Back & Neck Pain Treatment Home Office Ergonomics Guide Home Office Ergonomics Guide Overview Your Back Back Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Holistic Help Your Neck Neck Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Holistic Help Your Eyes Eye Strain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Shoulders Shoulder Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Wrists Wrist Pain Exercises Anatomy Products Your Hands Hand Pain Exercises General Tips Products Your Hips Hip Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Knees Knee Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products How to Self-Massage Your Trapezius Muscle Three steps to relieving your trap muscles on your own By Anne Asher, CPT Anne Asher, CPT Facebook LinkedIn Anne Asher, ACE-certified personal trainer, health coach, and orthopedic exercise specialist, is a back and neck pain expert. Learn about our editorial process Updated on January 29, 2023 Medically reviewed by Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT Medically reviewed by Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT LinkedIn Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist with experience in hospital-based acute care and outpatient therapy with both children and adults. Learn about our Medical Expert Board Fact checked by Angela Underwood Fact checked by Angela Underwood LinkedIn Angela Underwood's extensive local, state, and federal healthcare and environmental news coverage includes 911 first-responder compensation policy to the Ciba-Geigy water contamination case in Toms River, NJ. Her additional health-related coverage includes death and dying, skin care, and autism spectrum disorder. Learn about our editorial process Print The trapezius (traps) muscle is a triangle-shaped upper back muscle that starts at the base of your neck, spans the length of your upper shoulders, and extends down into your middle back. This muscle's main function is to stabilize and move your scapula (shoulder blade). The trapezius also helps you move your head, neck, arms, shoulders, and torso, stabilizes your spine, and plays an important role in posture. Physical and mental stress can make your trapezius muscle tight, leading to pain in your neck and shoulders. Fortunately, learning to give yourself a trap massage can ease traps tension. This article will teach you how. Sam Edwards / Getty Images Before Your Trap Massage Before you can give yourself a trap massage, you need to know where your trapezius muscle is located. The trapezius consists of three different parts in three different areas of your back. It spans the bottom of your skull, across your shoulders, and down most of your back. The focus of a trap massage is the upper portion of the trapezius (upper trapezius or upper traps, for short). This part is located at the top of your shoulders. To find your upper trapezius, cross one arm in front of your body so that you can place the palm of your hand on top of the other shoulder. For your trapezius muscle massage, you will also need to know where your upper traps starts—in other words, where the muscle connects to a bone. There are two areas to pinpoint. The first point is on the bottom of your skull, close to the center of the back of your skull. Start there with your fingers and trace the muscle down the back of your neck to the place where the shoulders start to widen out. If you get lost, try to locate the vertebra at the base of your neck (in back) that kind of sticks out. That's called C-7 and is another one of the upper trapezius's origin sites. On either side of that bump, you can walk your fingers either up or down the muscle to re-locate the origin at the base of the skull, discussed above. Trapezius Muscle Massage Technique While a quality massage oil can hydrate your skin during a trap massage, it's optional. Aside from your own hands, you don't need anything else to perform the trap massage. If you have longer hair, however, you may wish to tie it up. A trapezius muscle massage involves three steps: Start at the Base of Your Neck Choose one shoulder to work with at a time. Raise the arm on the opposite side of your body. Reach this arm across your body and fold it around your neck, so that your fingers come to a rest at the back base of your neck.Apply a decent amount of pressure to the muscle next to our spine while moving your fingers in a circular motion. The action is similar to kneading dough.Massage this area at the base of your neck for about 30 seconds to start. If this part of your muscle is particularly sore, there is no harm in massaging it longer—so long as it feels good. Slowly Work Your Way Out Once you have spent about 30 seconds massaging the muscle at the base of your neck, you can start to work your way out toward the end of your shoulder. Inch your way across your trapezius muscle in close increments, spending at least 30 seconds at each point. Follow the muscle until you reach the end of your shoulder.Use slow, rhythmic movements to apply enough pressure that you feel "the good hurt." If the pressure is not enjoyable or makes you wince, then it's too much. In the field of massage therapy, a level of pressure that slightly hurts but still feels good is called "the good hurt." Repeat as Needed Repeat each side of your trapezius muscle two to three times before switching to the other shoulder. You may notice after massaging one or both shoulders that a certain area of your trapezius muscle is particularly sore or tense. Feel free to zero in on those areas a little longer. Remember to relax throughout your trap massage. This is a great opportunity to learn where you hold tension in your neck and shoulders and how to apply pressure to relieve it. This knowledge can also help you check in with yourself throughout your day, whether you are sitting at an office desk, doing chores around the house, or something else. If you notice that you are scrunching or slouching your shoulders, take a few moments to massage your trapezius muscle and remind yourself to keep your shoulders relaxed. Why Ideal Posture May Help Relieve Your Back Pain Trapezius Muscle Benefits Tension and tightness in the trapezius muscle is common, particularly among people who work in an office, do manual labor, or who are simply dealing with a lot of stress. Trapezius strains are a common overuse injury that is more likely to happen when your traps muscle is tight. The injury can cause you to alter your posture to avoid the pain. Unfortunately, poor posture will only place more stress on your traps muscle, ultimately leading to a cycle of poor posture and chronic trapezius pain. In addition to reducing pain and stiffness in your trapezius muscle, a trap massage can benefit you in many ways, including: Improved blood circulationFaster muscle recovery after workoutsDecreased swellingBetter postureImproved range of motionReduced risk of injuryBetter quality of sleep When to Contact a Healthcare Provider Like any other muscle in your body, your trapezius muscle can get injured and require special treatment to recover. In some cases, your neck or shoulder pain may not be coming from your trapezius muscle at all. Consider seeing your healthcare provider if you have pain in your neck or shoulder that doesn't get better within a week or two, especially if it isn't responding to at-home treatment. Regardless of how long you have been experiencing pain or stiffness, if it is preventing you from getting adequate sleep or interfering with your daily activities, contact your healthcare provider. Reasons you should see your healthcare provider immediately for your neck or shoulder pain include: You have sudden left shoulder pressure or pain, which can sometimes signal a heart attack You had a fall or accident that resulted in pain, swelling, or problems moving your neck or arm You have shoulder pain along with a fever, swelling, or redness The skin in your shoulder area appears discolored Frequently Asked Questions How do you prevent tight muscles in the neck and shoulders? You can prevent tight muscles in your neck and shoulders by improving your posture, stretching at least once per day, and massaging your muscles as needed. If you sit at a desk for long hours each day, it's important to take regular breaks to stretch and move your muscles. How do you massage your trapezius muscle safely? Massage your trapezius safely by applying the right amount of pressure. You should not feel like you are pushing the limits of your pain when massaging your trapezius. You should feel just enough pain that the massage still feels good. Pain greater than this is no longer safe. How do I release tension in my traps? You can release tension in your traps by doing shoulder shrugs throughout the day and by stretching regularly—especially after long hours sitting at a desk. When your trapezius feels tight or sore, you can also give yourself a trapezius muscle massage to release tension. 5 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Domingo AR, Diek M, Goble KM, Maluf KS, Goble DJ, Baweja HS. Short-duration therapeutic massage reduces postural upper trapezius muscle activity. Neuroreport. 2017 Jan 18;28(2):108-110. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000718 University of Washington Department of Radiology. Trapezius. Marker RJ, Campeau S, Maluf KS. Psychosocial stress alters the strength of reticulospinal input to the human upper trapezius. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2017;117(1):457-466. doi: 10.1152/jn.00448.2016 Salavati M, Akhbari B, Takamjani I, Ezzati K, Haghighatkhah H. Reliability of the upper trapezius muscle and fascia thickness and strain ratio measures by ultrasonography and sonoelastography in participants with myofascial pain syndrome. J Chiropr Med. 2017 Dec;16(4):316-323. doi:10.1016/j.jcm.2017.06.003 Mount Sinai. Shoulder pain. By Anne Asher, CPT Anne Asher, ACE-certified personal trainer, health coach, and orthopedic exercise specialist, is a back and neck pain expert. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit