Muscles
Buccinator Trigger Points
Symptom Area: Head and Neck
Buccinator Trigger Points are explored here through their location and referred pain pattern. Muscle knots is an everyday term used for tender muscular spots; myofascial pain describes pain involving muscle and its surrounding connective tissue. Deep cheek muscle used in chewing and blowing; trigger points cause cheek pain and discomfort under a denture or during eating.
Where you feel it
When the Buccinator holds active trigger points, you usually notice it as cheek pain (like sinusitis). Where the pain spreads: Pain deep in the cheek and around the upper molars, sometimes described as toothache or a sore cheek while eating. What often sets it off: Prolonged chewing, gum chewing, cheek biting, playing wind instruments, ill-fitting dentures, dental work with the mouth held open.
Overview
Buccinator forms the muscular wall of the cheek, keeping food between the teeth during chewing and compressing the cheek when blowing. It is closely tied to the masticatory system, so its trigger points frequently accompany masseter and pterygoid involvement.
Trigger point locations
Points in the cheek wall, best located intraorally between the upper and lower molars.
Referred pain pattern
Pain deep in the cheek and around the upper molars, sometimes described as toothache or a sore cheek while eating.
Palpation & testing
With a gloved finger inside the mouth and the thumb outside, use a pincer grip on the cheek and roll the fibres against the finger; taut bands reproduce the cheek pain.
Common causes
Prolonged chewing, gum chewing, cheek biting, playing wind instruments, ill-fitting dentures, dental work with the mouth held open.
Self-care & clinical treatment
Soft diet during flare-ups, gentle intraoral self-massage, jaw relaxation and breathing drills, addressing clenching habits. Clinically: intraoral manual release and referral for dental or occlusal factors.
Treatment protocol
For Buccinator, the general protocol applies: sustained pressure release on the taut band, then stretch and active movement in the newly gained range.
Position and palpation: With a gloved finger inside the mouth and the thumb outside, use a pincer grip on the cheek and roll the fibres against the finger; taut bands reproduce the cheek pain.
Regional precaution for clinicians: In the neck and jaw, needle placement must respect the carotid sheath, the external jugular vein, the vertebral artery in the suboccipital region and the lung apex behind the lower scalenes and the medial supraclavicular fossa.
Primary Symptoms
Often confused with
These muscles cause the same primary symptoms, so they are checked together:
Related muscles in this region
Related articles
References
- • triggerpoints.net — reference
Medically reviewed by: Marco Aruffo — physiotherapist since 2006, specialised in myofascial pain · Last reviewed:
