Not all shoulder pain comes from the shoulder. If you’ve tried stretching, foam rolling, or even resting your shoulder without relief, the problem may not be in your shoulder at all—it could be originating from your neck or upper back. That’s the deceptive nature of trigger points and referred pain.
Understanding Trigger Points
Trigger points are tight, irritable knots in a muscle that can form due to overuse, trauma, poor posture, or stress. These nodules are often found in the neck, shoulders, back, and glutes, and they can cause pain both locally and in areas far away from the actual knot.
Unlike general muscular soreness, a trigger point causes pain that radiates. Pressing on a trigger point in your neck might suddenly recreate a familiar ache in your shoulder, upper arm, or even your fingers.
How Neck Muscles Can Refer Pain to the Shoulder
Muscles like the levator scapulae, upper trapezius, and scalenes—all located in the neck and upper back—are known to develop trigger points that mimic shoulder issues.
📌 Upper Trapezius Trigger Point:
Commonly refers pain up to the skull, down the side of the neck, and across the top of the shoulder. Many clients describe this as a dull, persistent ache or even a tension headache.
📌 Levator Scapulae Trigger Point:
Often refers pain along the inner border of the shoulder blade and toward the base of the neck. This one makes turning your head or looking over your shoulder uncomfortable.
📌 Scalenes Trigger Point:
May create referred pain that runs into the front of the shoulder, chest, and even down the arm, mimicking nerve impingement or carpal tunnel symptoms.
Referred Pain vs. Local Pain
Referred pain often misleads people into treating the wrong area. You might ice or massage your shoulder directly, when the real cause lies two or three inches higher, near your cervical spine.
Typical signs of referred pain include:
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Pain that doesn’t change with shoulder movement
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Dull or deep aching without a specific injury
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Pain that seems to spread rather than stay in one place
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No obvious swelling, bruising, or trauma in the painful area
Massage Therapy for Trigger Point Release
At Muscle Therapy By Tom in Slough, trigger point therapy is used to locate and release these hidden sources of referred pain. This technique involves sustained pressure on the knot to disrupt the pain cycle and restore healthy muscle tone.
🔸 Static Pressure: Direct finger or elbow pressure applied to deactivate the trigger point
🔸 Pin & Stretch: Combines compression with guided movement to lengthen and relax the affected tissue
🔸 Myofascial Work: Addresses the fascia around the muscle, which often holds chronic tension and adhesions
By targeting the root cause rather than just the symptom area, the pain relief is faster and longer-lasting.
Posture, Stress & Daily Habits
Trigger points in the neck and upper back often develop due to sustained posture—especially looking down at your phone, working long hours at a desk, or holding tension from stress. Even sleeping with poor neck support can aggravate these muscles.
Ongoing treatment usually includes:
✅ Soft tissue therapy to reduce chronic tension
✅ Postural assessments to identify contributing habits
✅ Education on stretches and ergonomic setups
✅ Breathing retraining for clients who brace or clench unknowingly
When to Seek Help
If your shoulder pain feels deep, spreads to other areas, or doesn’t respond to movement-specific rehab, trigger points could be the missing link. Whether you’re training at The Gym Group Slough or simply dealing with everyday neck tension, you don’t have to live with chronic discomfort.
📍 Tom works directly with clients at Muscle Therapy By Tom inside The Gym Group Slough, offering expert assessment, trigger point therapy, and personalised recovery plans tailored to your lifestyle and training level.
🖥️ Book your trigger point release session today at
👉 www.muscletherapybytom.co.uk
Shoulder pain that isn’t actually shoulder pain? You’re not imagining it. Let’s fix it at the source.