Tight trapezius muscles can lead to a variety of conditions that significantly affect daily life and overall well-being. When the upper traps become tense, they can contribute to chronic neck pain and discomfort, making movements such as turning the head or looking up difficult and painful. This tightness often radiates pain into the head, leading to tension headaches that can be debilitating. Additionally, tight traps can affect shoulder mobility and stability, increasing the risk of injuries or conditions such as rotator cuff syndrome. Poor posture, commonly exacerbated by prolonged sitting or stress, can further tighten these muscles, leading to a cycle of discomfort that impacts arm function and spinal alignment. As these muscles are closely connected to both the neck and upper back, their tightness can also cause referred pain in these areas, contributing to stiffness and limiting an individual's ability to engage in physical activities. By addressing tightness in the trapezius muscles, one can alleviate these conditions and enhance overall quality of life, improving mobility, reducing pain, and promoting better posture.
Please subscribe so you and your family can stay healthy and happy.
Please subscribe so you and your family can stay healthy and happy.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Welcome. This video is definitely for everyone. Why? How many times have you woke up in the
00:09morning and you said, oh, my shoulder, really the trap. Or you said, I can't turn my head
00:16because of the traps. Or you said, I'm getting these headaches under the skull. I feel pressure
00:23because of the trapezius muscles, those traps. And these nerves go over the head, behind
00:28the eyes because of the traps. This video is all about how I can teach you or help
00:36you release those tight trapezius muscles. We're not talking like taking the head and
00:42stretching them. I'm going to show you a way that you can fatigue it. It goes to the brain.
00:48The messages, as we fatigue it, the brain's going to send messages back to the muscle
00:52and it's going to relax it. And the end result is you're going to get out of pain. The muscles
00:57going to relax. Your shoulders won't feel like they're hunching. You're going to feel as if you
01:02can bring your shoulders back. Your headaches are going to go away. You're going to sleep better.
01:07And your motion in your neck is going to get better. Right now, let's play a little game
01:14real quick. Turn your head to the left. How far can you turn to the left? How far can you turn
01:18to the right? If you notice that you're limited more on one side than the other, that's your
01:23trap muscles. And that's what we're going to correct. So I want you to realize that these trap
01:30muscles look like a triangle. The upper trap muscles. And it attaches underneath the skull
01:37to the lower neck vertebrae. And these upper trap muscles are involved in everything you do all day
01:41long. It raises the shoulder. It allows your head to come back. It allows your head to rotate.
01:48It elevates the back of the shoulder blade. It does many things. And if these muscles are
01:55contracted, you're going to limit all of those bodily functions, which is going to cause more
02:00irritation on the nerve and cause pain. So how do we correct this? You're going to love this.
02:06It's easy. It's simple. It's effective. It's fast. Okay. If it's my right shoulder, or if it's your
02:13right shoulder trap muscle right here, and it's tight, how do we release it? We're not going to
02:18pull on it. Here's what we do. I first want you to elevate it as you're contracting the right trap.
02:25Now I want you to bring the shoulder back. It's still elevated. Now I want you to bring your head
02:30back just like this. Now I like you to take your right ear and bring it to your right shoulder.
02:36Now I'd like you to take your chin and look away. As you look away, as your shoulder's back,
02:41as it's sitting elevated, now the trap muscle's contracted. We're utilizing all the motions
02:47possible of that trap muscle. We're going to hold it there at least 30 seconds. By holding it,
02:53we're contracting it. We're sending messages of the brain to brain, sending messages back
02:57to that area. We're going to start to release it. After 30 seconds, you'll then come back to
03:04the neutral position and you'll shake it off. It's going to feel quite different. Let's do the left
03:10one so we can balance it out. We're going to release that tight left trapezius muscle. Here we
03:17go. First, I want you to elevate it as you contract it. Elevate it nice and high. Now bring it back
03:23as you keep it elevated. Keep that shoulder elevated, but bring it back. I want you to bring
03:27your head back. I want you to take the left ear and bring it to your left shoulder all the way
03:32over. I want you to take the chin and look away and hold it in that position for 30 seconds.
03:38Right now, that muscle is squeezing. You should be feeling that muscle contract.
03:42As that muscle contracts, it's fatiguing as it sends messages back to the brain. The brain then
03:48sends messages back to the muscle. Eventually, that muscle starts to relax immediately after 30
03:54seconds. Then you can relax it. Shake your shoulders. Now turn your head to the left.
04:02Turn your head to the right. Feel the difference. This is the real McCoy. The greatest way to
04:10fatigue and relax that trap muscle. Why is it so important? Because many conditions that
04:16millions of people are suffering from right now affect under the skull, occipital neuralgia,
04:22over the head, behind the eyes, commonly with headaches. This can affect tinnitus. It can affect
04:29our inner ear and our balance within the brain, causing vertigo. So releasing these
04:36trap muscles are so important because if these muscles stay tight, you can't get your shoulders
04:41back. The scapula, the shoulder blades can't come down because they're always sitting upwards.
04:48You may not realize that your trap muscles are extremely tight. That's why your posture may be
04:55altered. Or this is something that's been chronic that you need to release it to get that range of
05:03motion back that you've never had for months or years. So we don't want to patch it up. How often
05:08can you do this? Do it several times. You can do one after the other. You can do it several times
05:13a day. But I challenge you, do this regularly several times for the first week. You will feel
05:19tremendous changes. You're going to sleep better. You're not going to have the headaches. Your
05:23motion is going to be better. You're going to have less pain. You're going to have more mobility
05:27and more clarity. Because remember, when these trap muscles contract, it attaches right behind
05:35the skull. It's called the external occipital protuberance. If you take your hand and you put
05:40it right behind the skull, you'll feel a bump there. That bump is where those muscles attach to.
05:46Imagine all the nerves in there. So when that's pulling, it's tugging, it's irritating our nerves.
05:52What do we just do? We just help correct it by relaxing those trap muscles. And many of you may
05:59have chronic trap muscles. You need to do this more often. For those who have them intermittently,
06:03then do a little bit less. But do this whenever you need to. It's safe. It's effective. And I hope
06:09it works for you. Please share this with your friends and family. Leave your comments below.
06:15And most important, make it a great day. I'm Dr. Alan Mandel.
06:22you