Myofascial Pain from Trigger Points - Introduction

This review addresses myofascial pain caused by muscular trigger points [TrPs] (1-12). Unfortunately, this specific concept is sometimes confusingly referred to as regional myofascial pain syndrome (13). The specific TrP application of the term myofascial pain is in sharp distinction to a general non-specific usage of the term myofascial pain syndrome (14- 18). Newly-introduced similar terms are defined in ways that make them likely to include patients with pain caused by myofascial TrPs as well as other myogenic conditions. Those more general terms include myopain (19) and regional pain syndrome (9,20). There is a marked upturn in the quantity and quality of published clinical and animal research combined with a new understanding of the nature of TrPs and new tools for investigating their nature.

Next: Clinical features of myofascial trigger points

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