Beat Upper Trap Pain with Lift Clinic Vancouver's team of Physio, Chiro, RMT, and Strength Coaches.
See what our clients have to say :
I went to see Henry at Lift after speaking with both my doctor and two massage therapists regarding issues in my neck and shoulders and an inability to lift my right arm above the horizontal. Within 10 minutes Henry had identified the main issues, isolated them into acute and chronic types and by the end of our first appointment had developed an exercise routing for me to follow at home. I started to see improvement within days which has continued gradually during the following weeks and follow-up appointments.
First visit at the new Lift Clinic location, which moved from Kingsway onto Knight street, around the corner. Space was clean, and I love the cushy flooring. RMT visit with Michael Fung was super as usual, and I’ll be working on the stretch Mike showed me to try to ease my ropey back and shoulder muscles. Great covid safety protocol adherence. Felt safe and comfortable during my visit.
Visit our IG post for videos and insights from physiotherapist Travis Dodds
What are the upper traps?
The upper traps are a section in a large muscle called the trapezius. Your upper traps connect your head and neck to your shoulder blade and collarbone. If you try putting your hand on the base of your neck then shrugging your shoulders, you can feeling your upper traps working!
What are the causes of your neck and shoulder tension?
We often find that tension in the upper traps is caused by sustained postures or high intensity activities. But really, you should be able to do these things without pain, so shaming, blaming and avoiding the activity might not be the right solution.
When you come to see a therapist at Lift Clinic, we’ll look further to try and identify root causes, for example:
- Muscle strains
- Joint restrictions in the upper neck
- Nerve pinching
- Restricted mobility in the upper back
- Altered breathing patterns
Assess and treat your upper traps tension and its cause.
How do we assess your upper trapezius issues and get to the root cause?
When you come to Lift Clinic with any kind of pain, we will always start by asking questions to get a better idea of your situation. We want to get acquainted with your physical activity level, injury history, and sleep habits.
This information will help assist use in creating holistic outlook at what might be contributing to the pain or tension in your body. Most importantly, we want to know about your goals so that that we can create a customized treatment plan that will help you reach your goals.
Next, we will try to find the cause of pain or tension in your upper traps. Sometimes, pain can happen from obvious causes such as a sudden impact or muscle strain. More often, tension in the upper traps develops over time from certain activities and positions that we stay in throughout the day.
For example, when school or work forces you to sit at your desk for extended periods of time, your upper back mobility can start to become restricted. This can have implications on your shoulder, neck, and upper trap function.
To address issues like this, we want to know which movements in your body are restricted, and this is where our head to toe assessment comes in. During the full body assessment, we will look at key movements in your body from head to toe.
If we find that certain movements are restricted or painful to perform, it may be an indication that compensations or postural changes are happening in the upper traps. Once we find the cause of your pain, the next step is to develop a treatment plan.
How do we treat upper traps tension and pain?
Similar to how there are numerous causes of upper trap tension, there are also many treatment options to relieve this tension.
At Lift Clinic, we have a team of skilled physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, and strength and conditioning coaches who all play an important role in optimizing performance and rehabilitation in your upper traps.
Each of our practitioners contribute uniquely in a team based approach...
Our physiotherapists and chiropractors provide a detailed assessment of the entire body to find the cause of your upper trap pain. From there, they can provide treatments such as adjustments, manual therapy, and exercise to relieve pain and boost performance in your upper traps.
Our massage therapists are experts in releasing muscle tension throughout the body. You can expect our massage therapists to work on releasing tension in the muscles of your neck, shoulders, upper traps, and any other muscles that may be tight. During your appointment, our massage therapists will go through a few stretches and exercises that you can use to address your upper trap pain at home.
Finally, our strength and conditioning coaches will work to address the overall strength of your upper traps and the surrounding musculature. By strengthening muscles in your shoulder and upper back, we can train these muscles to take tension off of the upper traps.
Beyond your upper traps, our strength and conditioning coaches will also work with you to address strength and stability in your lower body, core, and upper body. In any given appointment, you can expect to be taken through a personalized exercise plan and receive detailed coaching on your exercise form.
Who should I book with?
Pro tip: If you are unsure of who to see, start by booking an initial assessment with one of our physiotherapists or chiropractors, or give us a call at 604-229-3500!
How does optimal upper trap function relate to performance - doing the things you love? (think run, jump, train, and play)
While no muscle in isolation is truly responsible for performance in a given activity, the upper traps often get tight as a result of higher intensity activities.
This can be an indicator of dysfunction nearby in the neck, upper back or your breathing patterns, as mentioned above.
If you frequently experience upper traps tension, look at it as an INDICATOR that you have some opportunities for movement optimization, that will likely translate into better performance.
For example, the upper traps may be over-engaging to compensate for another muscle that isn’t doing its job. But the reason that other muscle isn’t doing its job, may be stiffness in the thoracic region, which is affecting your breathing efficiency and trunk rotation.
Addressing the root cause stiffness, likely will help the upper traps feel better, while also improving your breathing efficiency (less effortful air exchange may equate to improved performance with endurance exercise/activities), and trunk rotation (fundamental to proper movement in running, throwing etc.).
If you've read this far, you deserve a freebie! Try out this exercise to release tension in your upper traps!
Thinking about coming in to beat pain and optimize performance in your upper traps? Here's what you can expect:
- Caring practitioners who want to know what you'd be doing right now if you were 100%
- Thorough assessments that relate head to toe movement with your local neck pain
- Realistic treatment plans, with trusted team members (physio, chiro, RMT, strength) if needed
- Effective hands-on treatment and exercise to reinforce treatment and get you strong
