Omohyoid muscle

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Figure 1: Muscles of the Anterior Neck¹

Figure 2: Hypoglossal nerve, cervical plexus, and their respective branches²

Warning: No 'path' link found for variable 'nan' in YAML data.
Warning: No 'action' link found for variable 'None' in YAML data.

Muscle	Origin	Insertion	Innervation	Action
Omohyoid				Tenses cervical fascia (via intermediate tendon)

Origin

Insertion

Innervation

Figure 3: Path of the Hypoglossal nerve²

Action

Strain-Counterstrain

Source:³ Location of Tender Point:

1. Anterior surface of inferior belly and central tendon just above mid-clavicle. Push posterior.
2. Superior border of scapula.

Anatomical Correlation:

• Inferior belly of omohyoideus.

Direction to Press on Tender Point:

1. Press posteriorly.
2. Press caudad.

Treatment Position(s):

• Patient supine, you sit at head of table.
• Have patient use hand on the affected side to grasp their opposite shoulder, to protract affected scapula forward.
• Ipsilateral sidebend neck to Tender Point side.
• Push hyoid bone toward Tender Point side.

Frequency of Occurrence: Common.

Clinical Correlation(s):

• Cervical pain
• Anterior shoulder pain
• Scapula pain
• Supraclavicular pain
• Elbow/hand pain
• Mandible pain
• Thoracic outlet symptoms
• Temporal pain

References

1.

Betts JG, Blaker W. Anatomy and Physiology. 2nd ed. OpenStax; 2022. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/?Book%20details

2.

Gray H. Anatomy of the Human Body. 20th ed. (Lewis WH, ed.). Lea & Febiger; 1918. https://www.bartleby.com/107/

3.

Myers HL, Devine WH, Fossum C, et al. Compendium Edition: Clinical Application of Counterstrain. Compendium ed. Osteopathic Press; 2012.