By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 6, 2026 · 12 min read Watch the Full Video Myofascial pain syndrome and trigger points are among the most common — and most commonly missed — causes of chronic musculoskeletal pain. In my sports medicine practice, I regularly evaluate patients who have seen multiple providers, undergone extensive imaging, completed months of physical therapy, and sometimes even had surgery — all without relief — because the underlying myofascial tri

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 6, 2025 · 5 min read Watch the Full Video Myofascial pain syndrome and trigger points are among the most common causes of chronic musculoskeletal pain, affecting an estimated 85% of patients who visit chronic pain clinics. Despite how widespread this condition is, effective treatment remains a challenge for many patients and clinicians alike. Traditional management typically involves soft tissue modalities such as massage, acupunctur

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 5, 2026 · 5 min read Watch the Full Video Myofascial pain syndrome is one of the most common and frustrating musculoskeletal conditions encountered in clinical practice. Characterized by painful trigger points within taut bands of skeletal muscle, it can significantly diminish quality of life and prove remarkably difficult to manage. Clinicians have long relied on a multimodal approach — combining heat therapy, cardiovascular and res

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 5, 2026 · 7 min read Watch the Full Video Muscle pain is one of the most overlooked contributors to knee osteoarthritis symptoms. When patients visit their doctor for knee pain, the evaluation typically focuses on the joint itself — the bones, cartilage, ligaments, and meniscus . But the muscles surrounding the knee are rarely examined, and research suggests they may be responsible for a substantial portion of the pain that patients

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 4, 2026 · 6 min read Watch the Full Video A Baker's cyst — also called a popliteal cyst — is a fluid-filled swelling that develops in the back of the knee. Named after the British surgeon Dr. William Baker, who first described the condition, it can range from a painless incidental finding on an MRI to a significant source of discomfort that limits everyday activities like bending, squatting, and walking. In my practice, Baker's cysts

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 5, 2026 · 8 min read Watch the Full Video Knee pain is not random. Where you feel the pain can serve as a powerful diagnostic clue to the underlying problem. By understanding the source of your symptoms, you can take the appropriate first steps toward recovery. As a board-certified sports medicine physician , I evaluate knee pain every day in my clinic. In this guide, I walk through 15 of the most common causes of knee pain, organize

By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 4, 2025 · 20 min read Watch the Full Video What Is Knee Osteoarthritis and Why Is It So Complex? Knee osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and is defined by the progressive loss of cartilage within the joint. Despite its prevalence, most patients have a limited understanding of the condition and the full range of treatment options available. In my practice, I frequently encounter patients who have received incomplete o

Written by Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD — Board-Certified Sports Medicine Physician Published: March 3, 2026 | Last Updated: March 3, 2026 One of the most common and overlooked causes of low back pain is not actually in the low back at all — it is in the gluteus medius muscle. In my practice, I frequently see patients who have been treated for lumbar spine problems for months or even years, only to discover that the true source of their pain is myofascial trigger points in the glute

Shoulder pain is not random. The location of your pain and the way your symptoms behave can serve as important diagnostic clues to the underlying problem. By understanding the source of your symptoms, you can take the appropriate steps toward getting an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. As a sports medicine physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have treated thousands of patients with shoulder pain, and the same patterns come up again and again. Certain types of

Did you know that muscle pain is a major contributor to knee arthritis? I want to discuss how targeting treatment towards the muscles around the knee can decrease pain and improve function related to symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. I’ll give you five specific treatments, all of which you can do at home to treat your muscles and get your knee feeling better. Knee osteoarthritis is a condition where the cartilage in the knee is damaged and lost over time. This causes the bone

Myofascial pain syndrome can cause severe pain and harm people's quality of life. That’s why clinicians are always looking for new and better options to treat this debilitating condition. Prolotherapy has been around for over 70 years and has been used to treat a variety of chronic musculoskeletal conditions. So do prolotherapy trigger point injections help treat myofascial pain syndrome? Two recent clinical trials attempted to answer this question. Myofascial pain syndrome a

How to treat myofascial trigger points

Trigger points are common causes of musculoskeletal pain. They are often overlooked, misdiagnosed, and undertreated.