The Link Between Pain, Stress, and Breathing Muscles

Try this test:
Take a deep breath. Did your shoulders lift upwards? Did your chest lift upwards? Did your pelvis move? Did your chin tilt up? All of these indicate dysfunction breathing patterns, as they are artificially lifting the ribcage, rather than expanding the ribcage.
Now put your hands under your armpits and try to inhale by expansion (in circumference), without lifting upward. Don't worry, you are not the only one who has a hard time doing this.

Any clinician who is worth their salt will tell you there is a link between breathing and pain patterns. The first clue is that the most commonly tight and short muscles are the ones that are "accessory muscles" to inhalation. These are the scalenes, sternoclaidomastoid, pectorals, latissmuss dorsi, and serratus muscles.

The second clue is that the most commonly weak and atrophied muscles are the accessory muscles of exhalation. These are the external oblique, internal oblique, transverse abdominus, and rectus abdominus.

However, the real pain is in the dysfunctional accessory muscles, which include levator scapula, upper trapezius, and several subocciptal muscles. It is common for patients to use these muscles when I test their breathing in my office. These are usually the most painful, and indicate that the dysfunctional breathing has been present for a long time. This is why so many people have neck pain, headaches, and pain along the shoulder blades.

The next step is to find out why it is happening. The answer is usually stress, poor posture, or lack of exercise. Often it is a combination of all three. More information on these causes will be the topic of subsequent blog posts.

Finding a chiropractor who can re-align the spine is easy. Not many will give you home exercises to help correct the reasons for the misalignments. Even fewer will give you postural coaching. Rarely will any clinician look at your breathing. If your does not, give us a call at (616) 301-3000.