One of the most frequent complaint I hear from people is pain between the shoulder blades. Pointing at a pain between the scapula and the spinal column, they will ask me to work on those knots. I will ask them what is their occupation, and their response will usually be an office or sitting position. Sitting for extended hours is extremely hard on the body. One of the many ailments associated with this is called
Anterior Superior Cross syndrome.
A condition where musculoskeletal imbalances develop in the upper body. In this syndrome, the pectoralis becomes tight and also shorten over time. As the shoulder medially rotate toward the body, other issues related to the shoulder may arise. The pain is often felt in the weaker muscles which are put under stress due to their opposing being constantly engaged.
Another group of muscles affected by this syndrome which is not shown in the picture are the suboccipitals. The suboccipitals are four muscles at the base of the skull who also shorten as this condition worsen. One of my first client when I was a student therapist had this issue which led him to have chronic migraines and radiating pain down one arm. As soon as we released the suboccipital muscle, the pain in the arm was gone.
The therapeutic goal in the anterior superior cross syndrome is to loosen the pectoralis and strengthen the rhomboids and neck flexors.
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