Peripheral mechanism of muscle pain: An update

SummaryThere are many conditions accompanied by muscle pain/hyperalgesia. Despite the large number of people who are suffering from musculoskeletal pain, understanding of its mechanism is quite limited. Many muscle pain conditions are considered to be somehow related to muscle exertion, in the presence or absence of muscle ischemia, therefore, this review introduces recent results obtained from delayed onset muscle soreness model by lengthening contraction (eccentric contraction), together with recent advances in muscle pain research with a focus on topics such as temporomandibular joint disorders and glutamate, nerve growth factor (NGF) and inflammatory pain, the role of protons and lactic acid in ischemic muscular pain, myofascial pain syndrome and trigger points, and fibromyalgia.