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20th January 2016 The Coracobrachialis Muscle Article by Craig Shiel, Physiotherapist If you are having trouble scratching your back or trying to put an arm into a jacket it could be because of muscle tightness in your shoulder. One of the muscles that allow the hand to perform this action is called the Coracobrachialis (C/B) muscle. If this muscle is tight then often discomfort could be felt as it has to stretch. The majority of people have never heard of this muscle let alone know where it is and what it does! It is a small muscle located at the front of your shoulder. The muscle helps to lift the arm up in front working with the deltoid and biceps brachial muscles. It also works with pectoralis major to bring your arm in to your side (adduction). If your C/B muscle is tight, it can give you pain at the front of your shoulder, back of your upper arm and forearm. People who experience tightness of this muscle also usually have tightness of other muscles that work in conjunction with it. (These muscles are shown in the diagram here to the left). To test for tightness of your C/B muscle you can do the following: Put your thumb between your biceps and triceps high up in your arm pit. Press your arm into your side (you should feel the muscle bulking). If you are experiencing tenderness then it's probably too tight caused by overworking. (See images below for how to do this test). A treatment that you can do for this muscle is self-massage. Keep your thumb on the muscle (between your biceps and triceps high up in your arm pit) and go downwards along the muscle to perform gentle massage, searching for tender areas. The reason for gentle massage is that this area also contains nerves which could be irritated with too much force. We have included in this month’s newsletter some additional stretches that will help to gently stretch the C/B muscle. If you find that these stretches do not help then you may need further medical intervention. Please speak with your physiotherapist or GP. The shoulder joint is the most intricate joint in the body. When it breaks a lot of problems could be happening. A lot of these can be difficult to detect E.g. Tendon tears can happen without trauma. Do not just put up with discomfort/pain always seek advice.