What Are the Symptoms of Myofascial Pain Syndrome?

People with Myofascial pain syndrome have chronic muscle pain in specific locations. This pain can sometimes be severe, and is caused by trigger points.

Trigger points are tightened bands within the muscle. They are switched on by a protective reflex - ie. when you are thrown suddenly to one side your muscles will to into spasm to protect themselves from being stretched too far.

The problem occurs when this muscle spasm is not turned off. Trigger points are spasms in the muscle that remain switched on. They can cause pain locally in the muscle or refer pain to other locations. For example, a trigger in the trapezius muscle of your shoulder can refer pain up your neck.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome describes when you have many of these trigger points actively causing you pain.

To break down the term - Myo is the Greek word for muscle. This is skeletal muscle that moves your joints and bones (as opposed to muscles that work automatically without you thinking like your heart.)

Fascia is the layer beneath your skin that covers all your muscles and joints. It acts like the glue that binds all these together. It does the important job of smoothing out movements by organising the individual muscles into groups which act together.

Syndrome is a word describing a collection of symptoms. This is quite different from a disease. A syndrome is a malfunction that isn't destructive and doesn't cause ongoing damage.

So the malfunction here is the muscles going into a protective spasm and then not releasing. Although Myofascial Pain Syndrome can be extremely painful, it doesn't cause long term damage and can be treated.

You can employ massage, acupuncture and myofascial release to help stop the pain. It's also important to examine your posture and workstation to see if you're causing stress and tension in your muscles that can lead to muscle knots being switched on.

There is a relationship between myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia. People with fibromyalgia tend to have a lot of active trigger points.

In general, fibromyalgia pain is felt all over the body in a diffuse way, while myofascial pain syndrome is specific to a muscle or a group of muscles. The exact muscle or muscle group that's causing the pain can sometimes be difficult to track down without some knowledge of trigger points.

This is because muscles can refer pain, sometimes to surprising locations, and sometimes quite far from the trigger point itself.