Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan 29;19(3):1577.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031577.

Cervical Myofascial Pain Is Associated with an Imbalance of Masticatory Muscle Activity

Michał Ginszt  1 , Jacek Szkutnik  2 , Grzegorz Zieliński  3 , Magdalena Bakalczuk  2 , Małgorzata Stodółkiewicz  2 , Monika Litko-Rola  2 , Apolinary Ginszt  1 , Mansur Rahnama  4 , Piotr Majcher  1
Affiliations

Cervical Myofascial Pain Is Associated with an Imbalance of Masticatory Muscle Activity

Michał Ginszt et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the relationship between the occurrence of cervical myofascial pain with active myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) within the upper trapezius muscle and the electromyographic asymmetry index (AsI) of masticatory muscles: temporalis anterior (TA), superficial part of the masseter muscle (MM), and anterior belly of the digastric muscle (DA). The study group comprised 100 subjects (80 women and 20 men) aged 18 to 30 years (mean 23 ± 2.6 years) reporting pain in the neck muscles, diagnosed with myofascial pain with active MTrPs only within the upper trapezius muscle. The control group comprised 60 healthy, pain-free subjects (42 women and 18 men) aged 20 to 30 years (mean 22.8 ± 2.6 years) without MTrPs in the upper trapezius muscle. The palpation measurement, based on the diagnostic criteria of Travell and Simons, was used to diagnose active MTrPs. The masticatory muscle activity was recorded using an 8-channel device for surface electromyography-BioEMG IIITM. Significant differences in electromyographic patterns between the group with MTrPs in the right side of upper trapezius muscle and the control group were observed within resting activity for the AsI TA (MTrPs: 8.64 vs. controls: -3.22; p = 0.001) and AsI MM (MTrPs: 7.05 vs. controls: -2.09; p = 0.018). Controls presented different electromyographic patterns during maximum voluntary clenching with cotton rolls between teeth within masseter muscle compared to the MTrPs group (MTrPs: 9.27 vs. controls: -0.43 vs. p = 0.041). Participants with MTrPs in the left side of upper trapezius muscle presented predomination of left-sided electromyographic patterns at rest within temporalis anterior in comparison to controls (MTrPs: -19.22 vs. controls: -3.22; p = 0.001). MTrPs within the trapezius muscle may be related to asymmetry within the masticatory muscle activity, suggesting that the presence of myofascial pain within the cervical muscles plays a role in the imbalance of the stomatognathic system. A unilateral active MTrPs within the trapezius muscle may increase the sEMG activity on the same side of the temporalis anterior and masseter muscles.

Keywords: balance; electromyography; masticatory muscles; myofascial pain; neck muscles.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
sEMG electrodes placement during the electromyographic examination.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bron C., Dommerholt J.D. Etiology of Myofascial Trigger Points. Curr. Pain Headache Rep. 2012;16:439–444. doi: 10.1007/s11916-012-0289-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Desai M.J., Saini V., Saini S. Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Treatment Review. Pain Ther. 2013;2:21–36. doi: 10.1007/s40122-013-0006-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alvarez D.J., Rockwell P.G. Trigger Points: Diagnosis and Management. Am. Fam. Phys. 2002;65:653–660. - PubMed
    1. Xu Y.-M., Ge H.-Y., Arendt-Nielsen L. Sustained Nociceptive Mechanical Stimulation of Latent Myofascial Trigger Point Induces Central Sensitization in Healthy Subjects. J. Pain Off. J. Am. Pain Soc. 2010;11:1348–1355. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2010.03.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ameloot B., Bagust J. The Immediate Effect of Multiple Mechanical Impulses on Electromyography and Pressure Pain Threshold of Lumbar Latent Trigger Points: An Experimental Study. Chiropr. Man. Ther. 2016;24:20. doi: 10.1186/s12998-016-0101-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources