledo said:
I have had dry needling done and it has helped alot. This is done by a physical therapist. I will tell you that it is quite painful but it is over in a few minutes. I was very forturnate to find a physical therapist that does this only a couple of miles away. This is also covered by insurance.
My physical therapist is Timothy Taylor and he runs the Total Body Rehab Center. He is located at 5750 W.Alexis Rd., Sylvania, OH (a suburb of Toledo). His phone number is 419-■■■■■■■■. He also does a free consultation to see if he thinks he can help. If you don’t have insurance or if you have a real high deductible, he only charges $40.00 per session. Good Luck!
Thanks Karen. I am currently seeing a NUCCA chiropractor and the adjustments seem to be helping me, so I am hoping to avoid surgery. I never thought about physical therapy, but it makes sense.
Karen in Toledo said:
My physical therapist is Timothy Taylor and he runs the Total Body Rehab Center. He is located at 5750 W.Alexis Rd., Sylvania, OH (a suburb of Toledo). His phone number is 419-882-1841. He also does a free consultation to see if he thinks he can help. If you don't have insurance or if you have a real high deductible, he only charges $40.00 per session. Good Luck!
I’m doing acupuncture now and it seems to be helping.
Hello Susan,
I have had a BIG issue with this since surgery in July. I have tried many things. Have you found anything to help? Mine gets so bad some days that even the warm shower water hurts. I wonder if this muscle gets cut during surgery or if it nerve damage or what causes it. I did have some pain in this muscle pre surgery but nothing like now. it seems to be getting worse also.... like today my whole are hurt ...... I hope you got some relief tips to pass along =) thank you for your time!
I’m so sorry to hear that you are having pain in these muscles too! I have tried acupuncture and I do take magnesium every day but haven’t noticed relief from them. Since I posted this in January, I have learned something interesting about this pain between the shoulder blades and on top of the shoulders. The Occipital Nerve runs right through the Trapezius muscles which now makes complete sense!!! Since many of us have occipital headaches and also have had things cut back there during surgery it may be causing that nerve to become irritated which causes the pain in our shoulders. This condition is like a big puzzle and I’m still looking for all the missing pieces.
I haven’t found a lot that helps with this but I do take Norco for pain, have massage once a week on my upper body focusing on my shoulders, use Sombra which is a cream that helps with pain on the muscles. Hope this helps and I pray for healing for all of you guys 
Susan
I've had the same trouble since my surgery years ago. I actually just gave up and try to live with it. I find if I try not to move my head around too much, it's a bit better, but it seems like eventually, something always causes it to act up and i'm not always sure why. I went back to TCI recently and am seeing Dr. Rekate. He's sending me to an osteopath. I'll let you all know if I get any relief and what was done. But the fact that moving my head around irritates it could be explained by what you're saying about the occipital nerve. Dr. Rekate also noticed that the left trap muscle right at the occipital area is atrophied, and the right muscle is out of place and raised up. He said I healed asymmetrically. I'm wondering if a plastic surgeon could fix that. I'll keep you all posted.