Three Amazing Muscles

Sternocleidomastoid

This muscle has an astounding array of referred phenomena:Intense headache, eye and facial pain, teary eyes, dizzyness, imbalance, narrowing of the eye, blurred vision, dimming of perveiced light, tinnitus (ringing in your ear), ear pain, deafness, coughing, throat….. sinuses

Often related to poor neck posture, whiplash injuries

Piriformis

This muscle, found deep in the buttock area can really cause havock:• Referred Pain – pain in buttock area, sacro-

iliac joint or referring right down the back of the leg

• Neural impingment – this muscle is intimately related to your sciatic nerve and if it impinges on your sciatic nerve you may experience sciatica – pain down the back of the leg, or more typically, pain referring down to the side of your lower leg and/or outer border of your foot (piriformis syndrome)

• Neural impingement – it can also impinge the pudendal nerve and this can cause pain and dysfunction in the pelvic floor area

• Pelvic function – a tight piriformis will alter the biomechanics of your pelvis, often leaving you ‘stiff and stuck’

• Significant debilitation – it can become very difficult to cross your legs to put your shoes and socks on, walking and ‘getting your leg moving’, sitting can become quite uncomfortable.

IliopsoasThis muscle (your ‘fillet steak’) lies to the front and side of your lower back.In my experience it is OFTEN the ………(trigger ?). behind disc pathologies. Patients will usually present with low back pain, though there pain may be in the sacro-iliac area, anterior and lower abdominal are, or groin.

Spasm in this muscle can be extremely debilitating as it causes compression across the lower back. Patients will find it difficult to lean backwards, stand upright, walk – especially fast or sit for prolonged periods of time. There may also be some associated abdominal symptoms.

I had a patient who presented with abdominal pain after moving house. She had spent R17 000 by the time she saw me, and next on the cards was a laparotomy. It took 3 treatments to clear her pain!! An expensive journey.