Diagnostic criteria:
- Head and/or neck pain fulfilling criterion C
- A source of myofascial pain in the muscles of the neck, including reproducible trigger points, has been demonstrated
- Evidence of causation demonstrated by at least two of the following:
- either or both of the following:
- a) pain has developed in temporal relation to onset of the cervical myofascial pain disorder
- b) pain has significantly improved in parallel with improvement in the cervical myofascial pain disorder
- tenderness is elicited by pressure on the implicated cervical muscles
- pain is temporarily abolished by local anaesthesic injections into trigger points, or by trigger point massage
- either or both of the following:
- Not better accounted for by another ICHD-3 diagnosis.
Comment:
Myofascial pain and its relation to so-called “trigger points” is controversial. It has been difficult consistently to demonstrate supposed trigger points, and response to treatment varies.