Advances and instrumentation in diagnosis and treatment of trigger points in human myofascial pain: veterinary implications

CONCLUSIONS

Many syndromes in human and animal patients involve acute or chronic pain, sensory and autonomic components and may be caused by, or associated with, unreleasedTPs, especially in muscle and scar tissue.

Detection of TPs by clinical palpation is relatively easy. Quantification of TP sensitivity, pain threshold and tolerance, tissue compliance and limb dynamometry is now possible in humans. Similar methods may be applicable in animals.

TP therapy is an effective, rapid method of treating these problems. Many methods are effective but TP injection and infra-red Laser offer the most convenient methods for busy practitioners and personal TENS instruments offer a useful method of self-treatment for human patients once the case is diagnosed and the TPs are located. Unsupervised TENS is unsuitable for veterinary use.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

P.A.M.R. thanks the Nordic Acupuncture Society for funding his trip to their 1988 Annual Congress at Laugarvatn, Iceland, at which TP therapy, pressure algometry and thermography were discussed.

This review was prompted by the work of co-authors Fischer and Pontinen and by Janssens' documentation of TP therapy in dogs. The Thesis by Dr. J. Verhaert (Belgium) was a most helpful source of concentrated information. It is recommended reading. The paper was given at the International Veterinary Acupuncture (IVAS) Training Course, Oslo, Norway, November 1988.

Medical knowledge is often based on animal experimentation before it is applied in human patients. Now, veterinarians may learn from human experimentation.