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Morphology of Myofascial Trigger Points: What Does a Trigger Point Look Like?

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Muscle Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment

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Abstract

This chapter deals with the myofascial pain syndrome in its strict definition, i.e., a muscle pain syndrome due to myofascial trigger points (TrPs). The clinical characteristics of TrPs include a palpable nodule that is part of a taut band of muscle fibers. Unfortunately, systematic histological studies of TrPs are scarce. The few and fragmentary data indicate that localized contraction knots within single muscle fibers are the key feature. The contraction knot compresses the capillaries that accompany each muscle fiber, and causes local hypoxia. Overload of a muscle followed by a dysfunction of the neuromuscular endplate appears to be the central factor for the development of TrPs, but there are also other hypotheses. Details of the pathogenesis of TrPs are described in Chap. 2. For reasons of comparison, some morphological features of muscles containing tender points of the fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are also addressed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medizin. Fakultät Mannheim CBTM, Neuroanatomie, Universität Heidelberg, Ludolf-Krehl-Str. 13-17, R. C614, 68167, Mannheim, Germany

    Siegfried Mense

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  1. Siegfried Mense
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Correspondence to Siegfried Mense .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centrum für Biomedizin und, Medizintechnik Mannheim (CBTM), Universität Heidelberg, Ludolf-Krehl-Str. 13-17, Mannheim, 68167, Germany

    Siegfried Mense

  2. Pain & Rehabilitation Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Bethesda, 20814-2432, USA

    Robert D. Gerwin

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Mense, S. (2010). Morphology of Myofascial Trigger Points: What Does a Trigger Point Look Like?. In: Mense, S., Gerwin, R. (eds) Muscle Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05468-6_3

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