Myofascial Pain Syndrome


Myofas­cial Pain Syn­drome is caused by injury or dam­age to the fas­cia, the soft, stretchy con­nec­tive tis­sue that sur­rounds mus­cles, organs and oth­er struc­tures inside the body. The syn­drome caus­es chron­ic pain in mus­cles through­out the body, espe­cial­ly in the neck and jaw. Doc­tors aren’t sure what caus­es Myofas­cial Pain Syn­drome — trig­gers can vary depend­ing on the indi­vid­ual patient. The syn­drome can devel­op after mus­cles are injured or over­worked, because of skele­tal abnor­mal­i­ties, or in con­junc­tion with oth­er dis­or­ders such as fibromyal­gia or depression.

Peo­ple who suf­fer from this syn­drome often devel­op painful bumps under the skin called trig­ger points. These small, tight knots can form at the point where the fas­cia comes into con­tact with mus­cle tis­sue. Trig­ger points can be felt beneath the skin, and, when pressed, cause pain and twitch­ing in the under­ly­ing muscle.

Myofas­cial pain ranges from mild to severe, from dull, throb­bing aches to stab­bing or burn­ing sen­sa­tions. The pain may be felt in spe­cif­ic trig­ger points, or it may be felt through­out the body. Asso­ci­at­ed symp­toms can include pop­ping sounds or lim­it­ed range of move­ment in joints, numb­ness, headaches, weak­ness, prob­lems with mem­o­ry, bal­ance, vision, hear­ing, and many others.

Myofas­cial Pain Syn­drome can be treat­ed with phys­i­cal ther­a­py, mas­sage and stretch­ing of the affect­ed mus­cles, trig­ger point injec­tions, and medications.

Click here review an illus­tra­tion of Myofas­cial Pain Syn­drome.
(Infor­ma­tion obtained from www​.viewmed​ica​.com 2012 Swarm Interactive).