Manual Physical Therapy in Patients with Myofascial Pain in Upper Trapezius: A Case Series

Myofascial Trigger point is claimed to be a common source of musculoskeletal pain in people presenting to manual therapists for treatment. A multitude of physical therapy interventions have been purposed to be effective in the management of patients presenting to physical therapists with Myofascial trigger point in Upper Trapezius. The purpose of this case series is to describe the outcomes of consecutive series of patients with trigger points who were managed with the use of manual physical therapy and home exercises.

15 patients with Myofascial trigger points were studied (Mean age 22.533). They were treated with the standardized approach including Manual therapy in which Myofascial release of Upper Trapezius was given followed by Positional release technique and home exercise programme which included stretching exercise of Upper Trapezius was given to the patient. At the initial evaluation all patients were asked to rate their pain on a 10 point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Neck disability Index (NDI) and ROM of cervical lateral flexion and contra lateral rotation were measured. All the patients again completed the outcome measures at the time of discharge from therapy after 4 weeks.

13 of 15 patients (86.6%) demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in pain, function and neck ROM. Our data results suggest that combination of different manual therapy approaches produce significant improvement in patients with Myofascial trigger point in Upper Trapezius.