Effectiveness of therapeutic interventions on myofascial trigger points: Literature review

Introduction: Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are most prevalent cause for musculoskeletal pain in everyone at some point of life leading a motor, sensory and autonomic symptoms with variability in etiopathogenesis and currently many interventions are used for its management.

Aim of the study: This review is aimed to compare the overall effectiveness of different interventions used in treatment of myofascial pain linked to myofascial trigger points using literature.

Methodology: Using key terms, identified about 1527 studies published in Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus, and after retrieval and serial exclusion only 28 recent level I and II studies were included and used simple statistical methods to analyze data and formulate results.

Results & Discussion: Therapeutic modalities like Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT), Extra Corporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) and minimally invasive techniques like dry needling, cupping, trigger point injections will give Immediate short-term results whereas manual techniques like Ischemic compression (IC), Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) shown long term effect compare with other techniques.

Conclusion: A Combination of manual therapy either with therapeutic modalities or with minimally invasive techniques are more effective form of treatment for Myofascial trigger points than any isolated intervention for long term effect on Pain, Range of Motion, Quality of life and overall improvement in functionality.