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Electrical activity in muscle pain.

C R Cobb, H A deVries, R T Urban

    American Journal of Physical Medicine
    |April 1, 1975
    PubMed
    Summary
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    The pain-spasm-pain cycle in muscles is supported by new evidence. Electromyography (EMG) techniques reveal that even mild muscle spasms show hyperactivity, validating the concept.

    Area of Science:

    • Neurology
    • Physiology
    • Biomedical Engineering

    Background:

    • The traditional pain-spasm-pain cycle concept faces challenges due to difficulties in detecting electrical activity in muscles with palpable changes.
    • Previous research struggled to correlate palpable muscle changes with measurable electrical activity, questioning the cycle's validity.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the relationship between induced muscle pain and electrical activity using advanced electromyography (EMG) techniques.
    • To re-evaluate the validity of the pain-spasm-pain vicious cycle concept in healthy subjects.

    Main Methods:

    • Muscle pain was induced in healthy subjects using hypertonic saline injections in wrist extensor and paravertebral muscles.
    • Electromyography (EMG) recordings were performed using both surface and needle electrodes with varying amplifier sensitivities.

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  • The time course of integrated muscle action potentials was compared with the duration of reported pain.

    • Main Results:

    • The electrical activity measured by EMG generally paralleled the duration of induced muscle pain in most subjects.
    • High-sensitivity surface EMG detected clear electrical activity, while lower-sensitivity needle EMG showed none, highlighting the importance of EMG technique.
    • Mild muscle spasms were consistently associated with detectable muscular hyperactivity.

    Conclusions:

    • The study provides evidence supporting the widely accepted pain-spasm-pain concept.
    • Appropriate EMG techniques can effectively evaluate muscular hyperactivity associated with muscle pain and spasm.
    • The findings suggest that the pain-spasm-pain vicious cycle remains a valid clinical concept.