Hi, I have had pain deep in my armpit for 2-3 years, the pain can vary week by week. But I generally have absolutely no problem during the night and when waking, but I get a "toothache type pain" deep in my armpit after carrying things of weight.

I have been visiting a chiropracter for a number of weeks. I told her that I can increase the pain by pushing in a point on my lower neck, just above my clavicle. I also have limited rotation in my neck away from the painful side.

The dark red point closest the armpit in this picture - *edit*

(I can also reproduce the pain on my good side by doing the same, but the pain is only there when I press on it, unlike my bad side which has pain all the time)

She said she was 95% sure it was a trigger point in my scalene muscles. But every time I have had trigger point therapy, or I have tried to do it myself, the pain in my armpit has been a lot worse 1-2 days after.

If I press on the point I talk about, the pain does raise and subside after 20 seconds. But the constant pain in my armpit is still there an hour after the treatment, and worse.

Does this sound like a trigger point to you? Should I keep going with the treatments, or am I doing something wrong?

Nobody seems to be able to help me, and I'm in a lot of pain most of the time. Trigger points in my neck does sound like the best explanation to me, and I can increase the pain by pressing on it. But nothing seems to make the constant pain dissapear.

THanks very much for any advice, I've tried everything :-(

There could be latent TRPs also, that get activated after the main one is resolved. So you have to palpate the area to check of other minor TrPs and treat them .
To hopefully totally resolve a TrP fully you do the pressing and then a stretch and massage to the area.
You may have some ongoing muscle tensions that keeps reactivating that same TrP spot.
It becomes a nasty circle that has to be figured out, what is causing the muscles tension and re creating that trigger point?

Does the chiro use ultrasound, low level laser or IF stim (on a low/mild setting)?
Any of these might help with the muscle tension in the areas you mention.

Have you had any Imaging like xrays /MRIs to verify no c spine issues?

Have you found the TrP sticky thread?
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread125577.html

Thanks Jo*mar, thats a really helpful response.

I think it has possibly come about from using the computer at work alot. I have sorted my workstation and posture, but it didn't solve the problem.

I do have some scoliosis, with an silght S shape in the middle of my spine. It curves away from the pain side slightly and then back towards it.

The Chiro doesnt use any other treatment on me other than pressing on my neck.

I have been a bit skeptical, Of the 5 treatments I had in March / April. Each time I would go with a bit of pain, and then afterwards have really bad pain. And not notice much difference in between sessions.

So after the 5th one I stopped going. But then a couple of days later I was pain free for 10 days or so.

Is it right for the problem to be aggrevated during treatments, but it gets better in the days after?

I did some self trigger point treatments on Monday and Tuesday, and it definitely aggrevated it, I was in a lot of pain. But then on Wednesday it was a lot better.

It went from 90% painful to 10% painful in one day, which I had never experienced before.

When I press in on my neck muscle I get the sharp pain in my armpit. I asked my partner if I could try it out gently on her, and she got a tingling down her arm. I've never had that.

Does it sound like a trigger point to you? I am worried I am just purely pushing on a nerve which causes the pain. Although pushing in the spot increases the pain I have got, so it must be something related?!

thanks again

There are arteries & veins in the neck around /under the scalenes & SCM, so be careful to not press on those areas. That's why it's best to learn from someone that can show you the safe places to press. Or study some anatomy books or websites.

TrPs
according to this chart the scalenes pain to these places -
http://www.pressurepointer.com/Scale...ger_points.htm
SCM would refer pain to theses places-
http://www.pressurepointer.com/SCM_trigger_points.htm

This might help you figure out if you might be pressing on a nerve and not a trigger point-
http://www.concordortho.com/patient-...a2995f76121bef

Thanks for those links I have read through them.

How do I know if when the pain increases when I press on the spot in my neck, that its a trigger point and I'm not just purely pressing on a nerve. I'm pressing around the area a nerve would be, but not sure exactly, it does feel like a hard muscle, not a springy soft one.

When pressing and holding the pain does decrease after about 20 seconds, does that sound like a trigger point. If I pressed on a nerve would it do that too?

Thank You

I tried to locate a nerve to test it out, but I don't think just pressing on a nerve thru skin & muscle will do much, unless you hit a very exact spot, or if your nerve has some problems already..

Like when they do that tap test for carpal tunnel , when they tap on the inner wrist , if I do it I only get a little tiny zinger and it has to be in a specific spot to do it.