Erroneous diagnoses caused by Sternocleidomastoid trigger points

The syndrome caused by trigger points in the Sternocleidomastoids can give rise to the most varied diagnoses, as trigger points in the Sternocleidomastoid muscles are a cause of problems not only of pain and motor nature, but also proprioceptive and systemic nature.

First, there is the large number of types of headaches that are directly caused by the trigger points in the Sternocleidomastoid muscles. There have been cases of people suffering from recurring headaches for years and regularly taking painkillers, who found permanent relief after a few trigger point therapy sessions on the Sternocleidomastoids.

The pain referred to the face is easily mistaken for inflammation of Trigeminal nerve or atypical facial neuralgia.

In addition, the chest pain reported at the attachment of the Sternum section of the muscle can be interpreted as Sternal-Clavicular joint degeneration.

The ear-like symptoms can lead to a diagnosis of Meniere's syndrome,which is caused instead by an increase in fluid pressure in the inner ear.

Dizziness caused by these trigger points can also lead to a diagnosis of vestibular ear disease.

Drooping eyelids caused by the trigger points in the sternal section of the muscle can give rise to diagnosis of Horner's syndrome and paralysis of the extraocular muscles.

The contraction caused by trigger points in only one of the two muscles can lead to diagnosis of various types of torticollis and in children, congenital torticollis.