Pain Medicine & Palliative Care: Pain Medicine - Myofascial Pain Syndrome
 |
|
Myofascial Pain -- The Symptoms and Causes
How to Diagnose and Treat Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Myofascial Pain Syndrome Websites
Need More Information on Pain Treatments?
Myofascial pain syndrome is a chronic local or regional musculoskeletal
pain disorder that may involve either a single muscle or a muscle group.
The pain may be of a burning, stabbing, aching or nagging quality. Importantly,
where the patient experiences the pain may not be where the myofascial
pain generator is located. This is known as referred pain. The pathophysiology
of myofascial pain remains somewhat of a mystery due to limited clinical
research; however, based on case reports and medical observation, investigators
think it may develop from a muscle lesion or excessive strain on a particular
muscle or muscle group, ligament or tendon. It is thought that the lesion
or the strain prompts the development of a "trigger point" that,
in turn, causes pain.
In addition to the local or regional pain, people with myofascial pain
syndrome also can suffer from depression, fatigue and behavioral disturbances,
as with all chronic pain conditions.
Recognition of this syndrome is difficult and requires the
physician to have a precise understanding of the body's anatomy. Trigger
points can be identified by pain produced upon digital palpation (applying
pressure with one to three fingers and the thumb). In diagnosing myofascial
pain syndrome, four types of trigger points can be distinguished:
active trigger point -- an
area of exquisite tenderness that is usually located in a skeletal muscle
and is associated with local or regional pain;
latent trigger point -- a
dormant area that can potentially behave like an active trigger point;
secondary trigger point --
a hyperirritable spot in a muscle that becomes active as a result of a
trigger point and muscular overload in another muscle;
satellite myofascial point --
a hyperirritable spot in a muscle that becomes active because the muscle
is located within the region of another trigger point.
The best treatments for myofascial pain syndrome are active and passive
physical therapy methods. There is also the "stretch and spray"
technique, in which the muscle with the trigger point is sprayed along
its length with a coolant such as fluorimethane, and then stretched slowly.
Trigger point injection, whereby local anesthesia is injected directly
into the trigger point, also is used. At times, corticosteroids and botulinum
toxin can be injected. Massage therapy also can be of significant benefit
in some patients. Often a combination of physical therapy, trigger point
injections and massage are needed in refractory chronic cases.
eMedicine.com: Myofascial Pain
Medicine.net: Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Merck Manual: Myofascial Pain Syndrome
See our
Treatments or
Mind-Body pages.
Ask a question?
|
| |
