Trigger point · Neck

Sternocleidomastoid — sternal division

The most surprising referral in the neck: a muscle at the FRONT of the neck that sends pain into the FACE and the back of the head, and almost none into the neck itself. The sternal division is the superficial strap running from the top of the breastbone up to behind the ear. Its points refer to the back of the skull, the top of the head, the cheek, the eyebrow and around the eye, and deep into the throat — and the client will not mention their neck at all, because their neck does not hurt. That combination, head and face pain from a muscle nobody suspects, makes this the point most often missed in the whole region. Travell's clients had frequently been investigated for sinus, eye and dental problems before anyone touched the front of their neck.