They only work on flat areas. They cannot target trigger points. Contours near the neck are very difficult to reach and not easy to use. They cannot release the muscles in their active state (Dynamic functional). They are stand alone devices and do not have a healing protocol. They have not been researched in a clinical setting  for effectiveness on patients. Most of them are not studied in a health care setting and/or analyzed by health care providers

Trigger Point (TrP) is a hyperirritable spot, a palpable nodule in the taut bands of the skeletal muscles' fascia. These sore spots are as common as pimples, often alarmingly fierce. Direct compression or muscle contraction can elicit jump sign, local tenderness, local twitch response and referred pain which usually responds with a pain pattern distant from the spot. Jump sign is the characteristic behavioural response to pressure on a TrP. Individuals are frequently startled by the intense pain. They wince or cry out with a response seemingly out of proportion to the amount of pressure exerted by the examining fingers.

Trigger points help define myofascial pain syndromes. They may be a major factor in back and neck pain, as a cause, a complication, or a bit of both. There are many possible causes of unexplained aches and pains, but trigger points are an interesting piece of the puzzle for many people, and offer great potential for relief. Trigger point therapy is mostly rubbing and pressing on trigger points, which can feel amazingly relieving. Acupressure  is a popular method of stabbing  trigger points into submission with fingers.. TrP treatment is not very specific, but most people can learn to get at least some relief safely and cheaply.

A neck spasm caused by the sudden tightening of the neck muscles may cause:

• severe, sharp pain

• problems moving the neck and shoulders

• increased pain when moving the neck and shoulders

• a headache

• dizziness or tingling in the base back of the neck may occur if neck muscles pull on the scalp when they spasm.

Tension neck syndrome (TBS) often causes fatigue, stiffness in the neck, neck pain or a headache pain from the neck. There are at least 2 tender areas or small, hard nodules called trigger points. TBS is perhaps a difficult term and may encompass a variety of named disorders or syndromes involving the neck and shoulder areas, collectively called “cervicobrachial” – cervico (neck) and brachial (shoulder or arm).

Some of these names you might recognize like, trapezius myalgia, muscular rheumatism, posture related neck pain, tension myalgia, fibrositis, myofascial syndrome or cervical strain.

While these are somewhat vague terms, they describe an element of neck and shoulder pain (cervicobrachial) due to a muscular (myalgia) component and are responsible for much work loss. It is common among office and factory workers that experience mental stress along with motions requiring repetition or poor postures for prolonged periods. The names seem almost endless, occupational myalgia, occupational cervicobrachial disorder or even one of my favorites, “tech neck"

The Sub-Occipital Release is a manual (or “hands-on”) therapy technique utilized to release the fascia and muscles surrounding and supporting the head and neck. It is