Muscles
Vastus Lateralis Trigger Points
Symptom Area: Hip, Thigh and Knee
Vastus Lateralis Trigger Points are explored here through their location and referred pain pattern. Muscle knots is an everyday term used for tender muscular spots; myofascial pain describes pain involving muscle and its surrounding connective tissue. Extends the knee; largest of the quadriceps.
Where you feel it
When the Vastus Lateralis holds active trigger points, you usually notice it as lateral thigh & hip pain, numbness/tingling on the outer thigh (meralgia paresthetica) and problems climbing stairs. Where the pain spreads: Lateral knee and along the IT band; can also lock the patella. What often sets it off: Cycling, running, sustained sitting.
Overview
Extends the knee; largest of the quadriceps. Trigger points here are common in everyday and athletic populations and frequently contribute to the referred pain patterns described below.
Trigger point locations
Lateral thigh from femur to patella.
Referred pain pattern
Lateral knee and along the IT band; can also lock the patella.
Palpation & testing
Palpate the muscle belly along its accessible course. Reproduction of the patient's familiar pain on palpation supports involvement.
Common causes
Cycling, running, sustained sitting.
Self-care & clinical treatment
Foam roll lateral thigh, gait retraining. Clinically: needling.
Treatment protocol
For Vastus Lateralis, the general protocol applies: sustained pressure release on the taut band, then stretch and active movement in the newly gained range.
Position and palpation: Palpate the muscle belly along its accessible course.
Regional precaution for clinicians: Around the hip and thigh the sciatic nerve behind the deep gluteals, the femoral nerve, artery and vein in the femoral triangle and the adductor canal are the structures to map before treatment.
Primary Symptoms
Secondary Symptoms
Often confused with
These muscles cause the same primary symptoms, so they are checked together:
Related muscles in this region
Related articles
References
- • Travell & Simons — Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction
- • Effectiveness of dry needling for upper-quarter myofascial pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis — J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2013;43(9):620-34
- • The effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for musculoskeletal conditions by physical therapists: a systematic review and meta-analysis — J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(3):133-49
- • Effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for multiple body regions: a systematic review — J Man Manip Ther 2015;23(5):276-93
- • A systematic review of manual therapy techniques, dry cupping and dry needling in the reduction of myofascial pain and myofascial trigger points — J Bodyw Mov Ther 2019;23(3):539-46
- • Physiologic effects of dry needling — Curr Pain Headache Rep 2013;17(8):348
- • Trigger point dry needling for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome: current perspectives within a pain neuroscience paradigm — J Pain Res 2019;12:1899-911
- • Myofascial trigger points then and now: a historical and scientific perspective — PM R 2015;7(7):746-61
- • Pertinent dry needling considerations for minimizing adverse effects — Int J Sports Phys Ther 2016;11(5):651-62
- • Adverse events associated with therapeutic dry needling — Int J Sports Phys Ther 2020;15(1):103-13
- • Lidocaine injection versus dry needling to myofascial trigger point: the importance of the local twitch response — Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994;73(4):256-63
- • Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2nd ed.) — Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore
Medically reviewed by: Marco Aruffo — physiotherapist since 2006, specialised in myofascial pain · Last reviewed:
