A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - July 2015

Jan Dommerholt; Todd Hooks; Rob Grieve; Michelle Layton

doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.05.003

A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - July 2015

J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2015 Jul;19(3):482-93. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.05.003. Epub 2015 May 30.

Authors

Jan Dommerholt¹, Todd Hooks², Rob Grieve³, Michelle Layton⁴

Affiliations

¹ Bethesda Physiocare, Bethesda, MD, USA; Myopain Seminars, Bethesda, MD, USA; PhysioFitness, Rockville, MD, USA. Electronic address: dommerholt@myopainseminars.com.
² Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address: trhooks@hotmail.com.
³ Department of Allied Health Professions, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of England, Blackberry Hill, Bristol, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Rob.Grieve@uwe.ac.uk.
⁴ Bethesda Physiocare, Bethesda, MD, USA; Myopain Seminars, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: mbfpt77@gmail.com.

PMID: 26118521
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.05.003

Abstract

The current overview includes thirty articles published in the recent past about myofascial pain, trigger points (TrPs) and related topics. In the Basic Research section, several interesting new studies are reviewed addressing the presence of TrPs in patients with low back pain, episodic migraine, or following a meniscectomy. An animal study of the impact of laser fluency opens the door to future studies regarding optimal dosage of low-level laser therapy in the treatment of individuals with TrPs. Six papers focus on TrP dry needling (DN), two on manual therapies, and two on injection therapy. On of the injection papers discusses the occurrence of a cardiac tamponade, which is a very rare potential complication of invasive needling therapies that can easily be avoided with proper needling techniques. Several review studies and other clinical studies conclude this overview.

Keywords: Dry needling; Manual therapy; Myofascial pain syndrome; Reviews; Trigger points.

Publication types

Review