Erb's Point of the Neck
There are magic spots on your body. Erb’s point on the neck is one of them!
It is located on the posterior border of the sternomastoid muscle just about half way down.
The nerves that exit this space are both cranial nerves and cervical plexus nerves and splay outwards almost like a spider web.
The nerves are:
The greater auricular nerve- which I discussed in the previous post about the ears, receives sensory input from the skin of the ear and provides info to the parotid salivary gland. It also communicates with the vagus nerve.
The supraclavicular nerves (3 branches) coming from the cervical plexus receive sensory cutaneous info from the shoulder.
The lesser occipital nerve innervated the skin of the scalp. The transverse cervical cutaneous nerve which innervates the sensory to the platysma.
And finally the spinal accessory nerve (cranial nerve 12), which provides motor innervation the the trapezius and sternomastoid.
Phew 😅 that is a lot of nerves. Why take the time to tell you about them, because many of them can either directly or indirectly influence our parasympathetic system and overall nerve tension of our entire body.
The head and neck are important and relate a lot to how safe we feel in the world and in our nervous system. Often when we lack range of motion in our neck as I demonstrated in the video, we can quickly change it by influencing these nerves and down regulating our nervous system.
You may also notice changes in your breathing due to their connection to the phrenic nerve and changing fascial tension around your airway or improving your hearing since they relate to your ear sensation and head movement.
Skin lifts and skin stretching are powerful techniques when applied in a specific and precise location can seem even magical!
