Unbalanced Muscle Development?

HadjiQuest

I've been getting these weird head and neck aches for a few weeks, and I think I just figured out why.

The muscle between my shoulder and neck on my left side is either absurdly developed compared to my right side, or totally fucked. It's pronounced on the left, whereas on the right I don't even have it/can't even feel it. This is definitely a new development.

What kind of doctor do I see about something like this? Can anyone estimate how serious this could be?

proXimity

Try switching hands.

matt has a problem

A chiropractor would probably be best, or just a GP who could recommend you a specialist. It's not necessarily that you have a muscle/don't have a muscle, the one you're feeling could in fact just be inflamed, and that's why its so pronounced.

HadjiQuest

matthasaproblem wrote: »

A chiropractor would probably be best, or just a GP who could recommend you a specialist. It's not necessarily that you have a muscle/don't have a muscle, the one you're feeling could in fact just be inflamed, and that's why its so pronounced.

I actually am starting to think it's overdeveloped.

There's no pain coming from the actual muscle (just the headache itself, which has been constant for a little over two weeks, but has lessened recently). It's just extremely tense and constricted.

matt has a problem

While abnormal muscle growth is an actual disorder, it's not localized like that. You'd have to be doing something repeatedly that was working that muscle, for it to be larger than the one on the other side.

HadjiQuest

matthasaproblem wrote: »

While abnormal muscle growth is an actual disorder, it's not localized like that. You'd have to be doing something repeatedly that was working that muscle, for it to be larger than the one on the other side.

I think I pulled it or stretched it out sleeping at an odd angle for a long time, along with some other weird angular stuff I do regularly. I'm under a lot of stess ATM as well, so that may have added to how much it's tightened up since it stopped being sore. I managed to massage it down a bit, but it's still tenser than the corresponding muscle on the right.

What I'm really curious about is if a shoulder muscle problem like this could actually lead to the type of headache I've been having; a really really weak, throbbing migraine with focus in the sinuses and the side and back of the head.

As I said, I've been having this headache for quite some time now, but now that it seems to be clearing up (and that I think I have an explanation for it), I'm not sure if I should still consult a doctor, or what type of doctor I should consult if I choose to do so.

Ponge

Go to a GP for your 2 week-long headache and mention the shoulder.

Doc

do you work out? If you think it's really asymmetrical, rack weights with the other arm for a while.

the wook

that your trapezius muscle. i doubt it's overdeveloped on one side relative to the other, but it's at the very top of the postural chain. consequently, problems anywhere in your posture can manifest in the trapezius.

visually, if the muscle appears overdeveloped, one likely problem is a winged scapula, though that's just one possibility. any scapular instability that results in an anterior tilt or protraction of the scapula can visually 'enlarge' the trapezius.

what kind of range of motion do you have in your shoulders, relative to each other? are any movements painful on one side but not the other?

and the trapezius attaches all the way up the spine to the base of the skull, so any kind of strength or postural imbalance int he muscle can manifest as headaches.