Three Simple Rules in Pectoral Muscle’s Trigger Point Treatment, Which May Be a Cause of Chest Pain: Position, Palpation, and Perpendicular Needling

[摘要] Chest pain is a cause for a large proportion of admissions to the hospital.1 Almost half of the applications to primary health care institutions with chest pain originate from the musculoskeletal system.2 Myofascial pain syndrome is an overlooked diagnosis in the etiology of chest pain. The literature reports that myofascial pain syndrome of the pectoral muscles, serratus anterior, and scalene muscles may be the cause of chest pain.3 The spread pattern of pain described by the patient may help in the diagnosis. It is also necessary to consider that these pathologies can occur at the same time in a patient. Myofascial pain syndrome of the pectoral muscles exhibits a pain pattern that radiates in the anterior shoulder and the ulnar nerve trace, as well as the chest.4 In scalene muscles, it displays a spreading pattern along the lateral and posterior shoulder region and the radial nerve trace.5 In the serratus anterior muscle, the pain can be detected along the midaxillary region and the ulnar nerve trace, in addition to the chest.3 Common treatment methods include invasive approaches such as dry needling, lidocaine injection, and nerve block.

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学