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My article on the suboccipitals.

Again, because these are sensory organs they need to be treated like them. They require more rehabilitation and care than most other muscles and will end up affecting the entire body, even parts that may seem unrelated.

Since these muscles are so important for proprioception at any point in time you can shift your conscious awareness to them. This could be while walking, going about your day, or even lying down on your bed.

You can then begin to incorporate the suboccipitals into more intricate movements that utilize the entire body. My favorite is the “zen swing” due to the fact that it can be done almost anywhere. Swing the arms from side to side while rocking and rotating the body in a natural

Next, you can start to train movement at the atlanto-occipital joint with nose circles. These involve “drawing” small circles with your nose in either direction. Again, go slow and feel the movement coming from the uppermost vertebrae and not the rest of your neck.

The best and simplest exercise for these muscles are lateral eye exercises where you shift your gaze from one side to another. Keep your head and neck still and relaxed as you do so. Go as far as you can with your eyes (comfortably) without having to compensate with the neck.

The suboccipitals lack golgi tendon organs (GTOs), which are the target of many types of massage therapies. These relax muscle cells when stimulated and their absence suggests that massage with the goal of release is not particularly useful.

No matter how many stretches, massages, or exercises you do your body will defer to the info provided by these sensory organs and their associates. If you perceive yourself being shifted off to one side or too far forward your entire body from head to toe will behave accordingly.

If you’d like to optimize or heal these muscles you will need to exercise them in a manner that is concurrent with their design and role within the body. Stretching and releasing these muscles will do, at best, nothing. At worst it will prolong your problems indefinitely.

Other conditions/symptoms that can end up being traced back to dysfunctional suboccipitals:. -Headaches.-Neck pain.-Facial pain.-Balance problems.-Vertigo/dizziness.

The suboccipitals also have an influence on the blood and lymph to/from the brain. Changes to the position of the atlas and axis can impair blood flow to the brain, potentially even affecting lymphatic drainage as well.

The meninges themselves are innervated by multiple parasympathetic nerves including the vagus and trigeminal nerves. The proximity of the MDBs to these areas suggests that the suboccipitals may influence the activity of these nerves in some capacity.

The suboccipitals also possess connections to the meninges, with tendons inserting directly into the dura. These myodural bridges (MDBs) are thought to help regulate the flow of CSF into the brain.

The obliquus capitis inferior possesses the high density of muscle spindles, reinforcing the idea that rotation of the cranium and upper cervical vertebrae is tightly regulated.

The trigeminal nerve, which innervates many of the jaw muscles and parts of the face, can become bothered by compression of the great occipital nerve by dysfunctional suboccipital muscles. This could further worsen TMD.

The suboccipitals also respond to movement of the jaw and tongue in order to stabilize the skull as the mouth opens/closes or when the tongue protrudes forward. This implicates them in TMD and disorders of the tongue.

The same is true for other muscles of the neck including the sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitis, and the scalenes. Their tone changes as the eyes move laterally and the suboccipitals contract, allowing these larger muscles to move/stabilize the skull.

These muscles work together with the (inner) ears and eyes, coordinating balance for even the most basic of movements. Many of the postural muscles that run along the length of the spine respond to information from this system.

The suboccipitals are most valuable for their extreme density of muscle spindles --specialized sensory cells that detect muscle stretch/length. Attachments to the skull and the first two vertebrae helps the organism understand the relation between the two at all times.

As human craniums grew and bipedal posture became permanent even more emphasis shifted to the suboccipitals. The skull’s position atop the spine was now even more precarious, as balancing it in an upright position placed more importance on the suboccipital muscles.