The Inhibition of Sternocleidomastoideus Muscle

Neck pain (NP) is a major public health problem with high prevalence, high cost of health expenditure and loss of productivity.The incidence of NP is increasing among adults and it has been reported to occur in 12-34% of the total population. Exercise programs applied to individuals with NP include craniocervical flexion exercises that focus on the increase in activation of deep cervical flexor muscles and a decrease in the activation of superficial cervical flexors. Falla et al. noted that people with NP also have reduced ability to relax sternocleidomastoideus (SCM) muscle. Although there are many studies indicating that the activation of the SCM muscle should be reduced by activating deep cervical flexors when the literature on NP is examined, there are no studies examining the effect of the inhibition of the SCM muscle.