Digastric 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

Reading list

• digastric Muscle²

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Muscle	Origin	Insertion	Innervation	Action
Digastric				Hyoid: Elevation (during swallowing) TMJ: Assists with opening mandible

Origin

Insertion

Innervation

Path of the facial and intermediate nerves³

Action

Strain-Counterstrain

“Location of Tender Point: In posterior belly of digastric muscle. Direction to Press on Tender Point: Press medially 1cm behind the angle of the mandible and in front of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Treatment Position(s): With patient supine, support cervical spine in maximum flexion on folded pillow, chin tucked. Open mouth to 2cm. Place your hand on patient’s chin and depress and retract mandible. Fine-tune with lateral shift toward Tender Point side. Digastric Frequency of Occurrence: Moderate. Clinical Correlation(s): 1) Occipital pain 2) Upper sternocleidomastoid pain 3) Mandibular pain 4) Difficulty swallowing”⁴

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.

Donnelly JM, Simons DG, eds. Travell, Simons & Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Third edition. Wolters Kluwer Health; 2019.

3.

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

4.

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