What is Myofascial Pain / Pain from Myofascial Trigger Point? Like the joints and nerves of our body, muscles and their coverings can also be source of pain that is scientifically termed as ‘Myofascial Pain’.Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in our body are described as knotted/taut band of muscles that can give characteristic referred pain on pressure. These points can be source of acute/ chronic pain and also lead to many other dysfunctions. Many pioneer researchers (Travell & Simons) in this field have mapped out the referral patterns of many trigger points of human body. There are several reasons why MTrPs develop in muscles. The most common are overuse, over stretch, over loading, and trauma to muscles etc. Pain is produced from these MTrPs through complex physiological processes. In lay terms: Muscle spasm is a protective mechanism and affected muscles should return back to their normal state after sometime. However, some of the muscle fibers develop stubborn spasm and don’t return to their normal state and tangled fibers also do not allow normal muscle function. By doing so, they choke their own circulation and starve. Due to starvation they produce bad chemicals which get accumulated at the site and can’t be flushed due to poor local circulation. These bad chemicals irritate surrounding nerve fibers and hence give pain. This pain becomes more pronounced as increased activity put more demand on already starving muscles. This leads to more muscles spasm and the cycle develops. www.palphysiotherapy.com