Pain caused by tense muscles (myofascial pain).
Sensitive "knots" and strings can appear in muscles that are too tense. These are painful when pressed and the pain can radiate to other parts of the body. We can treat these painful points in the muscles, called trigger points.
Myofascial Pain
Myofascial pain is pain that comes from muscles (myo) and the envelope of muscles (fascia). It is an often difficult to localize deep pain. This pain can be dull but also tingling, sharp or stabbing. In some cases, myofascial pain is described as a toothache in a muscle. Myofascial pain can occur in any muscle of the body and originates from trigger points.
Trigger points
Trigger points are painful "knots" in a muscle. A trigger point can produce pain spontaneously, but usually they are painful when pressed. They often cause radiating pain to the area below the trigger point. This is confusing: the pain is felt somewhere other than where the cause is.
Trigger points can be caused by overuse, cold, persistent stress or improper use of the muscles. Also consider poor posture, standing or sitting. In men, a common trigger point is a point in the oblique abdominal muscles. Pressure on this point causes pain in the scrotum. And there are few practitioners who come up with the idea of pressing into your abdomen when dealing with this complaint.
Cystitis-like pain at the outlet of the urethra can be caused by a trigger point in the straight abdominal muscles. Often this is not recognized.
In women, when there is pain during intercourse, trigger points are often located around the vaginal entrance. This is also frequently missed. So it is very important to look at the complaint from different angles. Of course, it is wise to consult a medical specialist first to rule out that something else is going on.
Trigger point examination is included as standard in our diagnostic consultation.
[What image? An anatomical illustration of trigger points and treatment?]
Tense muscles in the lower body give as symptoms:
- The pain can often be felt deeply.
- It is difficult to pinpoint or describe exactly where the pain is.
- Some people call it, "toothache in a muscle.
- The pain due to a pain point (trigger point) in a muscle is often felt in a different place than where the pain point is. For example, the pain radiates to the lower abdomen, making the pain appear to come from the bladder. Because this radiating pain so often looks like pain coming from an organ, doctors often think that an organ is the cause of the pain.
- Pain at the outlet of the urethra that feels like a cystitis-like pain may be the result of too much tension in the oblique abdominal muscles. Not every practitioner knows or recognizes this.
- Pain during intercourse in women can come from tight muscles. Not every practitioner knows or recognizes this.
NOTE Tense muscles (myofascial pain), can also go together with, for example, fatigue, stiff joints and problems with urination. This is called: myofascial pain syndrome. It is common and often overlooked. Myofascial Pain Syndrome is often confused with bursitis, tendonitis, arthritis, chronic pain and with organ complaints. We pay attention to this and can treat it, working with other medical specialists as needed.
Possible causes of tense muscles in the lower body:
- Incorrect use of the muscles, such as from poor standing or sitting posture.
- Always tightening the abdominal muscles to avoid having a "belly.
- Always tightening the glutes, for example due to stress or to have firmer buttocks.
- Overexertion.
- Cold.
- Too little exercise.
- Disruption of metabolism.
- Disruption of hormones.
- A viral infection.
- A bacterial infection.
- Chronic fatigue, poor sleep, stress, anxiety and worry or sadness.
To know what is causing your symptoms, we will ask you questions. What pain is involved, where do you feel the pain, what all plays into the symptoms. Your personal circumstances or events in your environment are also very important. We listen to your story and your experiences. Then we do a physical examination. For example, we feel the tension in your muscles and we look at your posture and the way you move.
Sometimes the abdominal muscles fail to relax.
We can measure muscle tension objectively with the MAPLe. This is a measurement of someone where the pelvic floor muscles are tense.
In this image, trigger points in the abdomen are plotted. The red areas are where the pain radiates to.
These are common trigger points in the buttock. The radiation from these points is still sometimes confused with nerve pain from the back.
Pelvic Pain clinic / F-Act specializing in chronic pelvic pain