A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - January 2021.

Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), trigger points (TrPs), and dry needling (DN) continue to be of interest to researchers and clinicians worldwide. In this quarterly overview, we included studies from 19 countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Spain, Israel, the US, Australia, Turkey, the UK, China, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Denmark, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India, New Zealand, and Thailand. As encouraging as it may be that myofascial pain is being considered worldwide, it is frustrating how many studies do not include a proper control group making them not very useful.

A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - October 2020.

With this edition, we welcome Dr. Orlando Mayoral from Toledo, Spain as a new contributor to this quarterly myofascial literature review. Dr.

A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - July 2020.

We are sad to report that following this issue, Dr. Li-Wei Chou will no longer be able to contribute to this quarterly literature overview. Unfortunately, his work responsibilities have increased to such an extent that they need to take priority.

A critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - January 2020.

We are starting 2020 with 6 basic research studies, 9 review articles, 14 dry needling/injection studies, and one manual therapy paper for a total of 30 new papers. Topics range from studies on mechanisms, inflammatory mediators in myofascial pain, fascia, screening, Platelet-rich plasma intramuscular injections, and temporal summation to clinical studies on patients with tension-type headache, chronic pelvic pain, knee osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, generalized musculoskeletal pain, neck pain, breast cancer, tendinopathies, thoracic outlet syndrome, and canine dry needling, among others.

Myofascial pain and treatment: Editorial a critical overview of the current myofascial pain literature - August 2019.

This quarter's overview of the myofascial pain literature includes quite a few basic research papers in addition to the usual high quantity of dry needling (DN) papers. Of particular interest are a study by Fischer and colleagues studying the role of mitochondrial functions in chronic trigger points (TrPs) (Fischer et al 2018), a study by Li and associates who conducted a quantitative proteomics analysis to identify biomarkers of chronic myofascial pain and therapeutic targets of dry needling in a rat model of TrPs (Li et al 2019), and a sonography study by Mitchell et al. looking into the distances from the skin to the pleura in the context of DN (Mitchell et al 2019).

Thoracic spine manipulation did not improve maximal mouth opening in participants with temporomandibular dysfunction.

Background And Purpose: Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) have a prevalence of more than 5% in the general population. A positive correlation exists between temporomandibular joint mobility and cervical spine mobility. Similarly, a relationship exists between thoracic and cervical spine mobility.

The Neck Disability Index is Not Correlated with Some Parameters of Temporomandibular Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aims: To test whether the Neck Disability Index (NDI) would indicate higher reported disability among people with neck pain, cervicogenic headache, and temporomandibular disorders (TMD) when compared to people with only neck pain or neck pain with cervicogenic headache.

Methods: A total of 62 participants were enrolled and categorized into one of three groups: (1) neck pain only; (2) neck pain and cervicogenic headache; and (3) neck pain, cervicogenic headache, and TMD. NDI scores, pain, cervical active range of motion (AROM), and maximum mouth opening (MMO) were recorded for each subject.

A proposed diagnostic classification of patients with temporomandibular disorders: implications for physical therapists.

Synopsis: Physical therapists have an important role on the interprofessional team to provide care for people with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Diagnostic classification is a challenge in this population, given the complexities inherent in presentations of headache and orofacial pain, and is critical to selecting the appropriate intervention. The objectives of this paper were (1) to characterize the epidemiology and pathophysiology of the TMDs most commonly seen in the outpatient clinic, (2) to describe a systems screen to be used in the physical therapy examination to determine the need for interprofessional referral, and (3) to propose an approach for physical therapists to examine, evaluate, and classify patients with TMDs, based on previously validated methodologies.

Fibromyalgia is not a predictor variable for a successful outcome following surgical correction of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare surgical outcomes of subjects with and without fibromyalgia using a logistic regression model.

Materials And Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of 28 subjects who underwent surgery to correct internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint. Subjects were classified as having a successful or an unsuccessful outcome based on a verbal rating scale, diet restrictions, and maximum mouth opening (MMO).