Transformative Care for Chronic Pain: Myofascial

Several studies from both pain clinics and primary care have found that regional myofascial pain is the most common presenting pain condition. Yet the lack of awareness of it is surprising. Everyone, at some point in their lives, has experienced acute muscle pain associated with overuse or repetitive strain. However, when acute pain becomes chronic, patients and their healthcare providers can become confused and overlook myofascial pain to focus on comorbid pain conditions such as orthopedic and neuropathic pain. This lack of recognition and understanding often leads to mistreatment and progression of a simpler acute problem into a more complex chronic pain condition. Identifying and managing myofascial pain is relatively straight-forward, by integrating patient training on exercises and reducing repetitive strain with evidence based treatments such as physical medicine treatments. This course presents the basic principles of etiology, diagnosis, and management of myofascial pain for all healthcare professionals. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2016)