Orbicularis Oculi Trigger Points
Orbicularis Oculi Trigger Point
The origin of the Orbicularis Oculi is the frontal bone; medial palpebral ligament; lacrimal bone. Its insertion is in the lateral palpebral raphe, and the muscle is innervated by the temporal (orbital, palpebral) and zygomatic (lacrimal) branches of facial nerve.
The image below shows a small symptom area around the trigger point; there’s pain in the face, from the area above the eyebrow to along the side of the nose. In addition, the referral pain can cause blurry, jumpy print vision, and headaches or migraines.
Conservative Treatments
Therapeutic treatments for addressing soft tissue injuries involve massage therapy, manual therapy, trigger point therapy, Graston Technique, or Active Release Technique. These treatments increase blood flow, decrease muscle spasms, enhance flexibility, speed healing, and promote proper tissue repair.
When these treatments are incorporated into a treatment plan patients heal faster and are less likely to have long-term pain or soft tissue fibrosis or scar tissue in the injured muscle. These soft tissue treatments are incorporated with therapeutic exercise and flexibility programs.
Treatment for headache symptoms may involve many prescription, over the counter, herbal, and homeopathic remedies. The neck muscles need to function appropriately and not remain in spasms, which alters neck spinal movements and postures. For those with arthritic degeneration in the cervical spine, restoring proper muscle function is even more important. This often requires people to change their postures, habits, and activities.
Working any muscles in the front of the neck is not comfortable, but it needs to be done to restore proper cervical and shoulder function. The neck, shoulder, scapula, and arm work as a functional unit to turn your head, raise your shoulder, or reach in front of you. Dysfunction in any of these muscles leads to pain and tendinopathy.
Many patients respond well to manual therapy techniques in conjunction with Acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture can decrease muscle spasms, reduce pain, and increase blood flow to injured muscles. Patients with nerve entrapment syndromes also respond well to Acupuncture, especially with trigeminal neuralgia or facial nerve entrapments.
Medical Treatments
NSAIDs are often prescribed for the initial acute injury stages. In severe cases that involve multiple joint regions, muscle relaxers or oral steroids can be given. Trigger point injections, botox, or steroid injections can be treatment options. Pain management is not usually required unless stronger medications or joint injections are required for treatment.
MRI and X-rays will not usually be ordered to evaluate mild to moderate muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries. Severe cases may utilize advanced imaging to rule out bone fractures, edema, nerve entrapments, tendon or muscle ruptures. NCV testing may be utilized in cases that also involve muscle, sensory, or reflex loss.
Cervical spinal disc bulges and herniations onto the spinal cord or nerve root produce different symptoms and location of symptoms. Your chiropractor, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or physician will evaluate your condition and make a proper diagnosis and treatment recommendations. Ask them any questions you might have about your injury.
Conclusion
The head, neck, and upper extremity works as a comprehensive unit performing many of the repetitive tasks at home, work, and recreational sports. Injuries to one area of the musculature often indicate that additional damage has been incurred by other muscles.
Our Chandler Chiropractic & Physical Therapy clinic treats patients with a variety of muscle, tendon, joint, and ligament injuries. The clinic provides treatment for runners, tri-athletes, and weekend warriors in addition to common headache, neck, and back patients traditionally seen in Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy clinics. We work with all ages and abilities of the residents in Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler AZ.