Myofascial pain syndrome is a form of muscles pain resulting from trigger points in your muscles, which spreads through the affected muscles and the trigger point is sensitive to touch. When this pain persists and worsens, doctors refer to this as myofascial pain syndrome.

In order to diagnose you, your doctor will ask questions about your signs and symptoms, and they will give you a physical examination, including: feeling for trigger points where your doctor will monitor your reaction and manipulating your trigger points in order to trigger a physical response. Your doctor may ask for other tests to be done to rule out other causes before diagnosing you with myofascial pain syndrome.

Some symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome are:

• Deep, aching pain in a muscle
• Pain that persists or worsens
• Muscle stiffness
• Joint stiffness near the affected muscle
• Area of tension in your muscle that may feel like a knot or tight spot and may be particularly sensitive to touch
• Difficulty sleeping due to pain

Some management techniques include: physical therapy (massage therapy, stretching, correcting factors contributing to pain, i.e. posture), trigger point injections (aka needling, to relieve pressure in your muscles) and medications, such as anti-inflammatories and anti-depressants.