How long does trapezius muscle take to heal

Activities of daily life can easily result in overuse of your neck, upper back and shoulders. Chronic overuse or stress on these areas will lead to a strain or other form of injury. Common causes of strain on the upper back, shoulders and neck are:.

Many other conditions can also affect neck and shoulder pain. Some, but not all of these conditions are fibromyalgia, cervical arthritis or spondylosis, ruptured disk, small fractures from osteoporosis, narrowing of the spine canal spinal stenosis , infection in the spine and cancer that involves the spine. In extreme cases your unable move you head side to side and have upper back chronic pain myalgia. When you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms listed above and suspect you have this condition, the best way to diagnose it is with a quick visit to your doctor for a physical examination of your shoulders, neck and back.

Getting a proper diagnosis is important so you can treat your condition correctly. Untreated chronic strain in the upper back will lead to a worsening of symptoms and will continue to freeze up the range of motion in your neck and shoulders.

To begin with, your doctor will gather a medical history about you and your current condition and symptoms. Questions related to the duration of symptoms and range of motion loss should be expected.

Further details about what you suspect initiated the issue, when it started, and whether or not you have ever had treatments for this or a similar condition in the past are very helpful in assessing your injury.

Your doctor may also consider any previous back, shoulder and neck injuries or joint stiffness that you may have had in the past. This will help the doctor to determine if you have a more complex injury in the area and rule out any other injuries that may have once been symptomatic.

You may experience minor temporary pain from the doctor poking and prodding the area, but by doing this your physician will better understand the source of your pain, the level of tenderness in the area and how well you can move with this condition. If a soft tissue injury is suspected, an MRI may be undertaken to view where and how extensive the damage is.

An x-ray may be recommended to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. Recovery from trapezius muscle strain can take a long time, especially when adequate rest is not taken and some of the less effective, traditional treatment methods are utilized. This is simply because many treatments either focus on masking of pain or are too inconsistent to provide sustainable improvement.

While we tout the benefits of PT and believe it to be integral for most sufferers of soft tissue injuries, the problem is that people only attend sessions a few times a week.

To truly provide a long term solution to your tendon strain, you need to be receiving multiple treatments on a daily basis. Not just any type of treatments, but ones that focus on generation of new healthy tissue.

Treatments for soft tissue muscles, tendons are cumulative in nature Who these days has time to visit a therapist on a daily basis?

Not only is your time limited, but the cost of daily PT sessions is out of reach for most people. Therefore, the focus needs to be on adding treatment options that can be done frequently, from the comfort of your own home and even the workplace if the opportunity presents itself.

We will discuss these options later on down the page. We see it all the time - people for weeks and even months only focus on using cold. Doing too much cold will actually inhibit the recovery because you are starving the injured tissues of the blood flow they need to repair and rebuild the collagen.

Cold restricts the vessels - reducing the blood flow to the tissues that truly need it most. The truth is, there will always some mild inflammation associated with tissue injuries.

However, some of that inflammation will remain UNTIL you begin to focus on healing the soft tissue muscle. Once this begins to heal, the inflammation will then subside more permanently - not just temporarily like with cold treatments. As an analogy, think of a home with a leaky roof. You can place a bucket on the floor of the attic whenever it rains - and this will help temporarily, but does it truly address the situation?

Obviously the answer is no. Not until you focus on repairing the structural issues with the roof - will the problem be actually solved. The same concept applies to injured soft tissue - you need to focus on reinforcing growth of flexible, strong tissue.

To do this, you need more blood flow reaching them, not less. This can be VERY helpful in alleviating pain and in many cases, pain relief alone can make a huge difference. However, some people get a false sense that their injury is healed because they are not experiencing the pain they once did.

Some individuals even engage in activities they should not be doing because they "no longer feel pain". Once the effects wear off, people often find their bursitis persists. This of course, results in a prolonged recovery. Be very careful about your activity after the injection because there is little, if any, pain feedback to tell you that you're overdoing it.

Merely masking the pain can be very helpful temporarily, but it is not a solution; it is just a temporary fix. It goes without saying that anyone suffering from a muscle strain or tear should want to minimize their chance of worsening the injury, or re-injuring the muscle once it has started to get better. Obviously, a worsening injury will delay the healing process, but what's worse is that every re-injury and additional healing cycle increases the amount of time that your joint is immobilized.

Time not kind to an immobilized joint - you lose strength in the joint but worse than that, you lose the range of motion in your joint via atrophy muscles, tendons and ligaments slowly shrink and weaken, decreasing joint elasticity.

Basically it means that your joint will not perform as well as it once did and it becomes more prone to injury again later on. You should rest as much as possible and limit your daily activities to reduce inflammation and avoid aggravating your upper back muscles trapezius.

This will help you avoid further exacerbating the injury. Treating your trapezius strain correctly is essential to getting rid of your pain and restoring function to your upper arm, neck and shoulder. Proper treatment will get you back to regular activities sooner, stop your pain, and reduce the risk of future re-injury.

For years, doctors, trainers, and other medical professionals have recommended RICE Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation conservative treatment protocols to treat the pain and swelling of fresh injuries, chronic pain, and after any re-injury.

In most cases, strains of the upper back, neck and shoulder are typically treated using conservative home treatments on a frequent basis. To restore strength and range of motion in your trapezius, treatment should focus on minimizing further damage and preventing both scar tissue formation and muscle atrophy shrinkage and weakening of the muscle.

This requires rest and the appropriate therapies at the right time. Almost all types of trapezius pulls and tears except a complete rupture can be properly treated with trusted options that are available for use at home.

Note: If you are suffering from a tendinosis injury that has been going on for awhile, then skip the cold treatment as inflammation will be minimal. Anytime you are experiencing significant pain, you may find our Arnica Infusion Pain Relief Cream to be quite helpful. If you are experiencing pain and swelling in the very early stages of the injury first 48 to 72 hours , the first step in a conservative treatment protocol would be to focus on reducing the discomfort by applying a quality cold pack to the injured muscle along with a high quality pain relief cream such as our Arnica Infusion Cream.

Not only will you use your cold pack for the first 48 to 72 hours after the injury, but you should also use it during other stages of the healing process. Some examples include Having a Cold Compress or Ice Pack available at home to use if and when the need arises is helpful.

Many of you already do so. However, too many people over-focus on cold treatments while ignoring the most critical aspect to healing - nourishing injured tissue with a healthy supply of blood flow, as this is needed to repair and rebuild injured tissues. Even though the concept is simple, improving blood flow to injured tissues can be difficult. Traditional methods require your muscle to move to promote blood flow exercise , but that same motion that promotes blood flow can at times lead to making your pain and condition worse.

Although rare, there are cases when the trapezius muscle is extremely pulled and it causes immobility of the neck, shoulders and arms. If these symptoms arise consult a doctor immediately. Helpful 28 Not Helpful Related wikiHows How to. How to. Sprains and strains — Treatment. In nhs. More References 5. Co-authors: Updated: June 8, Categories: Strain Injuries Pulled Muscles. Medical Disclaimer The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment.

Article Summary X To heal a pulled trapezius, protect the muscle by avoiding anything that can cause the blood vessels to dilate, like hot baths or massages. In other languages Italiano: Curare uno Stiramento al Trapezio. Deutsch: Einen gezerrten Trapezmuskel heilen. Nederlands: Een verrekte trapezius herstellen.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. I stumbled on this site through research, and after reading through, I have not only the best description of my condition, I also have tips on how to remedy the malady. Thanks a lot. Rated this article:.

More reader stories Hide reader stories. Did this article help you? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. About This Article Co-authors: Akindele Olushola Jul 5, Andrea Miller Apr 5, Two days later, it felt normal so I went back to exercising and pulled it again. My pain goes up the back of my head instead of down my arm. The only instructions my doctor gave me were to put heat on it and to take a muscle relaxer, ibuprofen, and Naproxen.

Thank you. Anonymous Oct 1, Affects neck, back, headaches, neuopathy in hands. Doctor gave pain meds. They stopped pain, but it came back when I stopped meds, so I've been on meds for years. Tried this fix for 30 days, stopped meds, no pain. Valerie McNeill Apr 27, The instructions for simple exercises will help a lot, can't wait to give them a try! Suzanne Gracie Jun 18, Exercised my traps and already have a cervical bulged disc, now can't move. Feel weak. Silly me, I also used heat pack, which now I know is the worst thing to do.

Worst pain in years. Share yours! More success stories Hide success stories. Read the article in Spanish. Lower biceps pain has a variety of causes, including biceps tendonitis. We look at the potential causes of lower biceps pain and the possible…. Tight and rigid muscles can occur due to a variety of reasons. Learn more about the potential causes and their treatment options here.

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Learn more about tizanidine, including its uses, dosage, and potential side…. What is a bicep tear and how does it happen? Read on to learn more about bicep tears, such as causes, location, types, symptoms, and treatment options. What is the trapezius muscle? Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. Functions Causes of trapezius pain Stretches Additional remedies Seeing a doctor Summary The trapezius is one of the upper back muscles.

Causes of trapezius pain. Share on Pinterest. Additional remedies. You may hold onto a stable surface to maintain good balance in the beginning. Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times on both legs. This stretch can be progressed by raising your arm up on the side where the knee is on the ground. This stretch will help to stretch the muscles that are causing your shoulders to round forward. Stand in a doorway. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and place your forearms and hands on the door frame.

Keeping your back and head straight, step one foot forward and lean your chest forward through the door. You should feel a stretch across your chest.

Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. You may repeat the set by dropping your elbows closer to the body as shown in the picture above. This exercise will help to increase strength of your lower trapezius to offset the hyperactivity of the upper trapezius muscle.

Lie on your stomach with one arm hanging straight down on the end of the table or bed with palms facing in. Or you can even go on your hands and knees to engage more of your core muscles. Raise your arm up at a 30 degree angle with your thumb pointing up toward the ceiling. Do not go above shoulder level and avoid swinging your arms.

Do sets of reps. When the movement gets easier, use a very light dumbbell to increase the intensity. Stretching and massage may not alleviate the knots in your upper trap. Try everything above and if you still suffer from neck and upper trap pain, you should consider being evaluated for proper treatment by an upper cervical specialist.

We specialize in the treatment of craniofacial pain, neck pain, and headaches. If you have any questions or want immediate relief, email us at info fpphysicaltherapy. Alternatively, you can get in touch with us by visiting www.