Integrative Works

This is a collection of posts about breathing muscles and the related pain patterns, restrictions, and self-care. This includes breathing pain while:

• coughing
• sneezing
• exercising
• sleeping
• breathing during yoga
• sitting at a desk
• and more…

Those Other Breathing Muscles

Breathing is complex, and many other muscles get involved. For instance, we use our extrinsic back muscles to stabilize our shoulder blades during labored breathing. At the same time, we use our extrinsic chest muscles to expand our lungs from those stabilized shoulders. So, this collection contains many posts for muscles that you may not associate with breathing.

These posts include:

• Trigger point patterns and how people describe the pain
• How you activate and intensify the pain pattern
• Self-care to show you how to get quick relief on your own
• Stretches and exercises that provide longer-lasting relief
• Brief anatomy review of the involved muscle
• Yoga poses that open this muscle
• Treatment notes for therapists

^{Note that we are in the process of converting these posts into a more informative and accessible format. Thank you for your patience.}

Self-Care – Mid Back Pain that May Stiffen the Low Back

Erector Spinae – Iliocostalis – Functional Anatomy

Self-Care – Radiating Pain Under the Shoulder Blade

Self Care – Sharp Upper Back Pain Between the Shoulder Blades

Forward-Head Posture Overview

Self Care – Forward-Head Posture

Self Care – Seated Posture

Self Care – Cough less and cough with less pain

Self Care – Scalene Pain of Upper Back, Arm & Hand

Self Care – Can’t Reach Pain Under the Shoulder Blade

Self Care – Breathing Exercises to Reduce Shoulder Tension

Self Care – Doorway Stretches for Chest Muscles

Therapy Notes – Serratus Anterior

Self Care – Seated Stretches for Stiff, Swollen Hands

Thoracic Outlet – Functional Anatomy

Aching and Burning in the mid back

Pain in the upper back, index finger, and thumb

Scalene Muscles – Functional Anatomy

Serratus Posterior Superior – Functional Anatomy

Serratus Posterior Inferior – Functional Anatomy

Nagging Pain Inside The Bottom of the Shoulder Blade

Serratus Anterior – Functional Anatomy

Mid-back Pain that May Stiffen the Low Back

Sharp Pain Between the Shoulder Blades

Stretching for scalene muscles

Stiff, Swollen Hands in the Morning

Self Care – Breathing exercise for upper back pain

Can’t Reach Pain Under the Shoulder Blade

Tony Preston has a practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he sees clients. He has written materials and instructed classes since the mid-90s. This includes anatomy, trigger points, cranial, and neuromuscular.

Question? Comment? Typo?
integrativeworks@gmail.com

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*This site is undergoing significant changes. We are reformatting and expanding the posts to make them easier to read. The result will also be more accessible and include more patterns with better self-care. Meanwhile, there may be formatting, content presentation, and readability inconsistencies. Until we get older posts updated, please excuse our mess.