Stephanie Burton, RMT

05/05/2026

05/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BEk1Q9S6Q/?mibextid=wwXIfr

YOUR ARM IS NOT “ASLEEP”… YOUR NERVE IS BEING COMPRESSED WHILE YOU SLEEP

If you wake up in the middle of the night and your arm feels numb, heavy, or completely “dead,” it might seem like a circulation problem. But in most cases, that’s not what’s happening.

The real cause is usually nerve compression.

When you sleep in certain positions—especially with your arm under your head or your shoulder rotated forward—you create pressure around the nerves that travel from your neck into your arm. These nerves form what’s called the brachial plexus.

When that pathway is compressed, the signal between your brain and your arm gets disrupted. That’s what creates the numbness, tingling, and “pins and needles” feeling.

That’s also why the sensation disappears quickly when you change position. The moment the pressure is removed, the signal returns.

This is not a blood flow issue.
It’s a temporary nerve signal block caused by sleep position.

05/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/18VG8hM4oW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🛑 THAT “MIGRAINE” MAY BE A NECK NERVE TRAP, NOT A BRAIN PROBLEM.

🏗️ THE CLINICAL PATHOLOGY:
Why does the pain start at the base of your skull, then climb into the temple, behind the eye, or the back of the head? In the U.S., a lot of people call that a migraine, but the cervical spine can generate a very similar headache pattern . The upper neck, especially C1 to C3, contains pain-sensitive structures that can refer pain into the head and face . This is why a stiff neck, limited rotation, or tenderness under the skull can feel like the headache source .

⚙️ THE BIOMECHANICS: THE “UPPER CERVICAL TRAP”
When the top of the neck gets irritated, the body protects it by tightening the suboccipital muscles . That muscle tension can compress or irritate the occipital nerves, creating a burning, stabbing, or electric pain pattern at the back of the head . Cervicogenic headache is often linked to cervical structures and is commonly mistaken for migraine or tension headache . Long periods of forward-head posture make this worse because the upper cervical joints and muscles stay under load .

⚠️ 3 SIGNS YOUR HEADACHE IS COMING FROM C1-C2:
Neck-first pain: The neck stiffens before the head starts hurting .
One-sided pattern: The headache keeps returning on the same side, often with reduced neck motion .
Skull-base tenderness: Pressing under the occiput feels bruised, electric, or overly sensitive .

🛠️ THE CLINICAL PROTOCOL:
The goal is to stop feeding the pain loop, not just mute the alarm. Cervicogenic headache is typically evaluated with a physical exam and, when needed, imaging to rule out other causes . Treatment often focuses on the neck: physical therapy, posture work, manual therapy, and in selected cases nerve blocks or other interventions . Occipital neuralgia can also involve irritated occipital nerves caused by neck tightness or compression .

💡 THE CLINICAL TAKEAWAY:
If the pain starts in the neck and ends in the head, the neck deserves the blame until proven otherwise . This is one of the reasons people keep getting “migraine” labels while the upper cervical tissues stay untreated . When the top of the spine is locked, the head keeps paying the price .

04/24/2026

Spending long hours at a desk can contribute to musculoskeletal discomfort 🪑

While regular movement is important, some office workers may still experience neck, back, shoulder, or wrist pain.

Massage therapy may help reduce discomfort and support improved function.

04/23/2026

YOUR HEADACHE STARTS IN YOUR NECK 🛑

Do you suffer from intense headaches that seem to start at the base of your skull and spread upward into your head?

Most people assume headaches come from the brain… but in many cases, the true origin is in the upper cervical spine.

The joints and muscles at the top of your neck (C1–C3 region) are closely connected to nerves that refer pain directly into the head. When these structures become stiff or irritated due to posture or tension, the brain interprets it as a headache.

This leads to:

Pain starting at the back of the head
Pressure behind the eyes or skull
Headaches worsened by neck movement

It’s not inside your brain… it’s referred pain from your neck.

That’s why:

Pain starts at skull base
Neck stiffness often appears with headaches
Manual or posture changes can reduce symptoms

Improving upper neck mobility and reducing suboccipital tension can significantly reduce this type of headache over time.

04/20/2026

𝗖5‑𝗧1 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻

Lower cervical levels (C4–C5, C5–C6, C6–C7, C7–T1) are the most common sites for disc herniations and spondylosis. Given that all the roots exiting at these levels form the brachial plexus, it is common to have radiating pain down the arm or numbness and weakness in the upper extremities.

Patients with one of these painful radiculopathies might have neck pain, arm pain or both. When both are present, the identification of the pathologic level should be easier since they tend to follow dermatomal and myotomal distribution of symptoms.

🤷 In cases of isolated neck pain, the diagnosis becomes much more challenging because of the lack of a typical pain distribution.

📘 A new scoping review by Carmichael and colleagues of (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666548425000393) 86 studies (1957–2022) demonstrates that scapular pain is a common feature of cervical radiculopathy (72% of studies), ranking third behind neck (88%) and arm (85%) pain. Findings challenge the clinical assumption that arm symptoms are necessary for diagnosis, as evidence suggests scapular pain may precede arm pain by weeks. The C7 nerve root shows the strongest association with scapular pain. These insights could enable earlier diagnosis of cervical radiculopathy when isolated scapular pain is present.

Neck pain is a vast entity and patients tend to label it “neck pain” even when the pain is located in-between the scapulae or near the shoulder and axilla.

📘 According to a recent publication by Redaelli and colleagues, there are typical pain locations which correlate with a specific root in the majority of cases (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38191741/, s. also Tanaka et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16924193/)

👉 C5 nerve root impingement causes pain on top of the shoulder radiating to the deltoid.

👉 C6 causes pain radiating to the supraspinous fossa.

👉 C7 causes pain medial to the spine of the scapula and can also cause pain in the axilla and the pectoral region, just below the clavicle.

👉 C8 causes pain along the medial border of the scapula, below the spine of the scapula and the pain can also radiate into the anterior chest but lower in the axilla than with C7 radiculopathy.

👉 Finally, T1 typically causes pain medial to the tip of the scapula, lower in the axilla than with C7 or 8 and into the lower anterior chest and is frequently described as a stabbing sensation . These pains, when present on the left side, can be mistaken for angina and have been called “cervical angina” 🖤 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33108845/).

❌So, if your patient has pain in their shoulder blade, remember: "𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿" (;-).

📸 Adapted from: Typical patterns of pain in (a) C5; (b) C6, (c) C7; (d) C8 and (e) T1 radiculopathies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38191741/

04/15/2026

Learn more about the benefits of massage for sleep that go beyond relaxation.

04/11/2026

Understanding how stress affects the nervous system helps massage therapists support relaxation and guide clients back toward balance and healing.

04/08/2026

Thought experiment: What would life be if you did not have a sense of touch?