The Muscles That Move the Scalp
The following is an email I received from a man who wants to know exactly what muscle or muscle group is used to move the scalp in a backward direction. The frontalis muscle is contracted to move the scalp in a forward direction. There is no ambiguity about this. But there is some uncertainty about what muscles contract to move the scalp backward.
Hi Tom!
My name is G V - I'm a big fan of your web site (hairloss-reversible.com) and your honest and caring approach to your work. I also bought your cd a while back -to show my support for what you do. Though laziness has prevented me from doing the exercise as regularly as I'd like (I have a full head of hair, and was doing this pre-emptively), nonetheless, I feel great after doing it . I have a question for you regarding the occipitalis muscles you talk about. According to a couple of web sites I checked out about wiggling the ears, for example, this wiki on wiggling ears at:
http://www.wikihow.com/Wiggle-Your-Ears
They suggest that the muscles involved in wiggling are actually the auricular muscles . I got the sense from your site that the ear wiggling muscles are the occipitalis.
I'm a bit confused regarding the two different muscles - which one really wiggles the ears? Am I somehow wiggling my ears incorrectly? I did a search on Youtube, and for example, the below captures exactly how I wiggle my ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K09rFXT_FNg
I don't mean to beat small details , but I thought since you are much more knowledgeable than I, that I'd ask you. I look forward to your thoughts.
Thanks !!
Sincerely,
G V
Discussion
I used to think it was the auricularis muscles that moved the scalp in a backward direction. The auricularis muscles are three fan-shaped muscles surrounding the external ear (the auricle). Here's what Gray's Anatomy says about the actions of these muscles: "In man these muscles have very little obvious effect..." But In some animals these muscles move the ears so as to pick up sounds. Human beings do not have voluntary control over these muscles. (Some research has demonstrated, though, that a very small percentage of people - the man on Youtube - do have some control over these muscles.)
The muscles that pull the scalp backward while doing the scalp exercise are the occipitalis muscles. The occipitalis muscles do not extend fully across the back of the head. They are separated in the middle by the galea. You will be able to feel these muscles contract when you do the scalp exercise. In fact, a good way to learn the exercise is to place your fingers firmly over these muscles as you try to pull back your ears. You will feel a slight contraction of the occipitalis muscles if you are succeeding. The three muscles above the ears are the auricularis muscles. (You can see only two of them in the drawing.) These muscles are also brought passively into play as you do the scalp exercise.
This is a drawing of the occipitalis muscles from the back view. It will help to visualize them as you try to gain control of these stubborn muscles. At first you will tend to tense the trapezius muscles and even the shoulder muscles, but as you learn the scalp exercise the tension in other muscles will vanish. You will be alternately contracting (isolating) only the frontalis and occipitalis muscles.