Symptoms Can Include:
- Mild to severe facial pain
- May be accompanied by burning or tingling
- Sometimes muscle spasms
Relationship to Body Structure and Behavior:
- This is not neuralgia
- Results from cramping of muscles attached to mastoid process (mostly Sternocleidomastoideus: SCM)
- SCM turns the head to the other side
- Related to activity requiring a prolonged duration of head turning (positions of computer or TV set)
- Short-lasting recurrent sharp pain: from muscle spasm and bony irritation on the mastoid process
- Pain gets worse because of head turning to the opposite site (pain avoidance behavior)
- Most triggers (noise, bright light, or wind) induce head turning to the opposite side
- ‘Nice-and-Tall’ walking posture will cause excessive contraction SCM from the loss of cervical ES support
Suggestions for Prevention:
- Turn your head to the same side of the pain and open your mouth wide to deactivate Digastric muscle (which is attached between the mastoid process and inner side of the mandible)
- Reposition your computer or TV set and avoid excessive fixation of your gaze
