Muscles
Sternocleidomastoid Trigger Points
Symptom Area: Head and Neck
Also known as: SCM, head turner muscle, neck rotator
Sternocleidomastoid 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. The SCM refers pain to the forehead, eye, cheek and ear — a frequent and overlooked source of facial pain, headache and dizziness.
Where you feel it
When the Sternocleidomastoid holds active trigger points, you usually notice it as back of head pain, cheek pain (like sinusitis), dizziness when turning head or changing field of view, double/blurry/jumpy print vision and dry cough. Where the pain spreads: Sternal division: forehead, behind the eye, cheek, throat. What often sets it off: Whiplash, prolonged head rotation (sleeping position, side monitor), forward head posture, chronic cough, mouth breathing.
Overview
The SCM has two heads (sternal and clavicular) running from the mastoid process to the sternum and clavicle. It rotates the head to the opposite side and flexes the neck. Trigger points here can produce symptoms that look neurological: dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus.
Trigger point locations
Trigger points are spread along both heads. The sternal division tends to refer to the cheek, eye and forehead; the clavicular division to the ear, frontal region and behind the ear.
Referred pain pattern
Sternal division: forehead, behind the eye, cheek, throat. Clavicular division: forehead across the brow, ear, deep ear pain, and sometimes the molar teeth.
Palpation & testing
Pincer grip the muscle gently with the head slightly rotated and tilted away. Taut bands are easy to roll between the fingers. Compare sides.
Common causes
Whiplash, prolonged head rotation (sleeping position, side monitor), forward head posture, chronic cough, mouth breathing.
Self-care & clinical treatment
Gentle pincer self-massage in supine, postural correction, breathing retraining. Clinically: manual therapy, dry needling with care due to vascular structures.
Stretching & mobility
Sit tall, tuck the chin gently, then tilt the ear away from the side being stretched while rotating the head toward the same side. Hold 20–30 seconds, 2–3 times per side. Do not push through dizziness — release immediately if symptoms appear.
Treatment protocol
For Sternocleidomastoid, the general protocol applies: sustained pressure release on the taut band, then stretch and active movement in the newly gained range.
Position and palpation: Pincer grip the muscle gently with the head slightly rotated and tilted away.
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
- Sternocleidomastoid: the neck muscle behind headaches
- Why pain spreads: satellite trigger points, and whether deactivating one quiets its neighbours
- The headache that arrives at the end of the day: a suboccipital and trapezius treatment plan
- The muscle behind a stiff neck you cannot turn: levator scapulae trigger points
- Jaw pain, clicking and morning tightness: the chewing-muscle trigger points behind it
- Dizziness when you turn your head: the neck trigger points that imitate a balance problem
References
- • Travell & Simons — Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, Vol. 1
- • Effectiveness of dry needling for upper-quarter myofascial pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis — J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2013;43(9):620-34
- • The effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for musculoskeletal conditions by physical therapists: a systematic review and meta-analysis — J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(3):133-49
- • Effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for multiple body regions: a systematic review — J Man Manip Ther 2015;23(5):276-93
- • A systematic review of manual therapy techniques, dry cupping and dry needling in the reduction of myofascial pain and myofascial trigger points — J Bodyw Mov Ther 2019;23(3):539-46
- • Physiologic effects of dry needling — Curr Pain Headache Rep 2013;17(8):348
- • Trigger point dry needling for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome: current perspectives within a pain neuroscience paradigm — J Pain Res 2019;12:1899-911
- • Myofascial trigger points then and now: a historical and scientific perspective — PM R 2015;7(7):746-61
- • Pertinent dry needling considerations for minimizing adverse effects — Int J Sports Phys Ther 2016;11(5):651-62
- • Adverse events associated with therapeutic dry needling — Int J Sports Phys Ther 2020;15(1):103-13
- • Lidocaine injection versus dry needling to myofascial trigger point: the importance of the local twitch response — Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994;73(4):256-63
- • Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2nd ed.) — Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore
Medically reviewed by: Marco Aruffo — physiotherapist since 2006, specialised in myofascial pain · Last reviewed:
