RESEARCH - Pain induced by low-grade stress in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic shoulder/neck pain

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Eur J Pain. 2006 Oct;10(7):615-27. Epub 2005 Nov 21.

Pain induced by low-grade stress in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic

shoulder/neck pain, relation to surface electromyography.

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Neurosciences,

N-7489 Trondheim, Norway.

The mechanisms of pain causation in fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic

shoulder/neck pain (SNP) are still debated. We wanted to compare muscle

activity and pain development during and after low-grade mental stress in

FMS and SNP patients. Twenty-three women with FMS, 29 women with chronic SNP

and 35 healthy women performed a stressful task lasting 60min followed by a

30min recovery period. We recorded surface electromyography over the

trapezius, neck, temporalis and frontalis muscles. Subjects reported their

pain at the corresponding locations together with the development of fatigue

and perceived tension. Significant differences between FMS and SNP groups

were not observed either for muscular or subjective responses. SNP patients

and controls responded with more pain in the trapezius and neck regions than

in the forehead, in contrast to FMS patients who had a more generalized pain

response. Development of pain, tension and fatigue was not related to muscle

activity for any group. We conclude that FMS and SNP patients have similar

pain and electromyographic responses. The results suggest that similar

pathophysiological mechanisms are involved although the responses are more

generalised in FMS than in SNP patients. Muscular activity did not explain

the pain which developed during the stressful task for either group. Pain

lasted longer during recovery in both FMS and SNP patients compared to

healthy controls, possibly a result of disease-related sensitisation in pain

pathways.

PMID: 16300974

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=Abstra\

ctPlus & list_uids=16300974

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