Pulled Trapezius?

Hi, I have pulled my trapezius muscle and was wondering if there are any massages/ exercises I can do to help relieve pain and bring this back to normal.

Hi Rachel

It might feel like you’ve pulled a muscle, but unless you can remember a specific, isolated incident when you did – then you didn’t!

Here’s why.

When you put your neck under prolonged, postural pressure either due to having a stiff mid back, sitting all day in front of a pc or driving etc, your upper traps “stiffen up” to protect the joints in your neck, and so they’ll feel tight – but they’re actually protective and why stretching whilst it feels good, probably won’t help in the long term.

The same for massage – great for instant relief, but it doesn’t solve the why…

So try getting your thoracic spine moving better

make sure you’re sitting as good as you can

and get exercising – I’d start here

The Guru