Introduction: Myofascial pain syndrome is a condition caused by hyper sensitive nodules called trigger points in stiff muscle fibers and fascia (1). The presence of these Trigger points can cause complications such as hyperalgesia, diffuse pain, restricted range of motion, muscle weakness and proprioceptive disorders, followed by loss of coordination. (2). This kind of complications can affect the quality of people's performance and social participations. Several treatment methods have been proposed to reduce these complications, among which the most prominent ones are myofascial self-release and massage. Both of these method can have promising effects on myofascial pain complication However, no study has been done to identify the most effective one. Based on this, the present study compares the effect of these two methods in reducing pain caused by trigger points in women.
Methodology: The subjects under investigation include 45 women with active trigger points in the trapezius muscle, who were randomly assigned to three groups: control, myofascial self-release, and massage. Experimental groups were subjected to interventions for 5 sessions. In the pre-test and post-test stages, the amount of pain caused by the subjects' trigger points was measured by the Brief Pain Questionnaire (BPI).
Results: The results obtained by ANOVA tests and Bonferroni's post hoc test showed that both massage and myofascial self-release interventions can significantly affect the pain score of the Brief Pain Questionnaire (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Both myofascial self-release and massage are effective in reducing the score of the brief pain questionnaire and reducing the painful complications of trigger points.