Cervical Myofascial Pain eMedicine PMR

Description: Descriptions of myofascial pain date back to the mid 1800s when Froriep described muskelschwiele or muscle calluses. He described these calluses as tender areas in muscle that felt like a cord or band associated with rheumatic complaints. In the early 1900s, Gowers first used the term fibrositis to describe muscular rheumatism associated with local tenderness and regions of palpable hardness. In 1938, Kellgren described areas of referred pain associated with tender points in muscle. In the 1940s, Janet Travell, MD, began writing about myofascial trigger points. Her text, written in conjunction with David Simons, MD, continues to be viewed as the foundational literature on the subject of myofascial pain.
Synonyms and related keywords: myalgia, myofasciitis, interstitial myofibrositis, fibrositis, nonarticular rheumatism affecting the cervical spine, tension myalgia
Beth B Froese, MD 2006