long-lasting discomfort in the neck

main symptoms

sore neck. headache, tiredness, dry eyes, pain behind the eyes.
he has been suffering from the same symptoms for about 3 years.
tried various treatments in the past, but no improvement. he came to our clinic by referral from one of our patients who suggested that we treat the muscles in the back of his neck completely.
the right side of his neck was particularly painful.

visual observation and palpation

on visual observation, he had been doing a lot of exercise and muscle development was obvious.
palpation showed abnormal tension in the neck, especially near the right semispinalis muscle.

treatment

intensive acupuncture for the neck region was performed.

1st treatment: not much improvement. however, he was able to sleep well after the treatment.
3rd treatment: not much improvement in the neck, but the headache disappeared.
8th treatment: it was difficult to insert acupuncture needles into the muscles of the right side of the neck, but recently the stiffness of the neck was softened, and it became easier to insert needles.
10th treatment: tiredness, thirst, and pain behind the eyes disappeared.
12th treatment: symptoms sometimes worsen when he works too hard, but they continue to be much better than before.

after a few more treatments, the symptoms seem to have disappeared.

Summary

even hardened muscles can be softened with persistent treatment.

it should be noted that

stiff muscles do not necessarily cause symptoms.
it does not mean that the symptoms do not occur if the muscles are soft.
if there are trigger points in the muscle, that is the source of the pain.
sometimes trigger points in stiff muscles cause pain.
it is not a stiffness, but rather an area where all the muscles are tight.
if the hardened area is causing pain, the entire muscle may be a trigger point that is causing the symptoms.
in other words, it is the muscle that is producing symptoms as a trigger point that has become stiff and ragged.

the most common areas of trigger points are the vastus medialis, gastrocnemius, and semispinalis muscles. (there are others.)
in this case, the trigger point occurred in the semispinalis muscle, but with regular treatment, the muscle tension was so strong at first that acupuncture needles could not be inserted, but recently, acupuncture needles can be inserted normally.
for symptoms where the entire muscle has become a trigger point, acupuncture treatment must be applied to the area persistently and persistently.
massage therapy softens the muscles to a certain extent but does not loosen them to the core.
hardened muscles can be softened by intensive treatment.

it may take some time, but the symptoms of trigger points in the entire muscle will not improve if left untreated.
in fact, if left untreated, they may spread to other parts of the body and cause various kinds of pain.

stiffness in the neck can be the cause of a variety of complaints, so it is best to treat the symptoms as soon as possible and recover as soon as possible.

Case Reports