Myofascial pain mimicking radicular syndromes

Myofascial pain is very often underscored and misunderstood in clinical practice. In many cases the localization of myofascial pain may resemble other diseases, such as radicular syndromes (e.g., low back pain from herniated disc) and even diseases of internal organs (e.g., angina pectoris, bowel diseases or gynaecological disturbances). In pain clinics one can routinely see patients with myofascial painful disorders showing a radicular topography and normal CT and MRI: as a consequence, when vertebral abnormalities are present on CT or MRI, it should be checked whether the cause of pain is radicular, myofascial, or both. On the other hand, the conventional approach to painful disorders may lead to errors and wrong diagnosis, depending on several factors: a) pain is often considered a symptom of an organic disease; b) the diagnosis is usually directed towards the structural cause of pain only; c) the functional components of the suffering patient are underscored; d) the site of pain may introduce some bias. When the latter is concerned, it is usually admitted that a neck pain may depend on muscle contraction (e.g. torticollis), while such a cause is less commonly admitted for leg, where the attention is first directed towards the sciatic nerve; myofascial origin of pain is even less considered in abdominal or pelvic painful disorders, where patients with no structural detectable diseases are often considered as neurotic and referred to the psychiatrist. The reason for this topographical dependence of diagnosis lies in the conventional attitude to focus on the most relevant and frequent organic diseases, thus introducing a bias with relevant epistemological implications.