The deltoid muscle is one of the troublemakers when it comes to shoulder pain.
It also may be responsible for your impingement syndrome.
This muscle builds the top layer of your shoulder joint.
As you can see in the pictures below, pain created by trigger points in the deltoid muscle is mainly felt in your arm and shoulder.
Here, pain will arise in the vicinity of the trigger points.
That means, if trigger points are located at the front, side or back part of the muscle, you also will experience pain in the front, side or back part of the muscle and shoulder, respectively.
That information will make it easier for you to find out, where trigger points are located.
You may also study the location of the trigger points – X1 to X6 – under attachment points of the muscle.
The muscle can be involved in the following symptoms:
Note: Do not forget to also check other muscles for trigger points when your shoulder is painful.
It is very seldom that trigger points in the deltoids are the primary reason for shoulder pain.
More often other shoulder muscles are the main troublemakers.
If you have a very tight deltoid or one that harbors tender or trigger points, you may be confronted with some difficulties in your activities of daily living.
Combing your hair, reaching to your mouth or lifting your arm may become very painful if trigger or tender points are present.
Even a lack of strength in the affected shoulder and arm is a common symptom when you have tender or trigger points in this muscle.
The deltoid can be separated into three regions.
A frontal, middle and back division.
All three parts fuse together at the outside of your humerus/upper arm.
The origin of the front part is the outer part of your calvicle/collarbone, the middle part comes from your acromion and the back part originates from your spine of scapula.
Together, the three parts abduct your shoulder – whereas the middle part is the most active one during this movement –.
The frontal part helps to elevate/raise your arm in front of you and rotates your shoulder medially.
The back part participates in the extension of your shoulder and rotates it laterally.
In general, activities or movements that require a forceful, repeated or consistent lifting of your arm, can overwork the deltoid which in turn can develop tender or trigger points.
Such activities may be
Locating your deltoid muscle and its three parts is fairly easy as it is the top muscle layer of your shoulder joint.
It covers your shoulder from the front over the side to the back.
Just place your hand on your shoulder joint and then start the three movements that activate the muscle.
I really think you will not have any problems at all to feel the muscle.
To feel its front part, place your opposite hand on your shoulder and lift it a flex it a few times.
Search with your hand for the little muscle that is contracting with that movement.
To feel its middle part, place your hand on the outside of your shoulder and lift your arm to the side.
For the self-massage I recommend a hard massage ball.
You will be massaging mainly three different parts.
You probably can imagine, those three parts will be exactly the ones that the deltoid muscle consists of.
I am sorry to say that I have no picture of this position. Thus, I will create a video soon, so you can see how to massage this area.
Here again, I recommend a massage ball.
Again the ball is your tool to go.