I had posterior rods and screws at different levels, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. I also had anterior plates and screws in the cervical area. The rods and screws placed from c2 to t2 causes pain in my trapezius muscle. The surgery was 14 months ago and muscles feel larger than they used to be. Pain is constant and gets some relief from trigger point injections. One thought I have is that the hardware is pushing out on the muscles causing the discomfort. I asked my surgeon about removing the hardware and he is avoiding it. I had a small screw and hardware in my thoracic area for a year with similar pain. Cleveland Clinic removed it and the pain was resolved. I will try to see if I can find a surgeon to remove the C2-T2 hardware.