Corrugator Supercilii: small muscle...big headache

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What is a Corrugator Supercilii?

Corrugator Supercilii: Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Corrugator Supercilii: Photo Credit: Wikimedia

I have had great success using manual therapy to treat this muscle as part of a treatment protocol for post-concussion headaches. The Corrugator Supercilii is a difficult name to remember, so I will keep the take home points for this blog post simple:

  • Corrugator Supercilii is strained by habitual frowning.
  • This frowning action can compress the supratrochlear nerve (branch of the trigeminal nerve.)
  • This can cause deep aching frontal headaches.
  • This muscle is sometimes surgically severed or injected with Botox as a preventive treatment for some types of migraines.

For those so inclined, here is a article that looks at the relationship between the corrugator muscle and the supratrochlear nerve here is a link to a 2013 article titled: Anatomy of the supratrochlear nerve: implications for the surgical treatment of migraine headaches