Massage.
LandmarkHead & faceDraft

Mastoid process

The rounded, cone-shaped bump of bone just behind and below the ear lobe.

BoneTemporal bone (mastoid part)
RegionHead & face

Find it

  1. Client supine with the head resting in your hands, or seated.
  2. Place a fingertip directly behind the ear lobe and feel for a firm, cone-shaped bump.
  3. Trace its tip, then ask the client to turn the head slightly to the opposite side: the sternocleidomastoid tendon tightens as it runs down and forward from the process.
  4. Keep pressure gentle just in front of the process, below the ear, where the facial nerve leaves the skull.

The mastoid process gives attachment to sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitis and longissimus capitis (part of erector spinae). The posterior belly of the digastric attaches in a groove (the mastoid notch) on its inner side. The rough outer surface of the mastoid part above it gives attachment to occipitalis and auricularis posterior.

Many neck strokes finish here, so it is worth finding it by touch before working the side of the neck.

Muscles attaching or palpated here

  • Erector spinae — Three long columns of muscle (iliocostalis, longissimus and spinalis) running beside the spine from the sacrum to the skull that extend and side-bend the back and hold the trunk upright.
  • Occipitalis — Thin, flat muscle at the back of the head that pulls the scalp backwards.
  • Splenius capitis — Broad, strap-like muscle at the back of the neck that extends the head and turns and tilts it to the same side.
  • Sternocleidomastoid — Large, superficial rope-like muscle on the side of the neck that turns the head to the opposite side and bends the neck.
  • Suboccipitals — Four small paired muscles between the base of the skull and the top two vertebrae that fine-tune extension, tilting and turning of the head.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Mastoid part of the temporal bone
  2. Gray's Anatomy (1918), The Temporal Bone (Bartleby, archived)