By: Maggie Gebhardt, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT
Myofascial pain can mean a lot of things, but in essence it is the painful condition that results from alterations in the muscle and fascial system of the body. Any area of the body can be affected, and it can manifest as muscle pain, referred pain, stiffness, and alterations in movement. Everyone has experienced some sort of muscle pain, but it typically goes away within an expected amount of time. Myofascial pain is when the pain does not go away. It is the most commonly overlooked diagnosis in chronic pain patients. The cause of myofascial pain can be exercise-induced, a result of inflammatory or non-inflammatory processes, or be a result of more widespread processes throughout the body.
Muscle pain is diffuse and harder to localize. Typically, you cannot point to a spot and say, “it hurts here,” and if you had to describe it you would say it feels achy and crampy. Contrary to what you may think, myofascial pain can but does not always occur because of an injury or damage to another structure i.e. bone, ligament, nerve. Myofascial pain can occur of its own volition and without a precipitating event. There are often other contributing factors leading to the development of myofascial pain such as: lifestyle factors i.e. stress, sleep hygiene, etc., posture, other medical conditions, and repeated/habitual motions to name a few. Oftentimes this makes it difficult for you as the patient, but also even a medical practitioner to determine what is going on.
In our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy offices trigger points are a hallmark symptom of Myofascial pain and there are diagnostic criteria for which we can diagnose the presence of them. Using good palpatory skills and evidence-based guidelines a clinician who is trained in trigger points is able to detect them accurately. Dry needling is one of the most effective and proven treatment methods for treating trigger points. It can be used anywhere in the presence of myofascial pain, which can present in several conditions we regularly hear about including but not limited to: TMJ dysfunction, headaches, pelvic pain, acute or chronic low back pain, frozen shoulder, hypermobility syndromes, and pre-and post-operative conditions. Dry needling is the use of a solid filament needle inserted into the trigger point/fascial adhesion/scar tissue to then eradicate or effect change on that area. Dry needling is a safe technique when performed by trained clinicians and even though it can be painful at the time, its long-term benefits make it worth it. Although not a magic bullet, dry needling can play a major role in helping someone overcome their painful condition and reboot the body back to its regular homeostasis.
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