The suboccipital muscles contribute to headaches, migraines and stiff upper neck. They can also contribute to eye strain and pain. The muscles are also often the cause of ‘ghost headaches’.
The masseter muscle is one of the muscles that you use to chew your food. Dysfunction in this muscle can contribute to pain around the eye, in the jaw, in the cheek area and the ear. It can be associated with ringing in the ear (tinnitus) and TMJ.
The sternocleidomastoid are the two big muscles located on each side of the front of the neck. These are the most affected muscles when whiplash of the head / neck occurs. The muscles can contribute to pain throughout the head and neck area and can contribute to symptoms of vertigo.
Pain in and around the ear that sometimes extends up toward the eye is a classic sign of longissimus capitis dysfunction